Macduff: Thane of Fife who loses his wife
First, go to the link below to reread specific scenes of Macduff. After you have reread them, answer these questions. The specific questions need to be typed and handed in to me. The big question should be posted on the blog. Remember, you are Macduff, so your voice should reflect that. Defend your choices as if you were the vigilant Thane of Fife.
Macbeth Text
Act Two Scene Three
~What does Macduff learn from the Porter?
~How does Macduff react to his discovery?
~Why does he not tell Lady Macbeth the news of Duncan's death?
~What does Macbeth do that may make Macduff suspicious?
Act Two Scene Four
~How would you describe Macduff's state of mind after this scene?
Act Three Scene Four Lines 159-164
~Where do you think Macduff was during the Banquet?
~What does Macbeth mean when he says "there's not a one of them but in his house/I keep a servant fee'd (163-4)?"
Act Four Scene One Lines 75-97, 163-177
~What do the witches tell Macbeth that involves Macduff?
~What will happen to Macduff's family?
Act Four Scene Two
~Is Macduff a traitor for leaving his family?
~Why do you think he left his family behind? What does that say about his character?
Video
Act Four Scene Three
~How does Macduff react to Malcolm's description of what his own rule would be like?
~Does Macduff love Scotland? Or is he just power hungry?
~How would you describe Macduff's feelings after he finds out that his family was murdered?
Audio Book Act Four Scene Three
Act Five Scene Six Lines 10-11
~What's a "harbinger?"
Act Five Scenes Seven and Eight
~Why would Macduff's wife and family haunt him if he does not revenge their death?
~He asks "Fortune" (27) to help him find Macbeth. Does that mean he believes in Fate?
~In lines 10-40 of Scene Eight, Macbeth says "I bear a charmed life, which must not yield/to one of woman born." Macduff replies, "despair thy charm/and let the angel whom thou still hast served/tell thee Macduff was from his mother's womb/untimely ripped." Does this mean that Macduff also believes in the prophesy?
Video
When you have finished with these questions, type them out and pass them in to me. Now, you can answer the big question: was Macduff and his family victims of Fate (the witches' prophesy), or Folly (Macbeth's extreme ambition and treachery)? Your answer, in the words of how Macduff would say them, should be posted on the blog.
