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What does Macbeth mean when he says his "bloody cousins" are in England and Ireland?

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When Macbeth says his "bloody cousins" are in England and Ireland, he is referring to Malcolm and Donalbain, King Duncan's sons, who fled after their father's murder. Macbeth uses the term "bloody" to falsely accuse them of the murder, deflecting suspicion from himself. He also mentions that they are spreading stories about the murder, which he sees as a threat to his power.

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Just prior to Banquo's trip with Fleance, his son, Macbeth tells him:

We hear our bloody cousins are bestowed
In England and in Ireland, not confessing
Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers
With strange invention. (3.1.33-36)

After Duncan's body was discovered by Macduff in Act 2, Scene 3, we hear that Malcolm and Donalbain, Duncan's sons, decide to flee to England and Ireland, respectively. They believe that someone within their father's circle of trust is his murderer and that "there's daggers in men's smiles" (2.3.165). In other words, anyone can appear to be a loyal friend while planning murderous deeds in secret. Macbeth has obviously gotten some intelligence from his spies that this is, in fact, where his cousins have fled. After the king's sons flee Scotland, people come to believe that they "suborned" Duncan's chamberlains to commit the murder for them (2.4.35). This is why Macbeth refers to them as "bloody"; it deflects attention away from him if people continue to believe that someone else is responsible for the regicide.

Macbeth further states that Malcolm and Donalbain refuse to confess to the murder -- which they did not actually commit, mind you -- and that they are telling untrue stories about who is really guilty to anyone who will listen. When we actually see Malcolm, later, he tells Macduff that the king of England has promised him a seasoned military leader, "Old Siward with ten thousand warlike men"(4.3.153) to fight Macbeth for the Scots throne. This, again, seems to confirm that Macbeth is receiving intelligence from informants in the English (and Irish) court.

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