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The Final
Straw |
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The
act of murdering Lady Macduff and, more
importantly, her son, solidifies the demise of Macbeth’s soul, bringing the
tragedy to its climax. Macbeth, crazed
and suspicious of everyone, orders the death of the fled Macduff’s
wife, child and staff. The act of
murdering innocents destroys whatever soul Macbeth has left in him. Though the murder of the guiltless Lady Macduff and her servants is horrendous, the emphasis is
placed on the murder of the child, Macduff’s son. The scene stresses the murder of a child, a
murder without thought, is the worst thing one can do and in that act
Macbeth’s journey to insanity rushes towards its fatal end. In the setup of the scene, the
goal was to portray the Macduffs’ haven that was
their house and how it was unceremoniously trespassed leading to their
deaths. The objective of “Macbeth” is
to contradict and disprove Machiavelli’s theory that a subdued conscience is
the key to power. “Hence, it is
necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and
to make use of it or not according to necessity” (Spragins, htm). He does so
by showing the insanity that follows Macbeth’s initial murder of King Duncan
in order to gain power in the ailing Scotland kingdom thought to be due to
Duncan’s weakness. Macbeth goes into a
deadly spiral, loosing both his soul and life. In order to do so he must cast away his
conscience and kill a child. The
innocence of a child is shown earlier in the play when Macbeth see’s a newborn
child conjured from his soul. “Hence,
it is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong,
and to make use of it or not according to necessity” (Spragins,
“Macbeth”). The character choice and
blocking of this scene all try to reflect this loss. The beginning of the scene is meant to show
the endearment between Lady Macduff and her son and
the sanctuary they have created out of their home. The messenger’s arrival adds a sense of
urgency and foreshadows destruction.
The scene of the son’s death is slowed, with emphasis placed upon it,
for this is Macbeth’s fatal act. The
death of the servant girl by the hands of the third murder shows the
slaughter happening behind the scenes.
For every slash that went through the flesh of the innocents, a slash
goes through Macbeth’s soul, continuing until everyone in Macduff’s
castle is dead and Macbeth’s soul ceases to exist. |
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