Act 5 Scene 9 Key Quotations


MALCOLM ...this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen Commentary


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In the play’s final scene, Malcolmis confirmed as the rightful heir to the throne. He is seen as a goodly king who is honoured by Macduff and all of the other thanes. Malcolm promises to reward all those who supported him: ‘We shall not spend a large expense of time / Before we reckonwith your several loves, /Andmake us evenwith you.’Malcolmpledges to justly punish Macbeth’s agents: ‘Producing forth the cruel ministers / Of this dead butcher’ and affirms the notion of his rule being divinely ordained: ‘by the grace ofGrace’. Shakespearemakes it clear that Malcolm will be a just and fair ruler.


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However, this final scene echoes Act 1, Scene 2. Like Malcolm, Duncan was a good king. Malcolmpromises to reward the thanes for their loyalty in battle just as Duncan rewarded his thanes (such as Macbeth) following the battle with Macdonwald. The play ends much like it starts, thus suggesting a cycle of violence which is set to begin again.


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The issue of manliness is raised here once again. Siward is keen to know if his son has ‘his hurts before’ (wounds on the front). It consoles himthatYoung Siward died facing his enemy. Ross celebratesYoung Siward’s courage in battle: ‘like aman he died’and this prompts Siward to call his son ‘God’s soldier’. The importance of bravery in battle as an emblemofmasculinity is explored yet again. Throughout Macbeth Shakespeare asks what it means to be a man. Siward (much like Macbeth) equates masculinity with courage.


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The once noblewarrior,Macbeth,meets an ignoble ending, bereft of dignity.His severed head is a fitting end to his villainy and bloody reign.


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By the end of the play the audience appreciates how Macbeth’s pride and ambition overcame his conscience.Without forgiving himhis crimes,we sympathisewith a potentially greatman, who, through intense suffering, comes to understand his own flawed humanity.What resonates at the end ofMacbeth is a vision of its protagonist’s tortured soul and humanity’s capacity for evil. The audience learns to fear the consequences andmoral cost of unrestrained ambition and unchecked pride.


Questions 1. Why does Siward feel that his son died an honourable death?


2. Malcolm describes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as ‘this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen’. Do you think this is a fair and accurate description? Explain your answer.


3. Do you feel that Malcolm will make a better king than Macbeth? Explain your answer. 4. (a) In what ways does this final scene recall Act 1, Scene 2? (b) What is Shakespeare suggesting by this?


5. Why does the audience pity Macbeth at the end of the play? 136


Macbeth


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