He has kill’d me, mother: / Run away, I pray you!
Act IV, Scene 2
Context
Macduff's son speaks these words after being stabbed by the murderer. With his final breath, he tells his mother to run and save herself rather than try to help him.
Analysis
The son's dying imperative—"Run away, I pray you!"—inverts the charge his mother made against his father at the scene's opening, when she condemned Macduff for fleeing. Now flight becomes an act of love rather than cowardice, and the son's switch from statement ("He has kill'd me") to command restructures the moment from tragedy to urgent tactics, showing clarity of mind even in death.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Act 4, Scene 2 systematically redefines courage and cowardice—the son's final words rehabilitate the concept of flight that Lady Macduff condemned earlier, suggesting that survival, not suicidal loyalty, is the morally responsible choice under tyranny.