More than providign comfort, his responses seem calculated to turn Macduff's loss into a motivation for revenge:
The accusation would not be so far-fetched, however, based on some of Malcolm's previous statements. This does not seem to make sense in this context, unless we assume that Malcolm is very callous after hearing about Macduff's loss. The third meaning-"disposition, frame of mind, mood"-is typically preceded by an adjective ("good cheer", "dull cheer", "merry cheer"), which is not the case in these lines from Macbeth. The first two meanings ("face, complexion", "countenance, aspect") don't work at all in this context. Onions's Shakespeare Glossary lists five meanings of the noun "cheer". Understanding the words " Receive what cheer you may" hinges mainly on the meaning of "cheer". For Shakespeare’s version, night seems endless if there is no glimmer of dawn, and Macduff and Malcom are the ones who must clear the darkness away. I’m afraid I can go no further with citations on exactly why it means that, but would speculate that if the road is a metaphor for life, it will seem long and dreary if nothing ever changes. However, the explanation which best satisfies the ‘long night that never finds the day’ situation in Macbeth is that offered in the Oxford Dictionary of ProverbsĬommonly used as an assertion that an unfavourable situation will eventually change for the better. The proverb also seems to puzzle people and you will find many discussions and variations for its interpretation. Such an interpretation is in keeping with Aphorisms from Shakespeare Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1812 entry 2913 ‘Patience and Hope’: which quotes the lines about cheer and night, adding as a footnoteĮquivalent in sense to this sublime Allegorical Aphorism, but how different in Expression is the common Proverb - “‘Tis a long Lane which has no turning.” I would interpret the line about the night in much the same way as the proverb ‘it’s a long road that knows no turning’. You are right, every night sees a dawn, and that is what Malcolm is telling Macduff, that the night of his grief and sorrow may be long, but not so long that there is no end to it, and that that dawn begins with bringing Macbeth down. Malcolm is telling Macduff that he should take comfort and solace in the avenging of those deaths. Macduff has just learned that his wife and children have been slaughtered and Malcolm has had to brace him up from his despair and tell him to use it to fuel his action against Macbethīe this the whetstone of your sword: let grief Convert to anger blunt Specifically relevant would be the idea of 'comfort' and 'solace'. That which brings joy, gladness, or comfort solace encouragement I understand 'cheer' here in the sense given in the OED at 5.b
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