This is a really interesting question to consider. On the
one hand, obviously he wasn't the one who ordered the slaughter of his family, yet on
the other hand, he did flee to England, leaving them alone and vulnerable. Presumably he
thought that as his quarrel was with Macbeth alone, his family was safe. Being a noble
man himself perhaps he underestimated Macbeth's evil nature and the lengths that he was
willing to go to to secure his power, even if women and children stood in the
way.
However, if you analyse Act IV scene 2, it is clear
that his wife is very away of the vulnerable position that he has left them in. Consider
what she says to her cousin, Rosse:
Wisdom! to leave his wife, to leave his
babes,
His mansion, and his titles in a
place
From whence himself does
fly?
She certainly questions
the "wisdom" that leads him to desert them and leave them open to Macbeth's evil plan to
kill them. Thus we can perhaps say that Macduff is at least partly responsible, for he
could have taken his wife and children with him to England for their
protection.
No comments:
Post a Comment