Thursday, April 26, 2012

Explain this quotation from Lady Macduff in Macbeth: "I hope in no place so unsanctified/Where such as thou mayst find him."Act IV, Scene ii of...

Lady Macduff has just been informed by Ross that her
husband has fled Scotland.  But Ross won't divulge to her Macduff's suspicions about
Macbeth and the reasons he has fled, so she assumes that her husband is behaving in a
cowardly way to flee and leave his wife and children.


When
Ross leaves, she tells her son that his father is dead, and yet, when the murderers
barge in a few lines later, she staunchly defends her
husband:


readability="8">

First
Murderer


Where is your
husband?


Lady
Macduff


I hope, in no place so
unsanctified


Where such as
thou mayst find
him.



And when
the Murderer calls Macduff a traitor, his son defends his father -- "Thou liest, thou
shag-hair'd villain!"


So, this quote you have referenced is
meant to show that even though she has no idea where Macduff has gone or what the
reasons for his fleeing are, she is still willing to defend him, telling the Murderer
that she certainly hopes her husband would never be any place so unholy ("unsanctified")
as any place that the Murderer might be able to find him, implying that her husband is
too good and honorable for that.

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