Thane of Fife

Macduff
Macbeth character
Dan O'Herlihy as Macduff in Orson Welles' controversial film adaptation Macbeth (1948)
Created by	William Shakespeare
Date(s)	c.1603-1607
Source	Holinshed's Chronicles (1587)
Information
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.

Historically, Duff was a 10th century King of Alba. In John of Fordun's work, the reign of Duff is portrayed as having suffered from pervasive witchcraft. The Orygynale Cronykil suggests that Duff was murdered. Due to the Irish use of tanistry, Duff's immediate descendants did not become rulers of Alba, and instead became mormaers of Fife. Their clan - the Clan MacDuff - remained the most powerful family in Fife in the medieval ages..