Macduff (thane)
| Macduff | |
|---|---|
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| Creator | William Shakespeare |
| Play | Macbeth |
| Date | c.1603-1607 |
| Source | Holinshed's Chronicles (1587) |
| Family |
Lady Macduff, wife Young Macduff, son |
| Role | Antagonist to Macbeth; kills him in the final act. |
| Quote | Despair thy charm / And let the angel whom thou has served / Tell thee Macduff was from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped (5.10.14-16) |
Lord Macduff, the Thane of Fife, is a character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth (c.1603-1607). Macduff plays a pivotal role in the play: he suspects Macbeth of regicide and eventually kills Macbeth in the final act. He can be seen as the avenging hero who helps save Scotland from Macbeth's tyranny in the play.
The character is first known from Chronica Gentis Scotorum (late 14th century) and Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland (early 15th century). Shakespeare drew mostly from Holinshed's Chronicles (1587).
Although characterized sporadically throughout the play, Macduff serves as a foil to Macbeth and a figure of morality.
The overall plot that would serve as the basis for Macbeth is first seen in the writings of two chroniclers of Scottish history, John of Fordun, whose prose Chronica Gentis Scotorum was begun about 1363 and Andrew of Wyntoun's Scots verse Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, written no earlier than 1420. These served as the basis for the account given in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), on whose narratives of King Duff and King Duncan Shakespeare in part based Macbeth. Macduff first appears in Holinshed's narrative of King Duncan after Macbeth has killed the monarch and reigned as King of Scotland for 10 years. When Macbeth calls upon his nobles to contribute to the construction of Dunsinane castle, Macduff avoids the summons, arousing Macbeth's suspicions. Macduff leaves Scotland for England to prod Duncan's son, Malcolm III of Scotland, into taking the Scottish throne by force. Meanwhile, Macbeth murders Macduff's family. Malcolm, Macduff, and the English forces march on Macbeth, and Macduff kills him. Shakespeare follows Holinshed's account of Macduff closely, with his only deviations being Macduff's discovery of Duncan's body in 2.3, and Macduff's brief conference with Ross in 2.4. Historically, the Clan MacDuff was the most powerful family in Fife in the medieval ages. The ruins of Macduff's Castle lie in East Wemyss cemetery.
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