“To Meet with Macbeth,” given by tutor Louis ... - St. John's College

Lady Macduff.
Sirrah, your father’s dead:
And what will you do now? How will you live?
Son.
As birds do, mother.
Lady Macduff.
What, with worms and flies?
Son.
With what I get, I mean; and so do they.
(IV.ii.30-33)
Their sacred dialogue lasts only thirty-two lines, enough for Shakespeare to make us care about this boy
and his mother as they try to interpret their condition of abandonment through questions and answers
that reach from earth to heaven. Can a living father give his children something better than what nature
offers (“worms and flies”) to the getting hand of the fatherless? Is there living truth that defines the
liars and honest men? Which of these men is the stronger? The boy takes heart that his mother is not
weeping, and she takes comfort in his precocious talk. That is the cue for the messenger, another
cowardly pronouncer of blessings:
Enter a Messenger
Messenger.
Bless you fair dame!
. . . .
I doubt some danger does approach you nearly;
. . . .
Be not found here; hence, with your little ones.
. . . .
Heaven preserve you!
I dare abide no longer.
Exit Messenger (IV.ii.63, 65, 67, 70-71)
Then an extraordinary turn is taken by Lady Macduff’s distressed mind. Perhaps one of the spirits that
tend on mortal thoughts visits her to supply exactly the reflection she needs to keep hold on herself, her
husband, and their family as harm swiftly comes upon her and the children without the least hindrance:
Lady Macduff.
Whither should I fly?
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