To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I was extremely interested to read of the impending production of Macbeth. It has long been a problem that has puzzled Shakespearian scholars as to the real identity of Macduff. Much research on the matter has been undertaken, notably by that fine scholar Mr. Timothy Cobb of Budo. At the moment the conclusion reached is that Macduff was, indeed, a hen. Hard as this is to credit, careful reading of the play leaves no doubt.

The first intimation is given in Scene 2, Act. IV. Here Lady Macduff talking of her husband says:

His flight was madness.

. . . for the poor wren

The most diminutive of bird, will fight,

Her young ones in her nest, against the owl.

One is apt to pass off this speech as poetic imagery, but later reference shows that Lady Macduff was literally comparing the habits of birds known to her against her husband's action. The very use of the word flight for Macduff's visit to England brings to mind the mad panic he must have been in as it is well known that chickens do not fly particularly well.

Later in this scene there are many sly references. Lady Macduff refers to her son as "Poor bird"; and her son replying as to what he intends to do says "As birds do." But when the murderers enter at the end of this scene we have an outside opinion of the problem. Remember they have never seen Macduff's son before. What do they say:

What, you egg!

Young fry of treachery.

You egg! A literal description from the uncouth men the murderers must have been. The next line is a piece of cruel humour that must have struck terror into the young boy's heart as he realized his fate.

In view of all this an earlier utterance by Lady Macduff becomes clear:

"Fathered he is, yet he's fatherless." This is an obvious printer's error and should read:

"Feathered he is, yet he's featherless."