Bleed, bleed, poor country! / Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure, / For goodness dare not check thee!
Act IV, Scene 3 · Macduff
Context
Macduff responds in despair after Malcolm claims he is unfit to rule. Macduff laments that Scotland is so broken that even tyranny can thrive unopposed.
Analysis
The imperative 'Bleed, bleed' doesn't describe Scotland—it commands it, as if Macduff is so defeated he now instructs his country to accept its suffering. This shift from description to bitter permission reveals his psychological breaking point. The personification of tyranny laying its 'basis sure' uses architectural language (foundation-setting) to make evil feel permanent and structural, not just a temporary aberration.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that this moment marks the play's ethical nadir—Macduff's syntax (imperative mood, architectural metaphor) shows a good man momentarily conceding that evil has won the right to build itself a stable home.