Macbeth Act 4, Scene 3

Macbeth Act 4, Scene 3

1. Macduff: "The tyrant has not batter'd at their peace?"

   • he knows leaving them would lead to an attack by Macbeth
   • "batter'd" suggests he thought the castle would be attacked, but not overrun
     • suggests Ross was a traitor and let them in

2. Malcolm: "but there's no bottom, none, in my voluptuosness: your wives, your daughters, Your matrons and your maids, could not fill up The cistern of my lust"

   • Gives Malcolm this lust
     • James would be criticised for his homosexuality - Shakespeare shows that the nobles are lucky they don't have a king who is motivated by heterosexual lust
       • King James isn't going for their wives or daughters!
         • Henry VIII's reign, and his constant pursuit of women as wives and mistresses was hugely damaging to the stability in the country, and this was just a generation ago
           • Led to split with the Catholic church, dissolution of the monasteries, the oppression of Catholics, Spanish invasions and indirectly the Gunpowder plot itself
   • When Malcolm confesses he was just testing Macduff, and that he is a virgin "unknown to woman" this creates a humorous parallel with king james
     • some believe Shakespeare was also bisexual
     • seeking King james' patronage

3. Malcolm: "I should forge Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal, Destroying them for wealth"

   • Shakespeare is being much more subtle in his depiction of Kingship - trying to give King james a lesson in kingship
     • he wants a king who will not be motivated by revenge on the Catholics or by greed to take land from nobles he could execute
     • telling what not to do
     • Bill presents this in court, as an abuse of power which James could easily employ - trying to show how unwise such an action would be.
       • A motive for henry VIII in rejecting Catholicisim was that it allowed him to abolish the monasteries - led to much of their immense wealth being seized by the crown
         • wants James to not give into greed
         • there is speculation that Shakespeare was a catholic himself
           • father and daughter were both 'recusers' - refused to go to communion because it wasn't Catholic
             • he wants to preserve the lives of people Shakespeare loves

4. Malcolm: "As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude"

   • long list of qualities King James should have - implies King James might have a lot to learn

5. Doctor: "but at his touch -- such sancity hath heaven given his hand -- They presently ammend"

   • Bill wants to encourage James to heal the wounds of division between Catholic and Protestant
     • "but at his touch" - metaphor for how King james should heal his own kingdom

6. Discusses ways how a king can be damaging to his country - addressed to king James

   • Written specifically to be performed at the court of King james
     • First account of it being performed in the Globe Theatre was in April 1611
       • 5 years after it was shown at court

7. King James married to have heirs. However, his "lust" was well known to be homosexual

   • blames himself only because he has angered Macbeth with his "demerits"
     • doesn't blame himself for abandoning them deliberately as targets
     • blames God for "looking on"
       • addition of "heaven" to the line brings it to twelve syllables
         • reveals that blaming "heaven" is a convenient lie to take away his own responsibility

8. Malcolm: "Hum! I guess at it."

   • Ross: "Your castle is suprised; your wife and babes Savagely slaughter'd: to relate the manner"

9. Macduff: "Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? What, all my pretty chickens and their dam"

   • this metaphor seems both insulting and revealing
     • not even pets, but farmyard animals
       • Hints that he expected them to die, just as farm animals are bred to die
         • repetition of "all" suggests he is shocked that "all" have been killed - expected only some to be killed

10. Malcolm: "dispute it like a man"

    • Macduff: "I shall do so; But I must also feel it as a man:"
      • Malcolm tells him to use his grief to give him the "anger" he will need to kill Macbeth
        • Macduff tells Malcolm that he must "feel it as a man" - Macduff is giving Malcolm a lesson in kingship and masculinity
          • A real "man" is not simply a man of action, but is able to feel and empathise with others
            • this classhes with the idea of an engineered slaughter of his family
              • he has done this to create his own "spur" of his ambition to kill Macbeth - sacrificed his own family in order to give him the necessary strength and rage to fight Macbeth

11. Malcolm: "Why in that rawness left your wife and child, / Those precious motives, those strong knots of love"

    • Maclolm can't trust Macduff, becuase his decision to leave his "precious" family is reckless - leaving them to face "rawness"
      • L.Macduff accused her husband of lacking love, and being a "traitor"
        • suggests that Macduff has sacrificed them in order to have the same "spur to prick the sides of his intent"
          • Just as Macbeth knew that writing to Lady would encourage her to persuade him to commit regicide, Macduff knows that leaving his family to die will lead to his profound desire for revenge
            • If Macduff were a hero of a tragic play, his martia is the sacrifice of his family
    • We can read Macduff as Macbeth's mirror image or alter ego
      • Bill constructs him as Macbeth's opposite
        • Macbeth enjoys slaughter, Macduff saves his sword for Macbeth
    • This scene shows that Macduff will be honourable: not fight for Malcolm when he velieves he would be a worse king than Macbeth