Macduff plays a pivotal role in the play: he suspects Macbeth of regicide and eventually kills Macbeth in the final act.

Malcolm, Macduff, and the English forces march on Macbeth, and Macduff kills him.

Rather than fatally stabbing Macbeth and then beheading the dead body, Macduff kills Macbeth by slashing off his head.

First, they conjure an armed head, which tells him to beware of Macduff ( 4. 1. 72 ).

When this news of his family ’ s execution reaches him, Macduff is stricken with grief and vows revenge.

Prince Malcolm, Duncan ’ s son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth ’ s forces.

When Macduff learns of the murders of his wife and child, Malcolm consoles him unsympathetically with encouragement to take the news in “ manly ” fashion and use it to fuel his hatred of Macbeth.

Malcolm ’ s comment shows that he has learned the lesson Macduff gave him on the feeling nature of true masculinity.

The play should have ended with Macbeth's death, but McGonagall believed the actor playing Macduff was trying to upstage him, and refused to die.

Two days after the wedding, Queen Victoria created him Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

Interestingly, Macduff ’ s name does not appear in this scene ; rather, Banquo refers to him as “ Dear Duff ” ( 2. 3. 75 ).

However, Macduff flees to England to join Malcolm, the slain King Duncan ’ s elder son, and convinces him to return to Scotland and claim the throne.

Macduff ultimately presents Macbeth ’ s head to Malcolm, hailing him as king and calling on the other thanes to declare their allegiance with him ( 5. 11. 20-25 ).

In an exchange between the Scottish thane Lennox and another lord, Lennox talks of Macduff ’ s flight to England and refers to him as “ some holy angel ” ( 3. 6. 46 ) who “ may soon return to this our suffering country / Under a hand accursed ” ( 3. 6. 48-49 ).

Lady Macduff challenges her husband ’ s actions, questioning, “ What had he done to make him fly the land ?” and raising a question of loyalty that the play never fully resolves.

Davenant greatly expanded Lady Macduff ’ s role, having her appear in four new scenes: “ the first with Lady Macbeth, the second with her husband in which they are visited by the witches, the third in which she tries to dissuade him from opposing Macbeth, and the fourth where, hearing of Banquo ’ s murder, she urges Macduff to flee to England .” These revisions greatly increased her role as a foil to Lady Macbeth, with Lady Macbeth dedicated to evil and Lady Macduff dedicated to good.

* Macbeth suffers from hubris, leading to the murder of Duncan I of Scotland ; he later becomes paranoid, leading him to order the deaths of Banquo and the family of Macduff: Macbeth

Though he may not have been of a woman born in the conventional sense ( thus fulfilling the prophecy ), Macduff ultimately originates from woman, asserting that he was “ from his mother ’ s womb.

Macduff declares that he was " from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd " ( 5. 8. 15 – 16 ), ( i. e., born by Caesarean section ) and was not " of woman born " ( an example of a literary quibble ), fulfilling the second prophecy.

His first American film role was as Macduff in Orson Welles ' version of Macbeth ( 1948 ).

The later prophecy by the first apparition of the witches that Macbeth should " Beware Macduff " is also a self-fulfilling prophecy.

His first cousin, James George Alexander Bannerman Carnegie ( b. 23 September 1929 ), succeeded as 3rd Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff, upon Princess Alexandra's death on 26 February 1959.

The titles Marquess of Macduff ( created 1889 ), Earl Fife ( 1759 ), Earl of Fife ( 1885 ), Viscount Macduff ( 1759 ), Baron Braco ( 1735 ), and Baron Skene ( 1857 ) became extinct along with the first Dukedom of Fife.

Macduff first appears in Holinshed's narrative of King Duncan after Macbeth has killed the monarch and reigned as King of Scotland for 10 years.

Macduff makes his first appearance in the play in 2. 3 when he discovers the corpse of King Duncan in Macbeth ’ s castle.

When the 1st Duke died in 1912, the Earldom became extinct, along with the first Dukedom of Fife, the Marquessate of Macduff, the newer Earldom of Fife, the Viscountcy of Macduff and the Baronies of Braco and Skene.

Clan Macduff is the first Scottish clan to be recognized as a clan by the Scottish Parliament, by legislation dated November 1384.

Welles brought in Irish actor Dan O ' Herlihy in his first U. S. film role as Macduff, and cast former child star Roddy McDowall as Malcolm.

In 2000 he appeared for the first time at the Berlin State Opera-as Macduff in Macbeth.

While Macbeth and Lady Macbeth insist that manhood implies a denial of feeling ( 1. 7. 45-57 ), Macduff insists that emotional depth and sensitivity are part of what it means to be a man.

Depicted, counter clockwise from top-left, are: Macbeth and Banquo meet the witch es ; just after the murder of King_Duncan | Duncan ; Banquo's ghost ; Macbeth duels Macduff ; and Macbeth.

Shakespeare's source for the tragedy are the accounts of King Macbeth of Scotland, Macduff, and Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles ( 1587 ), a history of England, Scotland and Ireland familiar to Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

Early the next morning, Lennox, a Scottish nobleman, and Macduff, the loyal Thane of Fife, arrive.

A porter opens the gate and Macbeth leads them to the king's chamber, where Macduff discovers Duncan's body.

Macduff is immediately suspicious of Macbeth, but does not reveal his suspicions publicly.

Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England.

Macbeth orders Macduff's castle be seized, and, most cruelly, sends murderers to slaughter Macduff ’ s wife and children.

Everyone in Macduff's castle is put to death, including Lady Macduff and their young son.

Bemoaning the murders of Duncan, Lady Macduff, and Banquo, she tries to wash off imaginary bloodstains from her hands, all the while speaking of the terrible things she knows she pressed her husband to do.

In England, Macduff is informed by Ross that his " castle is surprised ; wife and babes / Savagely slaughter'd " ( 4. 3. 204-5 ).

Malcolm leads an army, along with Macduff and Englishmen Siward ( the Elder ), the Earl of Northumberland, against Dunsinane Castle.

Macbeth boasts that he has no reason to fear Macduff, for he cannot be killed by any man born of woman.

Macduff carries Macbeth's head onstage and Malcolm discusses how order has been restored.

Macbeth has a long, ten-year reign before eventually being overthrown by Macduff and Malcolm.

Macbeth finds that there are always potential threats to the throne — such as Banquo, Fleance, and Macduff — and he is tempted to use violent means to dispose of them.