Despair thy charm,
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb
Untimely ripp’d.
– William Shakespeare
Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 8. In this final scene, we learn from Macduff that the Witches’ prophecy that no one born of woman could hurt Macbeth was correct. Macduff was born through Caesarean section and so is a threat to the usurper king. Macbeth’s fate is sealed. Macduff uses verbal irony as he mockingly refers to the Witches that Macbeth has served as “angels.”