Act IV - Scene II

[Fife. Macduff's castle.]

Enter Macduff's wife, her Son, and Ross.

LADY MACDUFF:
What had he done, to make him fly the land?
ROSS:
You must have patience, madam.
LADY MACDUFF:
He had none;
His flight was madness. When our actions do not,
Our fears do make us traitors.(5)
ROSS:
You know not
Whether it was his wisdom or his fear.
LADY MACDUFF:
Wisdom? To leave his wife, to leave his
babes,
His mansion, and his titles, in a place(10)
From whence himself does fly? 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.
All is the fear and nothing is the love;(15)
As little is the wisdom, where the flight
So runs against all reason.
ROSS:
My dearest coz,
I pray you, school yourself. But for your husband,
He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows(20)
The fits o’ the season. I dare not speak much further;
But cruel are the times, when we are traitors
And do not know ourselves; when we hold rumor
From what we fear, yet know not what we fear,
But float upon a wild and violent sea(25)
Each way and move. I take my leave of you;
Shall not be long but I'll be here again.
Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward
To what they were before. My pretty cousin,
Blessing upon you!(30)
LADY MACDUFF:
Father'd he is, and yet he's fatherless.
ROSS:
I am so much a fool, should I stay longer,
It would be my disgrace and your discomfort.
I take my leave at once.

Exit Ross.

LADY MACDUFF:
Sirrah, your father's dead.(35)
And what will you do now? How will you live?
SON:
As birds do, Mother.
LADY MACDUFF:
What, with worms and flies?
SON:
With what I get, I mean; and so do they.
LADY MACDUFF:
Poor bird! Thou'ldst never fear the net nor(40)
lime,
The pitfall nor the gin.
SON:
Why should I, Mother? Poor birds they are not set for.
My father is not dead, for all your saying.
LADY MACDUFF:
Yes, he is dead. How wilt thou do for a father?(45)
SON:
Nay, how will you do for a husband?
LADY MACDUFF:
Why, I can buy me twenty at any market.
SON:
Then you'll buy ’em to sell again.
LADY MACDUFF:
Thou speak'st with all thy wit, and yet, i’ faith,
With wit enough for thee.(50)
SON:
Was my father a traitor, Mother?
LADY MACDUFF:
Ay, that he was.
SON:
What is a traitor?
LADY MACDUFF:
Why, one that swears and lies.
SON:
And be all traitors that do so?(55)
LADY MACDUFF:
Everyone that does so is a traitor and must
be hanged.
SON:
And must they all be hanged that swear and lie?
LADY MACDUFF:
Every one.
SON:
Who must hang them?(60)
LADY MACDUFF:
Why, the honest men.
SON:
Then the liars and swearers are fools; for there are liars
and swearers enough to beat the honest men and hang up
them.
LADY MACDUFF:
Now, God help thee, poor monkey! But how(65)
wilt thou do for a father?
SON:
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.
LADY MACDUFF:
Poor prattler, how thou talk'st!(70)

Enter a Messenger.

MESSENGER:
Bless you, fair dame! I am not to you known,
Though, in your state of honor I am perfect.
I doubt some danger does approach you nearly.
If you will take a homely man's advice,
Be not found here; hence, with your little ones.(75)
To fright you thus, methinks I am too savage;
To do worse to you were fell cruelty,
Which is too nigh your person. Heaven preserve you!
I dare abide no longer.

Exit.

LADY MACDUFF:
Whither should I fly?(80)
I have done no harm. But I remember now
I am in this earthly world, where to do harm
Is often laudable, to do good sometime
Accounted dangerous folly. Why then, alas,
Do I put up that womanly defense,(85)
To say I have done no harm?—What are these faces?

Enter Murderers.

FIRST MURDERER:
Where is your husband?
LADY MACDUFF:
I hope, in no place so unsanctified Where such as thou mayst find him.
FIRST MURDERER:
He's a traitor.
SON:
Thou liest, thou shag-ear'd villain!(90)
FIRST MURDERER:
What, you egg!

[Stabs him.]

Young fry of treachery!
SON:
He has kill'd me, Mother.
Run away, I pray you!

Exit [Lady Macduff], crying “Murder!”

[Exeunt murderers.]

Act IV - Scene III
Act IV - Scene I

Footnotes

  1. To a modern audience, the main association with this word refers to someone whose features are plain or unattractive. However, in this context the messenger wants to come across as friendly and unthreatening, so the connotation here is that he is plain and simple in an appealing kind of way.

    — Wesley, Owl Eyes Editor

  2. Lady Macduff's son jokingly answers her question with a simile which his mother then continues this idea of her son as a bird with an extended metaphor. His response of "With what I get, I mean; and so do they" means that he will get by however he can. Their witty repartee reveals a fond and loving relationship and makes the end of the scene all the more tragic.

    — Wesley, Owl Eyes Editor

  3. This is an example of verbal irony in which Lady Macduff says one thing but intends to be understood as meaning something that contrasts with what she says. In this case, she tells her son that Macduff is dead even though the boy knows this is not the case.

    — Wesley, Owl Eyes Editor

  4. By "ourselves," Ross means that they do not know one another. Because of Macbeth's spy network throughout the country, it's likely that many innocent and good people have been denounced as traitors, and this would make everyone suspicious of each other. This line helps to reaffirm the tyrannical qualities of Macbeth's leadership.

    — Wesley, Owl Eyes Editor

  5. Ross uses a shortened form of the word "cousin" to fondly address Lady Macduff. While "coz" can maintain its connotations of fondness and endearment without specifically referring to a family member, it is clear that Ross is actually related to Lady Macduff when he calls her cousin later in this speech.

    — Wesley, Owl Eyes Editor

  6. Lady Macduff means that even though she believes Macduff took no direct actions that revealed him as a traitor, the fact that he ran away in fear makes it seem as if he were a traitor to others.

    — Wesley, Owl Eyes Editor