Expectations Regarding the Loss of Family Members: Contrast between Men and Women

The departure of Macduff sends Lady Macduff into shock and disarray. Lady Macduff expresses her astonishment at her husband leaving not only herself and their children but also their home. She must frantically decide what to do and where to go with her children. A conversation between Lady Macduff and her son unfolds regarding the circumstances. She poses the question of what will happen to her son without a father: “Yes, he is dead. How wilt thou do for a father? / Nay, how will you do for a husband?” (4.2.45-6) Instead of focusing on the changes that come from losing his father, her son turns his attention to his mother. This signals that society focuses on how women, as the more “fragile” gender, react to major life changes. Societal expectations include women marrying again to continue their positions as ladies of society. The son’s response also reflects how people fret more over what becomes of a woman without a husband than a child without a father. In contrast, if a woman left, the attention would turn to the motherless children and would not include an immediate discussion of the father marrying again.

Eventually Lady Macduff gets defensive about what to do and where to go but realizes that she has no need to defend herself: “Why then, alas, / Do I put up that womanly defense / To say I have done no harm?” (4.2.85-7) This instance relates how women often feel the need to stay on guard to dismiss potential questioning and doubt from others. The feminization of a defensive nature demonstrates how women often feel inferior to their male counterparts. Also, in contrast to the text, the movie includes both the son and a daughter, not just the son, in the exchange with Lady Macduff. This change expresses how the loss of a family member affects both genders and how women, even as children, have and want to express their own opinions separate from men.