Bloody Children

    MacBeth is not a pretty story--that much can be determined without even delving that deep into the text. As tragic and violent as this play is from the start, however, it should be noted that the play’s intensity only increases throughout the various scenes and acts.
    By Act IV MacBeth is well past the point of no return. With several murders already under his belt (Duncan, the servants, Banquo), Macbeth shows no hesitation in killing a child. If the murder of the above mentioned were not cruel or vicious enough, the murder of MacDuff’s wife and son stands to prove that MacBeth has absolutely no moral compass left in him.
    Typically when we define “the weak” or vulnerable, the young, the old, and the sick are the demographics that are being addressed. In this case, “the weak” is a child and a woman. Preying on the vulnerable is probably one of the monstrous things a person can do, as they cannot do anything to defend themselves. MacBeth does exactly this, which leads us to the conclusion that Act IV is the darkest act in tone so far.
    The most alarming aspect about this deed is that the murder of the child and wife are not even acts of war. They are not killed for political gain, but for the sheer joy of this insane, ambitious psychopath. The intent behind the murders is to hurt MacDuff emotionally. Since this hero has fled to Scotland, MacBeth instead targets those who are closest to him. The other intent behind killing MacDuff’s son is to extinguish his family lines, just as he attempted to murder both Banquo and Fleance This play examines the great lengths MacBeth will go not only to have power, but to keep the power and pass it along throughout generations.
    Another aspect of this act that makes it dark in tone is the fact that MacBeth doesn’t even have to do his own bidding. Contrary to the first murders, (of Duncan and his servants) MacBeth is now powerful enough to hire assassins to ransack the MacDuff household and murder the wife and child. It is obviously immoral to kill, but to be responsible for the murder and not even do the deed oneself is the definition of evil. He is able to kill without getting any blood on his hands, so he isn’t even putting himself at risk.
    Upon completion of Act IV in class, I made a prediction of what was to come in Act V. “There will be bloodshed,” I predicted. “I bet MacDuff will use his grief to empower the tyrannical ruler that we have come to know as MacBeth.”
                                                        Spoiler alert!

   He does...but before he does MacBeth isn’t done with his slaughter of children. In Act V Macbeth kills Young Siward, the son of the Earl of Northumberland who is Malcom and MacDuff’s ally. Again, the lack of remorse for taking a young life is lost on MacBeth, who is only interested in protecting himself and his legacy.
   The bloody child that appears during the witches scene assures MacBeth that "no man born a woman can harm him", which we later learn is because MacDuff was torn out of his mother's womb prematurely. However, it can also be interpreted to be dealing with the bloody children that die at the hands of MacBeth and his men.