Thursday, 6 November 2025

Macbeth Death Remix

A thought relating to Macbeth and his demise in Shakespeare’s play came to mind earlier, and so hopefully quickly I’ll relate said thought. In the play near its end, Macbeth encounters Macduff, eager to rid the land of Macbeth and his murderous tyranny, but Macbeth, owing to an earlier prophecy given him by three unsavory witches, is confident he cannot be defeated by any rival:


Macbeth: I bear a charmed life that must not yield
To one of woman born.
Macduff: Despair thy charm
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee Macduff was from his mother's womb

Untimely ripped. 

And so, because Macduff was born of a caesarean birth, very dubiously this is meant to imply he was not of a woman born, and so Macduff then kills Macbeth. My modern take on this episode though is as follows:

Macbeth: I bear a charmed life that must not yield
To one of woman born.
Macduff: Despair thy charm
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee Macduff’s birthing person was 
A man!

And then Macduff, having been not of a woman born but instead birthed by a man, slays Macbeth whose complacent failure to be progressively aware can genuinely be said to cost him his life.

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