Ali+and+Brad--Macduff

[|Macduff] has a significant role in Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macduff stands for moral order and can be considered the antagonist in Macbeth. When Macbeth kills King Duncan in his sleep, Macduff finds the corpse and immediately alerts anyone that he can about the murder. The next morning Macduff and Ross share ideas over who could have killed [|King Duncan] and Macduff directs his suspicion towards Macbeth. As a result of King Duncan being killed, Macbeth is crowned King of Scotland and the power goes to Macbeth's head. Macbeth begins killing people who he cannot trust and eventually he begins killing on impulse. This power thirsty Macbeth causes Macduff to flee to England in search of the late King Duncan's son Malcolm. [|Macduff] hopes to find Malcolm and receive his help in forcefully taking back the throne of Scotland from the now tyrannical Macbeth. While Macduff is in England, [|Macbeth] has a dinner party. At this dinner party Macbeth is haunted by a ghost of Banquo and the dinner is cut short. Following the dinner Macbeth realizes that Macduff was not present and this immediately raises his suspicions. Macbeth sends an assassin to kill Macduff's wife and child based on this suspicion. Macduff soon learns of their murder and is outraged. He returns to Scotland to fight with Macbeth. Macbeth willing accepts the challenge because he thinks that no man who is woman born can hurt him. Well it turns out that Macduff was not technically of woman born and he succeeds in killing Macbeth. With the killing of Macbeth, [|Malcolm] is crowned King of Scotland.
 * Who is Macduff?**

[|Jesus Christ] is the key figure of Christianity. He is the son of God, his only begotten son, who descended from Heaven to the womb of a woman known as Mary. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin. Jesus was born in Israel 2000 years ago. For the first thirty years of his life Jesus lived a traditionally Jewish lifestyle. Throughout this time, all of Israel was under Caesar’s Roman dictatorship, including [|Bethlehem], which is where Jesus was born, and [|Nazareth], which is where Jesus was raised. It was not until his thirties that Jesus began his public speaking and miraculous miracles. Although he never went further than 200 miles from his birthplace his reputation had spread nation wide in three years. The [|Roman governors] and rulers of Israel’s provinces and the leaders of the Jewish people began to keep a close eye on him. When the Jewish leaders found out Jesus was claiming to be God they were furious. That was a direct violation of the Jewish law so they had asked the Roman government to execute him. The Romans had several trials and found in each case that he was not guilty of any Roman laws. Even the Jewish leaders saw that other than the claim to being God, Jesus had followed all the laws perfectly. The Jewish leaders were not satisfied so they convinced [|Pilate] and a Roman governor of the Southern province of Israel to authorize an execution. Jesus was viciously tortured and then had his hands and feet nailed to a cross. This form of execution limited the airflow to his lungs, killing him in three hours. According to more than 500 witnesses, Jesus returned from the dead three days later, and over the next 40 days journeyed in both the southern and northern provinces of Israel. To many, this was proof that Jesus’ claims to being God were true. Then Jesus returned to [|Jerusalem], the city where he had been executed, and left the earth alive by rising up into the sky.
 * [[image:http://godzdogz.op.org/uploaded_images/SacredHeartJesus2-732233.jpg width="119" height="160" align="left" caption="Jesus Christ" link="http://http://godzdogz.op.org/uploaded_images/SacredHeartJesus2-732233.jpg"]]Who is J****es****us?**

Macduff and Jesus are similar because a person or group feared them both. For Jesus it was the Romans and Jewish people, and for Macduff it was Macbeth. When Jesus broke away from Judaism and began to gain a large number of followers, the Romans and Jews were not pleased. The Jews feared Jesus would disregard the Jewish values and draw people away from the religion. The Romans feared that Jesus was going to gain a large amount of support from the common people causing the central government to lose power over them. Both the Jews and the Romans feared Jesus’ power to convert and give hope to the common person so they crucified him. Although Macduff was not feared by a large number of people as Jesus was, he was still feared by Macbeth. When Macbeth realized that Macduff had fled Scotland to go summon help from King Duncan’s son, Malcolm, he feared that Macduff had turned on him. This is why he had Macduff’s wife and son killed. Although Macbeth had a brief period where he thought he was invincible, he realized his original fear of Macduff was correct when Macduff killed him.
 * Macduff vs. Jesus: A Comparison**

It can also be argued that Macduff and Jesus are related because they are considered saviors for a group of people. When Macduff kills Macbeth he is riding Scotland of an evil and corrupt ruler. Macbeth’s death results in Malcolm gaining the status of King of Scotland and the people of Scotland are saved.

"Hail, King! for so thou art. Behold where stands Th' usurper's cursed head. The time is free. I see thee compassed with thy kingdom's pearl, That speak my salutation in their minds, Whose voices I desire aloud with mine. Hail King of Scotland!" (5.8 189).

Macduff rescuing Scotland from Macbeth’s oppressive reign is similar to Jesus rescuing Christians from sin. Jesus is sent by God to die on the cross for all who believe in the Christian faith. Essentially Jesus is riding the people of an evil force just as Macduff relieved the people of Scotland.

The desire displayed by Macduff to kill Macbeth is also similar to Jesus’ desire to destroy the influence of Satan. This passage spoken by Macduff shows his determination, much like Jesus’.

“O, I could play the woman with mine eyes And braggart with my tongue! But, gentle heavens, Cut short all intermission! Front to front Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself. Within my sword’s length set him. If he ‘scape, Heaven forgive him too” (4.3 155).