Act V: Scene 8
Summary
On another part
of the battlefield, Macbeth and Macduff finally come face to face. Words, then
sword thrusts are exchanged, and Macbeth, the bloody and tyrannical usurper of
the throne of Scotland, meets his predestined end.
Analysis
As Macbeth
ponders whether suicide, at this point, would be his better option, the
avenging Macduff enters the scene with the bold challenge: "Turn,
hell-hound, turn." Macduff's choice of the epithet "Hell-hound,"
recalling his earlier description of Macbeth as a "Hell-kite" (Act
IV, Scene 3), confirms the true nature of the tyrant king. But in an equally
bold rhetorical flourish, Macbeth warns Macduff that he is invulnerable, as
"intrenchant" (uncuttable) as the air itself. Here, he mistakenly
imagines that the words of the apparitions are a protective charm, which can
keep him from physical injury.
Macduff takes
an opposite view. Words alone, whether those of a ghostly prophecy or those of
Macbeth himself, are nothing compared to his own wordless anger: The true voice
of revenge lies in action, not language. Furthermore, Macbeth should consider
the circumstances of Macduff's birth. Macduff now reveals to Macbeth that he
entered the world by being "untimely ripp'd" from his mother's womb:
He was not, therefore, in the strict sense, "born" of woman. With the
short but powerful sentence "Despair thy charm," Macbeth must know
that his struggle for survival is over. The penultimate prophecy has come true.
Throughout
the play, Macbeth has wondered about the veracity of the Witches' words: In Act
I, Scene 3, he called them "imperfect speakers" because they had not
told him all he desired to know; now he realizes that they spoke to him of his
own imperfection. In the same scene, he admitted that their supernatural
prophecy "Cannot be ill; cannot be good"; now he knows which was
which. In Act IV, Scene 1, his opinion was that men were "damned . . .
that trust them"; now he is damned by his own words. And in Act V, Scene
5, Macbeth spoke of his doubt concerning the predictions of "the Fiend /
that lies like truth." Now he has no such doubt: "Be these juggling
fiends no more believed / That palter with us in a double sense."
It is now
Macduff's turn to mock Macbeth: He calls him "coward" and promises to
have him publicly displayed — "baited with the rabble's curse" with a
sign painted with the words "Here may you see the tyrant."
Glossary
intrenchant
(9) uncuttable
the Angel . .
. served (14) i.e. the Devil
cow'd (18)
caused me to cower
juggling
fiends (19) deceiving devils (or Fates)
palter (20)
toy with
0 comments:
Post a Comment