ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The boy appears in only one scene (4.2), in which he briefly banters with his mother and is then murdered by Macbeth’s thugs. The scene’s purpose is twofold: it provides Shakespeare’s audience with a thrillingly horrific moment, and it underscores the depravity into which Macbeth has fallen.

Detailed explanation-2: -We see the increasing degradation and brutality of Macbeth’s reign: Banquo was assassinated for a purpose; Lady Macduff and her son, who are entirely innocent, are brutally murdered for pure spite.

Detailed explanation-3: -Lady Macduff tells her son that his father is dead and was a traitor, but he teases her and knows it is not true. A messenger advises Lady Macduff to flee with her family, but she does not go, saying she has ‘done no harm’. Murderers arrive seeking Macduff and, finding him gone, they kill both his son and wife.

Detailed explanation-4: -Macbeth kills Macduff’s family to punish him and to deter him from fighting against Macbeth. Macbeth orders Macduff’s family killed after he receives the second set of prophecies from the witches. He believes he is basically invincible but heeds the warning to ‘’beware Macduff.

Detailed explanation-5: -She is married to Lord Macduff, the Thane of Fife. Her appearance in the play is brief: she and her son are introduced in Act IV Scene II, a climactic scene that ends with both of them being murdered on Macbeth’s orders.