Discussion Topic
The significant actions and climax of Act 5 in Shakespeare's Macbeth and their implications
Summary:
In Act 5 of Shakespeare's Macbeth, significant actions include Lady Macbeth's death, the advance of Malcolm's army, and Macbeth's final battle with Macduff. The climax occurs when Macduff kills Macbeth, fulfilling the witches' prophecy. These events lead to the restoration of order in Scotland and Malcolm's ascension to the throne, emphasizing themes of justice and the consequences of unchecked ambition.
What is the climax in Act 5 of Shakespeare's Macbeth and its implications?
When Macduff encounters Macbeth on the battlefield, the play is drawing near its climax. Macbeth is still full of his fighting spirit, and he has just finished killing one soldier who dared to confront him. Then Macduff appears and challenges him to hand-to-hand combat. They fight. Then Macbeth pauses and says:
Thou losest labor.
As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air
With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed:
Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests;
I bear a charmed life, which must not yield
To one of woman born.
Macduff's reply to this might be called the climax because it undermines Macbeth's morale. Macduff says:
Despair thy charm,
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb
Untimely ripp'd.
This is not only a surprise to Macbeth, but it comes as a complete surprise to the audience, who realize, along with Macbeth, that he has been deceived...
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by the three witches. It seems possible that Macduff has never mentioned the fact that he was delivered by what in those days must have been a horribly crude and painful operation which might have resulted in his mother's death. He may have kept the secret until this very moment because it was too painful for him to think about. He describes what happened at his birth as being "Untimely ripp'd."
No doubt the actor playing Macbeth would not respond immediately to this information. There might be a pronounced silence while he digests what he has heard and realizes all its implications. Macbeth has already lose one of his assurances when Birnam Wood appeared to be moving towards Dunsinane. At last he refuses to fight any longer. He knows he is sure to lose. But Macduff taunts him and forces him to continue the fight to the finish.
Under ordinary circumstances Macbeth should be able to beat Macduff, but because Macbeth is psychologically defeated, he is defeated in combat. Macduff has the upper hand for several reasons. Macbeth is unnerved by learning that his "charmed life" is not foolproof. He was reluctant to fight with Macduff in the first place because he felt guilty for the crimes he had committed against his adversary's family. And furthermore, Macduff is so strongly motivated to kill Macbeth for revenge that he seems possessed of superhuman strength.
In the end, Macduff kills Macbeth and displays his severed head. But the climax seems to have been reached earlier, when he says:
Macduff was from his mother's womb
Untimely ripp'd.
Which part of Act 5 is the climax in Macbeth?
There would actually be some debate as to whether or not the play's climax lies in this final Act. Some would say the murder of Duncan is climactic, since it demonstrates the moment of immorality in Macbeth. He has been loyal and brave, and in that act alone he becomes treacherous and sinful through an act he cannot take back. So his morality is forever lost. Others would argue Act Three, etc... But for this question we will deal maybe with what the climax of Act Five is.
There are two arguments here, or two different types of climaxes here. Macbeth's "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" speech has to be dealt with. Lady Macbeth has been pronounced dead by Seyton, a messenger; and in this moment, Macbeth explores the finality of life. It becomes a psychological climax as he expounds, "Life's but a walking shadow...a tale told / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury / Signifying nothing" (V.5.17-28). All things come to an end, all of us go through the action of life with starts and stops, fits and passions, only to become dust, only to all end up in the same place.
Then there is the climax of action, the physical fighting between Macduff and Macbeth in Scene 8. Macduff is avenging the death of his family, Malcolm is storming the castle to take back his rightful throne, Macbeth is trying to hang on as his allies dwindle. All this starts with "turn hell hound, turn!" (3), Macduff's line in Scene 8. Finally the tyrant is killed and order in Scotland is restored.