ly say 'You have no children,' not 'He has no
children.' But what Macduff does is precisely what Constance does in the
line quoted from _King John_. And it should be noted that, all through
the passage down to this point, and indeed in the fifteen lines which
precede our quotation, Macduff listens only to Ross. His questions 'My
children too?' 'My wife killed too?' show that he cannot fully realise
what he is told. When Malcolm interrupts, therefore, he puts aside his
suggestion with four words spoken to himself, or (less probably) to Ross
(his relative, who knew his wife and children), and continues his
agonised questions and exclamations. Surely it is not likely that at
that moment the idea of (_c_), an idea which there is nothing to
suggest, would occur to him.

In favour of (_c_) as against (_a_) I see no argument except that the
words of Macduff almost repeat those of Margaret; and this fact does not
seem to me to have much weight. It shows only that Shakespeare might
easily use the words in the sense of (_c_) if that sense were suitable
to the occasion. It is not unlikely, again, I think, that the words came
to him here because he had used them many years before;[296] but it does
not follow that he knew he was repeating them; or that, if he did, he
remembered the sense they had previously borne; or that, if he did
remember it, he might not use them now in another sense.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 294: So in Holinshed, as well as in the play, where however
'cousin' need not have its specific meaning.]

[Footnote 295: 'May,' Johnson conjectured, without necessity.]

[Footnote 296: As this point occurs here, I may observe that
Shakespeare's later tragedies contain many such reminiscences of the
tragic plays of his young days. For instance, cf. _Titus Andronicus_, I.
i. 150 f.:

In peace and honour rest you here, my sons,

* * * * *

Secure from worldly chances and mishaps!
Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells,
Here grow no damned drugs: here are no storms,
No noise, but silence and eternal sleep,

with _Macbeth_, III. ii. 22 f.:

Duncan is in his grave;
After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;
Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing,
Can touch him further.

In writing IV. i. Shakespeare can hardly have failed to remember the
conjuring of