myMacbeth Back to the Play Macduff's family is attacked. Summary: Macduff’s wife, Lady Macduff, questions Ross about her husband fleeing to England. She doesn’t understand why he would leave his family defenseless at a time like this. Ross tries to reassure her, but no sooner does he leave than a messenger arrives to tell Lady Macduff and her son to run for their lives. But it’s too late—the murderers have arrived, and they kill her son. She flees, the murderers hot on her heels. Act 4, Scene 2 In the beginning of Scene 2, Lady Macduff is distraught with her husband’s decision to flee to England to seek help from Malcolm. In the previous scene, Macbeth had an encounter with the witches, who revealed that “no man of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (4.1.95-96). Macbeth realizes that this means that Macduff is the only one that can harm him, because he was born by caesarian section. Having
realized that Macduff could become the cause of his downfall, Macbeth ordered murderers to “seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line” (4.1.172). He regrets doubting his impulses and decides to kill Macduff’s family. Macbeth’s fear and ambition now are leading him to kill not only people who are a threat to him, but their families as well. In Scene 2, Lady Macduff complains about her husband and how he is a coward for leaving his family. She is angry and believes that “when our actions do not, our fears make us traitors” (4.2.5), meaning she thinks he ran away to England out of cowardice, and that makes him a traitor to his family. Lady Macduff’s demands to know why her husband left and her accusing him of being a coward, showing how Shakespeare uses the theme of manhood again. Lady Macbeth’s angry complaints imply that a real man would not sacrifice his family’s safety for the good of his country. Lady Macduff strongly believes that her husband in a traitor and that “his flight was madness” (4.2.4). When telling her son that his father has fled she tells him that his father is dead, and explains to her son that a traitor is the “one who swears and lies” (4.2.54) and that “everyone that does so is a traitor and must be hanged” (4.2.56). Macduff’s son is really smart and realizes after learning from his mother what it is to be a traitor that those who allow themselves to be hanged are fools because there are much more traitors in the world than honest people. Like Lady Macbeth, Lady Macduff also accuses her husband of being a coward and not being a man. However, I think Lady Macduff does so because she feels betrayed and sad that her husband left her to pursue his own selfish ambitions. To her, unlike Lady Macbeth, what makes of him a coward is leaving his family, while Lady Macbeth thinks that being a coward is not going after his ambitions. While tracing both these characters I was able to perceive this contrast between their personalities. They have different perceptions of what it means to be a man.
 -- Philip Weller, November 13, 1941 - February 1, 2021 Dr. Weller, an Eastern Washington University professor of English and Shakespearean scholar for more than 50 years. Detailed Summary of Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 2Page Index:
Enter Lady Macduff, her Son, and Ross:
As the scene opens, Ross has already told Lady Macduff that her husband has fled from Scotland, and she is already extremely upset. She exclaims, "What had he done, to make him fly the land?" (4.2.1). Ross tries to get her to calm down, but she replies that her husband's "flight was madness: when our actions do not, / Our fears do make us traitors" (4.2.3-4). She means that her husband has done nothing traitorous, but running away from Scotland makes it look like he has. Still trying to calm her down, Ross says that she doesn't know whether it was wisdom or fear that made her husband go to England. Ross is suggesting that Macduff's wisdom made him go, but Lady Macduff declares that it must have been his fear. Otherwise, why would he leave his wife, children, and possessions behind? If Scotland isn't safe for him, it can't be safe for them. Then Lady Macduff gives voice to her own worst fear: "He loves us not; / He wants the natural touch: for the poor wren, / The most diminutive of birds, will fight, / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl" (4.2.11). Her metaphor shows that she knows that Macduff, by himself, wouldn't have much of a chance against Macbeth and all the powers a king can command. In such a fight Macduff would be the wren and Macbeth the owl, the bird of night and death. Even so, she's angry with her husband because she wants him with her. Trying to reassure the lady, Ross tells her that he is sure her husband is "noble, wise, judicious" (4.2.16), and knows best how to act in these dangerous times, "when we are traitors / And do not know ourselves" (4.2.18-19). He means that under Macbeth (who keeps a spy in every house) anyone can become a traitor without even knowing it. Under these conditions people believe rumors because of what they fear, yet don't know exactly what it is they fear, and don't know which way to turn. Or, in Ross's words, "we hold rumour / From what we fear, yet know not what we fear, / But float upon a wild and violent sea / Each way and none" (4.2.22). Thus Ross suggests that even if Macduff did flee because he was afraid, he probably had good reason to be afraid, because Macbeth makes everyone afraid. Now Ross says he must leave, promises to return, and tries to comfort the lady with the idea that things can't get much worse. Exit Ross: Touched by the plight of the mother and son, Ross says that he'll weep if he stays any longer, then leaves quickly. Once he's gone, Lady Macduff tries to make light of the situation by pretending to believe that things are worse than they really are. She says to her son, "Sirrah, your father's dead; / And what will you do now? How will you live?" (4.2.30-31). This is a joke. It may be a bitter joke, but it's still a joke. As the boy's replies will show, he doesn't for a minute believe that his father is really dead. His answer to her question of how he will live is "As birds do, mother" (4.2.32), and when she asks if that means he will eat worms and flies, he replies "With what I get, I mean; and so do they" (4.2.33). What the birds get is provided by God, as Jesus said: "Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them" (Matt. 6:26). Lady Macduff comments, "Poor bird! thou'ldst never fear the net nor lime" (4.2.34). "The net" and "lime" (birdlime, a sticky substance) were the two most common ways of catching birds, but this boy -- his mother says -- is so innocent or stupid that he wouldn't fear either one. The boy is unfazed. He takes the word "poor" to mean "little," and says that poor birds are too little to be trapped. Now the boy tries to turn the tables on his mother. He says that he knows that his father is not dead, despite what his mother has said. Teasing, she says again that his father is dead, and asks what he will do for a father. He throws it back on her and asks what she will do for a husband. She says that she can buy twenty husbands at any market. He answers that if she did that, she'd just sell them again. She then acknowledges that there's a lot of truth in his joke. Apparently they both mean that none of those twenty husbands would be good enough for her, because none of them would be as good as Macduff. As though he knows exactly what is on his mother's mind, the boy asks, "Was my father a traitor, mother?" (4.2.44). Continuing to joke with her son as she has before, Lady Macduff says that yes, her husband was a traitor. (Note that they are now both talking in the past tense, as though Macduff has already been hung for being a traitor.) Starting a rather long joke, the boy asks what a traitor is, and his mother answers that a traitor is a person who lies while he swears that he is telling the truth. The boy then asks if all traitors have to be hung. His mother says yes, they must be. Finally, the boy asks who hangs the traitors, and his mother answers that the honest men do that. Now comes the punch line of the joke. The boy says, "Then the liars and swearers are fools, for there are liars and swearers enow [enough] to beat the honest men and hang up them" (4.2.56-58). This joke probably gives Lady Macduff a little smile, because she calls her son a "monkey" and urges him on by asking him again what he will do for a father. The boy replies with another joke, saying "If he were dead, you'ld weep for him: if you would not, it were a good sign that I should quickly have a new father" (4.2.63). He knows that she's been joking because if she were the sort of woman who could hear of her husband's death without crying, she would be the sort of woman who would quickly get another husband, so the boy would quickly have a new father. Under the surface -- though not very far under the surface -- this joke means that Macduff is alive and that Lady Macduff dearly loves him. Still, this gallows-humor reflects the very real danger to mother and son. Enter Messenger: The messenger himself is in a panic. He tells Lady Macduff that she doesn't know who he is, but he knows who she is, and he thinks that she and her children are in great danger. He apologizes for frightening her, saying, "To fright you thus, methinks, I am too savage" (4.2.70), but then he adds that much worse could happen at any moment. With this, the messenger runs out of courage and runs out of the room, saying, "Heaven preserve you! / I dare abide no longer" (4.2.73-74). Now Lady Macduff realizes her absolute helplessness. She says, "Whither should I fly?" (4.2.74). She's already at home; if she's not safe there, she's not safe anywhere. Her next thought is that she has "done no harm" (4.2.75), but then she remembers that in this evil world, to do good is often dangerous, and she asks herself, "why then, alas, / Do I put up that womanly defence, / To say I have done no harm?" (4.2.78-80). As she says this, the murderers are upon her. There are only ten more lines in the scene, and it is too easy to read them quickly, which can make us miss the full horror that is enacted. The main thing to remember is that a child is murdered before our eyes. A murderer demands to know where Macduff is, but Lady Macduff stands up for her husband, saying, "I hope, in no place so unsanctified / Where such as thou mayst find him" (4.2.81-82). Her son also shows his courage. When a murderer says that Macduff is a traitor, the boy cries out, "Thou liest, thou shag-ear'd villain!" (4.2.83). Maybe the boy means that the murderer has a bad haircut, so that the hair hangs over his ears, or maybe he means that the murderer is an ass, and has an ass's hairy ears. In any case, his curse is a childish curse, and it emphasizes the terror of what is happening. In the next instant he is dying, and his mother is running away without any chance of escape. If we see all of this -- if only in our mind's eye -- it can make our stomachs churn and teach us the full force of Macbeth's evil. What does Lady Macduff think about her husband fleeing?Lady Macduff is angry that her husband has fled and left his wife and children unprotected. She thinks her husband does not love them, and Ross tries to explain to her that her husband was wise to flee. Ross, however, does not tell her where her husband has gone.
How does Lady Macduff feel about her husband?How does Lady Macduff feel about her husband's leaving her alone? Why has he done this? Lady Macduff accuses her husband of not loving his family enough and she says she and her children are abandoned.
What is Lady Macduff's response to Macduff going to England?At the beginning of Scene 2 Lady Macduff's response to Macduff going to England is to instantly assume he is a coward and think he is running away without his family. She calls him a coward, loveless, and a fool.
What does Lady Macduff say is the reason for her husband leaving?What does lady Macduff say is the reason for her husband leaving? Lady Macduff feels her husband is scared and is a traitor.
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How does Lady Macduff feel about her husband fleeing to England?
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