Macduff (thane)

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Macduff is a fictional character in Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

He is the Thane of Fife, and flees to England to Malcolm, the son of King Duncan when he suspects that the king was slain by Macbeth. In his absence, his castle is ambushed and his wife and children slaughtered. He later fights Macbeth during a war to take back the throne; it has been prophecied that Macbeth cannot be killed by any "man of woman born," but Macduff reveals he was born by caesarean section, and kills him.

While being a fictional character, the MacDuff Clan were the most powerful family in Fife in the medieval ages. The ruins of their castle now lie in Wemyss cemetery.

Memorable Lines

• "Turn, hell-hound, turn!"
• "What, all my pretty chickens and their dam at one fell swoop?"
• "Despair thy charm; and let the angel whom thou still hast served tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd."

Note that the common English saying, "Lead on, MacDuff", meaning "Go ahead and I'll follow you" is a misquote of MacBeth's final lines in the play: "Lay On MacDuff, and damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'"

 

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