essay about king duncan in macbeth

William Shakespeare

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Character Analysis Duncan

The king of Scotland should be a figurehead of order and orderliness, and Duncan is the epitome, or supreme example, of this. His language is formal and his speeches full of grace and graciousness, whether on the battlefield in Act I, Scene 2, where his talk concerns matters of honor, or when greeting his kind hostess Lady Macbeth in Act I, Scene 6. Duncan also expresses humility (a feature that Macbeth lacks) when he admits his failure in spotting the previous Thane of Cawdor's treachery: "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face" (I: 4,11).

Most importantly, Duncan is the representative of God on earth, ruling by divine right (ordained by God), a feature of kingship strongly endorsed by King James I, for whom the play was performed in 1606. This "divinity" of the king is made clear on several occasions in the play, most notably when Macbeth talks of the murdered Duncan as having "silver skin lac'd with . . . golden blood" (Act II, Scene 3). The importance of royal blood, that is, the inheritance of the divine right to rule, is emphasized when, in the final scene, Duncan's son Malcolm takes the title of king, with the words "by the grace of Grace / We will perform."

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Character Analysis

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Duncan is the King of Scotland, but he might as well be your dad. We should all be so lucky: he's kind, generous, benevolent, and just a little weepier than you might expect from a noble warrior and king. Even Lady Macbeth, who says she would murder her own nursing babe, can't kill him because, as she says, he "resembled/ My father as he slept" (2.2.16-17). Is this the man who should be king ?

Taking Candy from a Baby

Duncan is totally the Early Modern version of a sensitive, New Age guy. Post-battle, when he's chilling with his advisors, he can't contain himself: "O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!"; "So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;/ They smack of honour both"; "worthy thane"; and "Great happiness!" (1.2.26,47-48;55;67). But—did he fight at all? Or did he just sit around, waiting for everyone else to do the disemboweling?

And then, later, when he's announcing his heir, he can barely choke the words out:

My plenteous joys, Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves In drops of sorrow. (1.4.39-41)

That's an awfully fancy way of saying, "I'm crying." We're not saying that men (or kings) shouldn't cry; but we are suggesting that, just maybe, you want a little backbone from your lord.

On the other hand, making Duncan into such a great guy emphasizes the enormity of killing him. Even Macbeth realizes it, saying that Duncan "Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been/ So clear in his great office, that his virtues/ Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against/ The deep damnation of his taking-off" (1.7.17-20). Translation: Duncan has been such a good, mild king that murdering him would be completely awful. That Macbeth can murder this man shows us just how atrocious the act is. It's also a clear indication that Macbeth is far removed from human kindness and morality.

Daddy Dearest

Duncan also lets us think about the play's treatment of masculinity. Remember how Macbeth is always worried about being a man (thanks to his wife constantly insinuating that he isn't much of one)? Well, if Macbeth thinks that being a man is all about waving a pointy stick around, Duncan doesn't seem like much of a man.

But don't take our word for it. Take the word of Shakespeare scholar Janet Adelman:

Heavily idealized, this ideally protective father is nonetheless largely ineffectual: even when he is alive, he is unable to hold his kingdom together, reliant on a series of bloody men to suppress an increasingly successful series of rebellions…For Duncan's androgyny is the object of enormous ambivalence: idealized for his nurturing paternity, he is nonetheless killed for his womanish softness, his childish trust, his inability to read men's minds in their faces, his reliance on the fighting of sons who can rebel against him . ( source )

Translation: Duncan might be a good father, but he's not a very good king. He needs other men to fight his battles, and he can't even tell when those men are about to betray him. Riding up to the Macbeth's castle, he thinks it looks like Club Med : "This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air/ Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself/ Unto our gentle senses" (1.6.1-3). Shakespeare may not be saying that Duncan deserved to die, exactly, but does seem to be saying that we shouldn't be surprised when he does.

History Snack

King Duncan is a lot like the historical figure Duncane from Shakespeare's main source for the play, Volume II of Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland . In the Chronicles , Duncane is too "soft and gentle of nature" and is contrasted with Macbeth, who is "cruel of nature." Shakespeare picks up on this contrast in Macbeth. If, on the one hand, King Duncan is too gentle and Macbeth, on the other hand, is a tyrant when he becomes king, then is the play calling for something in between —a king that rules with authority and mildness?

And is Shakespeare slyly suggesting that King James I, who traced his lineage back to Banquo, just might be that guy?

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W hy's T his F unny?

King Duncan in Macbeth Essay Topics

Clio has taught education courses at the college level and has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction.

Table of Contents

Considering king duncan, connecting to king duncan, king duncan and other characters, king duncan and themes.

If you have just finished reading Macbeth with your students, then you have probably spent time discussing many of the major characters, such as Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Macduff and Banquo. Yet the character of King Duncan also plays a major role in the drama. After all, if it were not for the murder of King Duncan, most of the rest of the play's plot would not exist at all.

This lesson offers a series of essay topics designed to help your students deepen their understanding of King Duncan, with an eye toward increasing their analysis of the play overall. As students move in closer to King Duncan's character, they will have to draw on the text for evidence and gain practice with the writing process as well.

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This section provides topics that help students think about King Duncan's underlying characteristics and particularly how your students can connect with King Duncan. These connections will increase their comprehension of the character and play.

• What do you see as King Duncan's three most defining characteristics? After using evidence to justify the fact that these characteristics exist, explain whether or not you feel like you also embody these characteristics. Show what these connections or lack of connections help you understand about King Duncan as well as about yourself.
• What do you think Shakespeare portrays as the most admirable characteristics of King Duncan, and how does he convey that his readers or viewers ought to admire this trait? After offering an explanation, determine whether or not you find this characteristic admirable, and explain why or why not.
• Who in your life does King Duncan remind you of the most, and what does this relationship help you understand about King Duncan as well as the person you are naming? What specific characteristics do they have in common in spite of their obviously different cultural and historical context?

The topics in this section will encourage your students to examine the relationship between King Duncan and other characters in the play, as well as literary characters from other texts they are familiar with.

• How are Macbeth and King Duncan similar to each other, and in what ways are these different? How do their similarities and differences drive the relationship that unfolds between their characters over the course of the play?
• What is the connection between the witches and King Duncan? Write an essay that describes the witches' prophesies about King Duncan and how these prophesies unfold during the plot of Macbeth. See if you can analyze the witches' motivations in sharing their prophesies.
• Think of a character from another play, novel or movie who you think embodies some of the same characteristics as King Duncan. Write an essay describing how these two characters are similar and what characteristics help you put them together. Consider what you can learn from juxtaposing these two characters to each other.
• How do you think Macduff is similar to King Duncan in his approach to power and leadership? How does he approach these themes differently from the former king? What can you learn via a comparison and contrast of these two characters?

Finally, this section offers topics that help students analyze King Duncan in relation to the themes from Macbeth as well as abiding themes from world literature more broadly.

• Which of the themes or messages from Macbeth do you think is most clearly embodied through the character of King Duncan? Explain how the king seems to exemplify this theme or motif and what Shakespeare might be trying to communicate through his character.
• Write about King Duncan in relation to the theme of power. What does King Duncan show about power? How is his relationship to power similar to and different from that of the play's other characters, and who do you see Shakespeare as more deeply aligned with?
• How does revenge impact both the life and the tragic fate of King Duncan? What does he do to motivate such a powerful drive for revenge, and do you think this would have been avoidable? What do you learn about the theme of revenge from reflecting on his character's life and outcome?

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A Modern Perspective: Macbeth

By Susan Snyder

Coleridge pronounced Macbeth to be “wholly tragic.” Rejecting the drunken Porter of Act 2, scene 3 as “an interpolation of the actors,” and perceiving no wordplay in the rest of the text (he was wrong on both counts), he declared that the play had no comic admixture at all. More acutely, though still in support of this sense of the play as unadulterated tragedy, he noted the absence in Macbeth of a process characteristic of other Shakespearean tragedies, the “reasonings of equivocal morality.” 1

Indeed, as Macbeth ponders his decisive tragic act of killing the king, he is not deceived about its moral nature. To kill anyone to whom he is tied by obligations of social and political loyalty as well as kinship is, he knows, deeply wrong:

         He’s here in double trust:

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,

Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,

Who should against his murderer shut the door,

Not bear the knife myself.                  ( 1.7.12 –16)

And to kill Duncan, who has been “so clear in his great office” (that is, so free from corruption as a ruler), is to compound the iniquity. In adapting the story of Macbeth from Holinshed’s Chronicles of Scotland, Shakespeare created a stark black-white moral opposition by omitting from his story Duncan’s weakness as a monarch while retaining his gentle, virtuous nature. Unlike his prototype in Holinshed’s history, Macbeth kills not an ineffective leader but a saint whose benevolent presence blesses Scotland. In the same vein of polarized morality, Shakespeare departs from the Holinshed account in which Macbeth is joined in regicide by Banquo and others; instead, he has Macbeth act alone against Duncan. While it might be good politics to distance Banquo from guilt (he was an ancestor of James I, the current king of England and patron of Shakespeare’s acting company), excluding the other thanes as well suggests that the playwright had decided to focus on private, purely moral issues uncomplicated by the gray shades of political expediency.

Duncan has done nothing, then, to deserve violent death. Unlike such tragic heroes as Brutus and Othello, who are enmeshed in “equivocal morality,” Macbeth cannot justify his actions by the perceived misdeeds of his victim. “I have no spur,” he admits, “To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition” ( 1.7.25 –27). This ambition is portrayed indirectly rather than directly. But it is surely no accident that the Weïrd Sisters accost him and crystallize his secret thoughts of the crown into objective possibility just when he has hit new heights of success captaining Duncan’s armies and defeating Duncan’s enemies. The element of displacement and substitution here—Macbeth leading the fight for Scotland while the titular leader waits behind the lines for the outcome—reinforces our sense that, whatever mysterious timetable the Sisters work by, this is the psychologically right moment to confront Macbeth with their predictions of greatness. Hailed as thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and king, he is initially curious and disbelieving. Though his first fearful reaction ( 1.3.54 ) is left unexplained, for us to fill in as we will, surely one way to read his fear is that the word “king” touches a buried nerve of desire. When Ross and Angus immediately arrive to announce that Macbeth is now Cawdor as well as Glamis, the balance of skepticism tilts precipitously toward belief. The nerve vibrates intensely. Two-thirds of the prophecy is already accomplished. The remaining prediction, “king hereafter,” is suddenly isolated and highlighted; and because of the Sisters’ now proven powers of foreknowledge, it seems to call out for its parallel, inevitable fulfillment.

The Weïrd Sisters present nouns rather than verbs. They put titles on Macbeth without telling what actions he must carry out to attain those titles. It is Lady Macbeth who supplies the verbs. Understanding that her husband is torn between the now-articulated object of desire and the fearful deed that must achieve it (“wouldst not play false / And yet wouldst wrongly win,” 1.5.22 –23), she persuades him by harping relentlessly on manly action. That very gap between noun and verb, the desired prize and the doing necessary to win it, becomes a way of taunting him as a coward: “Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valor / As thou art in desire?” ( 1.7.43 –45). A man is one who closes this gap by strong action, by taking what he wants; whatever inhibits that action is unmanly fear. And a man is one who does what he has sworn to do, no matter what. We never see Macbeth vow to kill Duncan, but in Lady Macbeth’s mind just his broaching the subject has become a commitment. With graphic horror she fantasizes how she would tear her nursing baby from her breast and dash its brains out if she had sworn as she says her husband did. She would, that is, violate her deepest nature as a woman and sever violently the closest tie of kinship and dependence. Till now, Macbeth has resisted such violation, clinging to a more humane definition of “man” that accepts fidelity and obligation as necessary limits on his prowess. Now, in danger of being bested by his wife in this contest of fierce determinations, he accepts her simpler, more primitive equation of manhood with killing: he commits himself to destroying Duncan. It is significant for the lack of “equivocal morality” that even Lady Macbeth in this crucial scene of persuasion doesn’t try to manipulate or blur the polarized moral scheme. Adopting instead a warrior ethic apart from social morality, she presents the murder not as good but as heroic.

Moral clarity informs not only the decisions and actions of Macbeth but the stage of nature on which they are played out. The natural universe revealed in the play is essentially attuned to the good, so that it reacts to the unambiguously evil act of killing Duncan with disruptions that are equally easy to read. There are wild winds, an earthquake, “strange screams of death” ( 2.3.61 –69). And beyond such general upheaval there is a series of unnatural acts that distortedly mirror Macbeth’s. Duncan’s horses overthrow natural order and devour each other, like Macbeth turning on his king and cousin. “A falcon, tow’ring in her pride of place”—the monarch of birds at its highest pitch—is killed by a mousing owl, a lesser bird who ordinarily preys on insignificant creatures ( 2.4.15 –16). Most ominous of all, on the morning following the king’s death, is the absence of the sun: like the falcon a symbol of monarchy, but expanding that to suggest the source of all life. In a general sense, the sunless day shows the heavens “troubled with man’s act” ( 2.4.7 ), but the following grim metaphor points to a closer and more sinister connection: “dark night strangles the traveling lamp” ( 2.4.9 ). The daylight has been murdered like Duncan. Scotland’s moral darkness lasts till the end of Macbeth’s reign. The major scenes take place at night or in the atmosphere of the “black, and midnight hags” ( 4.1.48 ), and there is no mention of light or sunshine except in England ( 4.3.1 ).

Later in the play, nature finds equally fitting forms for its revenge against Macbeth. Despite his violations of the natural order, he nevertheless expects the laws of nature to work for him in the usual way. But the next victim, Banquo, though his murderer has left him “safe in a ditch” ( 3.4.28 ), refuses to stay safely still and out of sight. In Macbeth’s horrified response to this restless corpse, we may hear not only panic but outrage at the breakdown of the laws of motion:

                           The time has been

That, when the brains were out, the man would die,

And there an end. But now they rise again

With twenty mortal murders on their crowns

And push us from our stools. This is more strange

Than such a murder is.                           ( 3.4.94 –99)

His word choice is odd: “ they rise,” a plural where we would expect “he rises,” and the loaded word “crowns” for heads. Macbeth seems to be haunted by his last victim, King Duncan, as well as the present one. And by his outraged comparison at the end—the violent death and the ghostly appearance compete in strangeness—Macbeth suggests, without consciously intending to, that Banquo’s walking in death answers to, or even is caused by, the murder that cut him off so prematurely. The unnatural murder generates unnatural movement in the dead. Lady Macbeth, too, walks when she should be immobile in sleep, “a great perturbation in nature” ( 5.1.10 ).

It is through this same ironic trust in natural law that Macbeth draws strength from the Sisters’ later prophecy: if he is safe until Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane, he must be safe forever:

Who can impress the forest, bid the tree

Unfix his earthbound root? Sweet bodements, good!

Rebellious dead, rise never till the Wood

Of Birnam rise . . .                  ( 4.1.109 –12)

His security is ironic because for Macbeth, of all people, there can be no dependence on predictable natural processes. The “rebellious dead” have already unnaturally risen once; fixed trees can move against him as well. And so, in time, they do. Outraged nature keeps matching the Macbeths’ transgressions, undoing and expelling their perversities with its own.

In tragedies where right and wrong are rendered problematic, the dramatic focus is likely to be on the complications of choice. Macbeth, on the contrary, is preoccupied less with the protagonist’s initial choice of a relatively unambiguous wrong action than with the moral decline that follows. H. B. Charlton noted that one could see in Richard III as well as Macbeth the biblical axiom that “the wages of sin is death”; but where the history play assumes the principle, Macbeth demonstrates why it has to be that way. 2 The necessity is not so much theological as psychological: we watch in Macbeth the hardening and distortion that follows on self-violation. The need to suppress part of himself in order to kill Duncan becomes a refusal to acknowledge his deed (“I am afraid to think what I have done. / Look on ’t again I dare not”: 2.2.66 –67). His later murders are all done by proxy, in an attempt to create still more distance between the destruction he wills and full psychic awareness of his responsibility. At the same time, murder becomes a necessary activity, the verb now a compulsion almost without regard to the object: plotted after he has seen the Weïrd Sisters’ apparitions, Macbeth’s attack on Macduff’s “line” ( 4.1.174 ) is an insane double displacement, of fear of Macduff himself and fury at the vision of the line of kings fathered by Banquo.

Yet the moral universe of Macbeth is not as uncomplicated as some critics have imagined. To see in the play’s human and physical nature only a straightforward pattern of sin and punishment is to gloss over the questions it raises obliquely, the moral complexities and mysteries it opens up. The Weïrd Sisters, for example, remain undefined. Where do they come from? Where do they go when they disappear from the action in Act 4? What is their place in a moral universe that ostensibly recoils against sin and punishes it? Are they human witches, or supernatural beings? Labeling them “evil” seems not so much incorrect as inadequate. Do they cause men to commit crimes, or do they only present the possibility to them? Macbeth responds to his prophecy by killing his king, but Banquo after hearing the one directed at him is not impelled to act at all. Do we take this difference as demonstrating that the Sisters have in themselves no power beyond suggestion? Or should we rather find it somewhat sinister later on when Banquo, ancestor of James I or not, sees reason in Macbeth’s success to look forward to his own—yet feels it necessary to conceal his hopes ( 3.1.1 –10)?

Even what we most take for granted becomes problematic when scrutinized. Does Macbeth really desire to be king? Lady Macbeth says he does, but what comes through in 1.5 and 1.7 is more her desire than his. Apart from one brief reference to ambition when he is ruling out other motives to kill Duncan, Macbeth himself is strangely silent about any longing for royal power and position. Instead of an obsession that fills his personal horizon, we find in Macbeth something of a motivational void. Why does he feel obligated, or compelled, to bring about an advance in station that the prophecy seems to render inevitable anyway? A. C. Bradley put his finger on this absence of positive desire when he observed that Macbeth commits his crime as if it were “an appalling duty.” 3

Recent lines of critical inquiry also call old certainties into question. Duncan’s saintly status would seem assured, yet sociological critics are disquieted by the way we are introduced to him, as he receives news of the battle in 1.2. On the one hand we hear reports of horrifying savagery in the fighting, savagery in which the loyal thanes participate as much as the rebels and invaders—more so, in fact, when Macbeth and Banquo are likened to the crucifiers of Christ (“or memorize another Golgotha,” 1.2.44 ). In response we see Duncan exulting not only in the victory but in the bloodshed, equating honor with wounds. It is not that he bears any particular guilt. Yet the mild paternal king is nevertheless implicated here in his society’s violent warrior ethic, its predicating of manly worth on prowess in killing. 4 But isn’t this just what we condemn in Lady Macbeth? Cultural analysis tends to blur the sharp demarcations, even between two such figures apparently totally opposed, and to draw them together as participants in and products of the same constellation of social values.

Lady Macbeth and Duncan meet in a more particular way, positioned as they are on the same side of Scotland’s basic division between warriors and those protected by warriors. The king is too old and fragile to fight; the lady is neither, but she is barred from battle by traditional gender conventions that assign her instead the functions of following her husband’s commands and nurturing her young. In fact, of course, Lady Macbeth’s actions and outlook thoroughly subvert this ideology, as she forcefully takes the lead in planning the murder and shames her husband into joining in by her willingness to slaughter her own nurseling. It is easy to call Lady Macbeth “evil,” but the label tends to close down analysis exactly where we ought to probe more deeply. Macbeth’s wife is restless in a social role that in spite of her formidable courage and energy offers no chance of independent action and heroic achievement. It is almost inevitable that she turn to achievement at second hand, through and for her husband. Standing perforce on the sidelines, like Duncan once again, she promotes and cheers the killing.

Other situations, too, may be more complex than at first they seem. Lady Macduff, unlike Lady Macbeth, accepts her womanly function of caring for her children and her nonwarrior status of being protected. But she is not protected. The ideology of gender seems just as destructive from the submissive side as from the rebellious, when Macduff deserts her in order to pursue his political cause against Macbeth in England and there is no husband to stand in the way of the murderers sent by Macbeth. The obedient wife dies, with her cherished son, just as the rebellious, murderous lady will die who consigned her own nursing baby to death. The moral universe of Macbeth has room for massive injustice. Traditional critics find Lady Macbeth “unnatural,” and even those who do not accept the equation of gender ideology with nature can agree with the condemnation in view of her determined suppression of all bonds of human sympathy. Clear enough. But we get more blurring and crossovers when Macduff’s wife calls him unnatural. In leaving his family defenseless in Macbeth’s dangerous Scotland, he too seems to discount human bonds. His own wife complains bitterly that “he wants the natural touch”; where even the tiny wren will fight for her young against the owl, his flight seems to signify fear rather than natural love ( 4.2.8 –16). Ross’s reply, “cruel are the times,” while it doesn’t console Lady Macduff and certainly doesn’t save her, strives to relocate the moral ambiguity of Macduff’s conduct in the situation created by Macbeth’s tyrannical rule. The very political crisis that pulls Macduff away from his family on public business puts his private life in jeopardy through the same act of desertion. But while acknowledging the peculiar tensions raised by a tyrant-king, we may also see in the Macduff family’s disaster a tragic version of a more familiar conflict: the contest between public and private commitments that can rack conventional marriages, with the wife confined to a private role while the husband is supposed to balance obligations in both spheres.

Malcolm is allied with Duncan by lineage and with Macduff by their shared role of redemptive champion in the final movement of the play. He, too, is not allowed to travel through the action unsullied. After a long absence from the scene following the murder of Duncan, he reappears in England to be sought by Macduff in the crusade against Macbeth. Malcolm is cautious and reserved, and when he does start speaking more freely, what we hear is an astonishing catalogue of self-accusations. He calls himself lustful, avaricious, guilty of every crime and totally lacking in kingly virtues:

                Nay, had I power, I should

Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell,

Uproar the universal peace, confound

All unity on earth.                  ( 4.3.113 –16)

Before people became so familiar with Shakespeare’s play, I suspect many audiences believed what Malcolm says of himself. Students on first reading still do. Why shouldn’t they? He has been absent from the stage for some time, and his only significant action in the early part of the play was to run away after his father’s murder. When this essentially unknown prince lists his vices in lengthy speeches of self-loathing, there is no indication—except an exaggeration easily ascribable to his youth—that he is not sincere. And if we do believe, we cannot help joining in Macduff’s distress. Malcolm, the last hope for redeeming Scotland from the tyrant, has let us down. Duncan’s son is more corrupt than Macbeth. He even sounds like Macbeth, whose own milk of human kindness ( 1.5.17 ) was curdled by his wife; who threatened to destroy the whole natural order, “though the treasure / Of nature’s germens tumble all together / Even till destruction sicken” ( 4.1.60 –63). In due course, Malcolm takes it all back; but his words once spoken cannot simply be canceled, erased as if they were on paper. We have already, on hearing them, mentally and emotionally processed the false “facts,” absorbed them experientially. Perhaps they continue to color indirectly our sense of the next king of Scotland.

Viewed through various lenses, then, the black and white of Macbeth may fade toward shades of gray. The play is an open system, offering some fixed markers with which to take one’s basic bearings but also, in closer scrutiny, offering provocative questions and moral ambiguities.

• “Notes for a Lecture on Macbeth ” [c. 1813], in Coleridge’s Writings on Shakespeare , ed. Terence Hawkes (New York: Capricorn, 1959), p. 188.
• H. B. Charlton, Shakespearian Tragedy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1948), p. 141.
• A. C. Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy (London: Macmillan, 1904), p. 358.
• James L. Calderwood, If It Were Done: “Macbeth” and Tragic Action (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1986), pp. 77–89.

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King Duncan

In brief...

The good King of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted ruler. His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan’s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne.

Deeper analysis...

The king of Scotland should be a figurehead of order and orderliness, and Duncan is the epitome, or supreme example, of this. His language is formal and his speeches full of grace and graciousness, whether on the battlefield in Act I, Scene 2, where his talk concerns matters of honour, or when greeting his kind hostess Lady Macbeth in Act I, Scene 6. Duncan also expresses humility (a feature that Macbeth lacks) when he admits his failure in spotting the previous Thane of Cawdor's treachery: "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face" (I: 4,11).

Most importantly, Duncan is the representative of God on earth, ruling by divine right (ordained by God), a feature of kingship strongly endorsed by King James I, for whom the play was performed in 1606. This "divinity" of the king is made clear on several occasions in the play, most notably when Macbeth talks of the murdered Duncan as having "silver skin lac'd with . . . golden blood" (Act II, Scene 3). The importance of royal blood, that is, the inheritance of the divine right to rule, is emphasised when, in the final scene, Duncan's son Malcolm takes the title of king, with the words "by the grace of Grace / We will perform."

Introduction

Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare in either 1605 or 1606. Its full name is “The Tragedy of Macbeth”. It was first performed in around 1606.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare Summary

Lady Macbeth plans to get the chamberlains drunk to show them as culprits after murder. When everyone sleeps, they start acting upon their plan and Macbeth stabs Duncan with a knife and kills him. After that, Lady Macbeth stains the clothes and faces of chamberlains sitting outside the king’s chamber and puts the knives near them to show that they are the culprits.

Moreover, Lady Macbeth starts behaving abnormally because of the guilt of her crimes. Death of Macduff’s family increases her madness and she becomes ill. English army attacks and reaches towards Burnam’s wood and they plan that each soldier will carry a bush in front of him. It seems like the forest is moving towards Dunsinane and the Prophecy of witches becomes true.

Themes in Macbeth

Kingship vs. tyranny:, relationship between cruelty and masculinity:, fate vs. freewill:, reason vs. passion:.

Macbeth is very logical and clear-sighted. He knows that he is doing evil and the consequences of it. He feels guilty for breaking King Duncan’s trust but he is persuaded by his wife to do evil.

Macbeth Characters Analysis

Moreover, he also starts behaving abnormally because of the guilt of the sins committed by him but again the thirst for power makes him strong and he begins to act according to his evil plans.

Lady Macbeth:

She represents the relationship between femininity and violence in the play. Macbeth says that Lady Macbeth is a masculine soul residing in a female body which shows that females can also be cruel and ruthless.

The Three Witches:

Macbeth believes in their prophecies which lead him towards darkness and downfall.  However, their true identity is unclear. Although, they are servants of Hecate but the play does not tell us whether they are independent agents playing with human lives or the agents of fate.

King Duncan:

He is Banquo’s son who escapes the castle when murderers attempt to kill him. After that he does not appear in the play.

Macbeth Literary Analysis

More from william shakespeare.

Macbeth Key Theme: Ambition ( AQA GCSE English Literature )

Revision note.

Ambition in Macbeth

Although it is important to stress that Shakespeare explores many other themes in Macbeth, and that you should aim to revise those other themes in some detail, it can be argued that, at heart, Macbeth as a play is an exploration of ambition and its consequences. On this page you will find a summary of how Shakespeare explores ambition in Macbeth, and also tips on how to answer an exam question on the theme of ambition.

Although understanding the theme of ambition is crucial in understanding Macbeth as a play, it is equally important to understand what other ideas Shakespeare is exploring, and how the theme of ambition relates to the principal characters in the play. See our Macbeth: Themes and Macbeth: Characters pages for more detailed revision notes on these.

How does Shakespeare present ambition in Macbeth? When we talk about “ambition” in Macbeth, we are not talking about a desire to do something or determination to succeed towards a set goal. Instead, we should understand ambition in the play as a negative character trait: not just a desire to achieve something, but an unnatural desire to achieve something at any cost .  Indeed, Shakespeare has Macbeth speak the lines “vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself” in Act I, Scene VII. “Vaulting” means jumping over, suggesting that Macbeth, in order to achieve his ambition (to become king), knows that he must overcome an obstacle that stands in his way. This obstacle is King Duncan, and the only way to remove this obstacle is to murder him. To murder a king was a shocking, unnatural act in Jacobean  England (for more on Jacobean society and its beliefs, see our Macbeth: Context page), but Macbeth is prepared to commit regicide  to realise his ambition. Ultimately, the cost he will pay for his ambition is his own life.

Below you will find a summary of the ways in which Shakespeare explores the theme of ambition in Macbeth. For more detailed revision notes on ambition, please see the Macbeth: Themes page.

• Ambition is Macbeth’s fatal character flaw, his hamartia:
• In tragedy , a tragic hero  must have a tragic flaw
• In Macbeth, as in most tragedy, the tragic hero’s hamartia is the cause of their own downfall:
• Macbeth’s ambition to gain, and retain, the throne leads to him committing more and more evil acts
• Other characters seek revenge for these acts of murder
• Macbeth’s own conscience also begins to terrorise him
• Ultimately, a combination of his own mental disintegration and avenging heroes sees him killed by the hand of Macduff
• At heart, Shakespeare is presenting a morality play to the audience:
• Allow yourself to be consumed by ambition, or hubris , and prepare to suffer dire consequences
• It can also be seen as a warning against those who seek to undermine – or overthrow – the rule of a rightful king:
• Shakespeare may also be suggesting that those unaccustomed and undeserving of power will be destroyed by it
• Shakespeare is suggesting that kings are legitimate rulers, but tyrants  are not

Answering an exam question on ambition in Macbeth

In order to get top marks for your essay, it is very important that you know the format and requirements of the exam paper, and the nature of the exam question. It is also vital that you know how to plan an answer in the Shakespeare exam, and are aware of what you need to include to get the highest grade. In this section you will find:

• an overview of the exam
• a plan for a question on ambition
• an ambition essay model paragraph

Overview of the Shakespeare Exam

• Your Shakespeare question would be part of Section A of Paper 1 of your GCSE
• The essay is worth 34 marks: 30 for the quality of your essay, and 4 for the level of your spelling, punctuation and grammar
• In your question paper, you will find an extract from the text of Macbeth and only one question
• You must answer the question that is set and refer to the extract, but also the rest of the play
• This is challenging because the exam is what’s called “closed-book”, meaning that you will not have access to a copy of the text (other than the printed extract) in your exam
• Therefore, in order to refer to the play as a whole, it is important to:
• revise the plot of the play 
• revise some selected quotations from different parts of the play

For a much more detailed guide on answering the Macbeth question, please see our revision notes on How to Answer the Shakespeare Essay Question .

Plan for a question on ambition in Macbeth

Below you will find a template for a plan for the following exemplar question on ambition. It is always worthwhile spending a good deal of time planning an answer at GCSE, with examiners repeatedly reporting that the highest marks are awarded to those students who have clearly set aside time to plan their essays. For more information on planning a response, and approaching the Shakespeare question in general, see our comprehensive revision notes here .

Exemplar question

‘Macbeth’s ambition proves to be his downfall’

Starting with this moment in the play, explore how far you agree with this view.

Write about:

• How Shakespeare presents Macbeth’s ambition in this extract
• How far Shakespeare presents Macbeth’s ambition as the reason for his downfall in the play as a whole

AO4 [4 marks]

Act I, Scene VII

Macbeth is contemplating whether or not to go through with the plan to murder King Duncan

    If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well

    It were done quickly: if the assassination

    Could trammel up the consequence, and catch

    With his surcease success; that but this blow

    Might be the be-all and the end-all here,

    But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,

    We'd jump the life to come. But in these cases

    We still have judgment here; that we but teach

    Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return

    To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice

    Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice

    To our own lips. He's here in double trust;

    First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,

    Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,

    Who should against his murderer shut the door,

    Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan

    Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been

    So clear in his great office, that his virtues

    Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against

    The deep damnation of his taking-off;

    And pity, like a naked new-born babe,

    Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed

    Upon the sightless couriers of the air,

    Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,

    That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur

    To prick the sides of my intent, but only

    Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself

    And falls on the other.

Ambition in Macbeth Essay Model Paragraph

Despite the fact that Macbeth is clearly aware of the dire religious consequences of regicide, his ambition means he proceeds with the murder of King Duncan anyway, indicating that his ambition overrides all other sensibilities. In this scene, Shakespeare uses the semantic fields of religion throughout Macbeth’s soliloquy: he refers to “Heaven”, “cherubin” and “angels”, as well as “damnation”. Ostensibly, this language is being used because Macbeth is discussing King Duncan’s prospective life after death. However, it could also be argued that this language betrays Macbeth’s own acknowledgement that committing the planned act of regicide (a mortal sin in the Jacobean era) will instead send him to eternal “damnation”. Indeed, later on in the play, Shakespeare has Macbeth speak the lines: “That summons thee to Heaven, or to Hell”, again, on the face of it referring to Duncan’s passage to the afterlife, but in reality speaking about his own fate. Indeed, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth use the language of Heaven and Hell throughout Act I and the beginning of Act II, suggesting that they are both – on a subconscious level at least – mortally concerned for their future should they commit the sacrilegious act of murdering a sitting monarch. It can be argued that the regicide of King Duncan is the catalyst for Macbeth’s ultimate downfall. In terms of tragedy, this is the inciting incident, after which a tragic hero’s fate is sealed. Therefore, the language that Shakespeare has Macbeth use prior to the murder is very illuminating. Before the murder, Macbeth admits in this soliloquy that – despite the acknowledgement of his own eternal punishment – that it is “only vaulting ambition” which is tempting him to overthrow the king. This is indeed Macbeth himself identifying that his ambition is the “only” reason that he himself identifies to commit the murder, and by extension, it is his ambition that sets the wheels in motion for his ultimate demise.

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Author: Nick

Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.

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The title character and the play’s protagonist , Macbeth is a tragic figure whose soaring ambition compels him to lose his humanity. At the beginning of the play, he is a conquering hero. Before the audience has even been introduced to Macbeth, the level of respect which he is accorded by other characters demonstrates that he is worthy of attention.

A victorious general, Macbeth is rewarded for his great deeds with noble titles and praise from King Duncan. But it is not enough. After an encounter with a coven of witches, Macbeth becomes obsessed with becoming king. His frequent asides to the audience make clear that his ambitions have taken over his entire character. Once a confident, benevolent, and respectable figure, Macbeth transforms into a deranged, paranoid despot who butchers innocent women and children on a whim.

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--> directory Who's there? what, ho! , Act 2, Scene 3 ______ From . Ed. Thomas Marc Parrott. New York: American Book Co. (Line numbers have been altered.) ______ There is really no change of scene here. Lady Macbeth enters the courtyard as Macbeth leaves it and waits there for his return from Duncan's chamber. Her soliloquy fills up the time during which the murder is performed and her dialogue with her husband on his return carries us on till the knocking at the gate shows that the day is dawning and the inmates of the castle awaking. 1. . Lady Macbeth has fortified herself with a draught of wine against the strain of these terrible hours. This is another proof of her physical weakness. 5. . The grimmest good-night, or farewell. The owl's cry was then and long afterward considered an omen of death. 5. . Macbeth is actually committing the murder. 6. . Lady Macbeth must have unlocked the doors into Duncan's room. Her words in lines [14, 15] show that she had been in this room after the king had gone to sleep. 5. , the drunken attendants of the king. 7. , turn their care of the king's person into a mockery. 8, 9. The sleeping-potion which Lady Macbeth had mingled in the possets was so strong that the grooms were half poisoned by it. 11. Macbeth utters these words as he is returning from Duncan's chamber. As he says in line [18], he heard a noise, and he probably thought for a moment that some one had surprised him. 13. , an unsuccessful attempt. 16. . This reference to her father is one of the few traces of womanly feeling that Lady Macbeth shows. It is a genuinely Shakespearean touch which saves even so wicked a character from utter inhumanity. 25. This line is usually accompanied in stage representations by a clap of thunder. This really detracts from the horror of the scene. Macbeth's nerves are so overwrought that he starts at imaginary noises. His next words show that he fancies he has heard a voice. 26. the room next to Duncan's. 27. , the second son of Duncan, here mentioned for the first time. 30. . Macbeth is perhaps referring to the "second chamber." As he descended he heard some people in it talking in their sleep. 33. , turned themselves. 25. . Lady Macbeth, who is trying to quiet her husband, remarks calmly that there are two men sleeping in the second chamber, Donalbain and an attendant. 37. , bloody hands. In Shakespeare's day the hangman not only adjusted the noose and pushed the victims from the ladder, but in cases of treason chopped up the bodies of the criminals. Thus this phrase suggested a vivid picture to Shakespeare's hearers. 38. The phrase "God bless us" was used as a charm against witchcraft and the devil. Macbeth, who has sold himself to evil, cannot say amen to this prayer. 44, 45. , thought of in this fashion. 45. . There is a dreadful irony in these words; Macbeth is half mad already; and before the play closes, Lady Macbeth's strong mind breaks down utterly. Cf. v. i. 50, 51. . In Shakespeare's day the second course of a dinner was the most substantial. 52. Macbeth is talking so wildly that his wife cannot follow him. 56-60. Lady Macbeth tries to recall her husband from his ravings by pointing out the necessity for prompt action if they are to escape discovery. 59. , evidence; the king's blood which would testify to Macbeth's guilt. 70, 71. . The pun on "gild" and "guilt" was doubtless plainer to Shakespeare's hearers than to us. Gold was regularly spoken of in the old songs as "red." Lady Macbeth's ghastly jest was perhaps intended to rouse her husband to a perception of his cowardice; he is afraid to re-enter the chamber of death, she is ready not only to go there, but even to jest about it. 72. . This knocking is explained by the dialogue of the next scene. De Quincey has a famous essay upon , in which he points out that the knocking makes known that the reaction against the world of unnatural horror, which we have been contemplating, has commenced; that the pulses of life are beginning to beat again. The whole essay should, if possible, be read by every student of the play. 78. , entirely red. 81, 82. With these lines compare the broken utterances of the sleep-walking scene, v. i. 35, 39, 48, 49, and 68-70. 84, 85. . Your firmness has deserted you. 87. . In Shakespeare's day people went to bed naked. The "nightgown" was the garment they threw around them on first rising, corresponding to our dressing-gown. Lady Macbeth wants her husband to undress and put on his "nightgown" so that he may appear, when the alarm is given, just to have sprung from his bed. 87, 88. , lest necessity summon us, and reveal the fact that we have not been in bed. 90. . This obscure line is an answer to Lady Macbeth's reproach that he is "poorly lost" in his thoughts. Macbeth says in effect that he had better remain lost, "not know myself," than awake to a full realization of what he had done, "know my deed." 91. . This is the first note of genuine remorse that has appeared in Macbeth's speeches in this scene. ________ Shakespeare, William. . Ed. Thomas Marc Parrott. New York: American Book Co., 1904. . 10 Aug. 2010. ________ More to Explore In Renaissance England the hoot of an owl flying over one's house was an evil omen, and meant impending death for someone inside. Shakespeare refers to the owl as the "fatal bellman" because it was the bellman's job to ring the parish bell when a person in the town was near death. TOP CATEGORIES AS and A Level University Degree International Baccalaureate Uncategorised 5 Star Essays Study Tools Study Guides Meet the Team English Literature William Shakespeare Macbeth essay on Duncan  Historically Duncan was a weak king.  To what extent do you think he is a good king or an ineffective king in Shakespeare’s presentation of him in Macbeth ? Historically Duncan is a weak king but in Macbeth , Duncan is seen as a popular monarch.  In Shakespeare’s time the standards of a king were higher than they are now, one of the reasons why this may be is because the commoners and king believed that the king was God’s representative on earth, and so the people looked up to the king and expected him to know everything.  In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Duncan is seen as being a good king but also as an ineffective king. In Macbeth  Duncan is seen as a fair king, he promotes justice in his kingdom, he does this by punishing the ‘bad’ i.e. sentencing the Thane of Cawdor to death because he betrayed Scotland.  Duncan also promotes what he sees as ‘good,’ “My worthy Cawdor” the positive adjective ‘worthy’ shows that Duncan isn’t just promoting good but he is also grateful to Macbeth as well.  He also promotes ‘good’ by giving Lady Macbeth a diamond as reported by Banquo, “this diamond he greets your wife with withal.”  This line draws attention because of the alliteration. Duncan is also shown as being a caring king.  “O worthiest cousin” the superlative adjective “worthiest” shows that he really cares about Macbeth as he could have just said cousin or something else and that he wants to praise others.  Duncan is again shown as a caring king when he says to Lady Macbeth “honoured hostess.”  The attention is shown to this line because of the alliteration and because women weren’t praised in Shakespeare’s time so this shows he is very caring and he acknowledges her. This is a preview of the whole essay Duncan is also seen as a very holy king, especially in Macbeth’s soliloquy, “his virtues will plead like angels.”  The simile makes us think that Duncan is a holy king as Macbeth draws a comparison figuratively between his virtue and angels when Duncan is murdered that the people will cry.  Similarly Macbeth’s use of hyperbole “Fears will drown the wind” emphasises Duncan’s popularity.  Also the superlative “most sainted king” makes Duncan seem religious as Macduff is referring to him as a saint, and saints were people who did things for God on earth this quotation ties in with the Divine Right of Kings also religious imagery is again used when Duncan himself employs the noun “sin” referring to himself.  He sees himself as wrong as he hasn’t praised Macbeth, this emphasises his moral goodness.  He is also seen as religious as he is in no way connected with evil as the witches do not mention him at all during the play, they refer to Macbeth.  We infer Macbeth is evil and Duncan is good from the juxtaposition. Duncan is also seen as the most important person in the play as he enters first, in front of everyone else accompanied by the sound of trumpets which connote importance, with Duncan entering first this relates to with The Great Chain of Being, as the king was next to God in hierarchical order. On the other hand Duncan can be seen as an ineffective king as he is not seen in the battlefield at all; instead he is in a camp asking questions about what is going on “Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?”  This could suggest that he is physically weak and that he isn’t a very good leader if he has to ask all these questions. Duncan also shows nepotism as he gives the throne to his son, “We will establish our estate upon our eldest, Malcolm.”  Duncan should really be giving the throne to Macbeth as Macbeth would be a better king, Malcolm, his son to whom he gives the throne to doesn’t appear physically strong and is not a warrior and possibly couldn’t defend the country if he needed to while Macbeth could.   Duncan is also seen as gullible as the first Thane of Cawdor deceives him by helping the opposition, then the second Thane of Cawdor (Macbeth) deceives him as well as he killed Duncan. This suggests that he is in error of judgement and blind towards people’s true character but then again Duncan has no reason to be suspicious of Macbeth as Macbeth has fought for him and spend his life in service towards the King.  Duncan acknowledges the difficulty of telling appearance from reality “There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.”  But if Duncan is God’s representive on earth he should be better than everyone else to judge people’s character. In conclusion I think that Duncan is a good king, as he is just, caring and holy but on the other hand he is weak, nepotistic and possibly gullible. Document Details Word Count 820 Page Count 3 Subject English Related Essays Why Did Macbeth Kill Duncan? Macbeth-King Duncan Why did Macbeth kill Duncan? Why Does Macbeth Kill Duncan Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture On This Day One Good Fact New Articles Lifestyles & Social Issues Philosophy & Religion Politics, Law & Government World History Health & Medicine Browse Biographies Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates Environment Fossils & Geologic Time Entertainment & Pop Culture Sports & Recreation Visual Arts Demystified Image Galleries Infographics Top Questions Britannica Kids Saving Earth Space Next 50 Student Center How did Shakespeare die? Why is Shakespeare still important today? Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Lit2Go - The Tragedy of MacBeth Shakespeare Online - "Macbeth" Literary Devices - Macbeth Humanities LibreTexts - Macbeth PlayShakespeare.com - Macbeth Overview Internet Archive - "Macbeth" Folger Shakespearee Library - "Macbeth" Macbeth - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) Macbeth , tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare , written sometime in 1606–07 and published in the First Folio of 1623 from a playbook or a transcript of one. Some portions of the original text are corrupted or missing from the published edition. The play is the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies, without diversions or subplots. It chronicles Macbeth’s seizing of power and subsequent destruction, both his rise and his fall the result of blind ambition. Macbeth and Banquo , who are generals serving King Duncan of Scotland , meet the Weird Sisters , three witches who prophesy that Macbeth will become thane of Cawdor , then king, and that Banquo will beget kings. Soon thereafter Macbeth discovers that he has indeed been made thane of Cawdor, which leads him to believe the rest of the prophecy. When King Duncan chooses this moment to honour Macbeth by visiting his castle of Dunsinane at Inverness , both Macbeth and his ambitious wife realize that the moment has arrived for them to carry out a plan of regicide that they have long contemplated . Spurred by his wife, Macbeth kills Duncan, and the murder is discovered when Macduff , the thane of Fife , arrives to call on the king. Duncan’s sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee the country, fearing for their lives. Their speedy departure seems to implicate them in the crime, and Macbeth becomes king. Worried by the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs instead of Macbeth’s own progeny will be kings, Macbeth arranges the death of Banquo, though Banquo’s son Fleance escapes. Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth is driven to madness by her guilt. The witches assure Macbeth that he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane and that no one “of woman born” shall harm him. Learning that Macduff is joining Malcolm’s army, Macbeth orders the slaughter of Macduff’s wife and children. When the army, using branches from Birnam Wood as camouflage, advances on Dunsinane, Macbeth sees the prophecy being fulfilled: Birnam Wood has indeed come to Dunsinane. Lady Macbeth dies; Macbeth is killed in battle by Macduff, who was “from his mother’s womb untimely ripped” by cesarean section and in that quibbling sense was not “of woman born.” Malcolm becomes the rightful king. For a discussion of this play within the context of Shakespeare’s entire corpus, see William Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s plays and poems . Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Macbeth — Duncan: the King of Scotland Duncan: The King of Scotland Categories: Macbeth William Shakespeare About this sample Words: 858 | Published: Mar 1, 2019 Words: 858 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read Cite this Essay Let us write you an essay from scratch 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours Get high-quality help Prof. Kifaru Verified writer Expert in: Literature + 120 experts online By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email No need to pay just yet! Related Essays 2 pages / 1013 words 2 pages / 933 words 2 pages / 972 words 3.5 pages / 1692 words Remember! This is just a sample. You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers. 121 writers online Still can’t find what you need? Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled Related Essays on Macbeth In William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, deception plays a significant role as a recurring theme throughout the play. The deceptive nature of numerous characters, including Macbeth himself, Lady Macbeth, and the witches, [...] Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009.Bradley, A. C. 'The Witch Scenes in Macbeth.' In Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Macmillan, 1904.Knight, G. Wilson. 'The [...] A. Restate the thesis statement and summarize the main points discussed in the essay. Macbeth's downfall is attributed to his ambition, moral decay, and psychological decline, leading to his tragic end.B. Final thoughts: The [...] Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic play that explores themes of ambition, power, and moral corruption. The protagonist, Macbeth, is initially portrayed as a brave and noble soldier, but his unchecked ambition [...] Discuss how Shakespeare develops his title character in Macbeth. Consider language, form, structure and the play’s context in your response. Shakespeare’s eponymous hero begins the play as a masculine, warrior-like figure [...] Macbeth is about contradiction and ambition, the play was written by the famous play wright William Shakespeare. The play is about a Macbeth who is driven to become king, Macbeth kills all and any that get in his way of [...] Related Topics By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails. Where do you want us to send this sample? By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy. Be careful. This essay is not unique This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before Download this Sample Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper. Please check your inbox. We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together! Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less! We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy . Instructions Followed To The Letter Deadlines Met At Every Stage Unique And Plagiarism Free Essay Editor What Does Blood Symbolize in Macbeth 1. introduction. In his immortal play, Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs blood as a powerful symbol. His uses of the symbol are subtle at first, however, over time, blood becomes the most prominent symbol of Macbeth’s descent into madness. This decline in humanity is especially marked by the thematic relevance of blood to the murder of King Duncan, who we can all agree did not deserve such a fate. This symbol of blood has the power to corrupt innocent people and, as shown in the play, cause them to be in direct violation of God’s author existing within the natural law. The paper contained in these pages will explore the symbolism of blood in this classic play. For those of you who may disagree with the negative themes on which this essay will focus on, you need not worry, as we will start off with a thoroughly positive note. It is a known fact that at the very beginning of the play, Macbeth is applauded for his service to Scotland. Out of sincere gratitude for his victories in battle, he is referred to as the “brave Macbeth” (1.2.16) and “worthy thane” (1.2.20). However, his wife wishes for him to become much more; she dreams of him rising to the position of King. In her eyes, Macbeth should try to make himself more valuable by pretending to be something he is not, in a sense. This being ambitious and greedy, it is in large part due to Lady Macbeth’s tactics that the murder of King Duncan eventually takes place. 1.1. Background of Macbeth Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare. It is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. This well-known play is based on the life of the real King Macbeth of Scotland. Although it is a myth, the play appears to have been one of Shakespeare's most fascinating characters. Throughout the play, several themes are important, such as ambition, the supernatural, evil, and guilt. Blood represents these themes, but more specifically, blood exposes the theme of guilt in connection to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Due to the realism of Macbeth, apprehension of any kind makes the readers become engrossed in the events. Macbeth is also referred to as "The Scottish Play". When moving the set of the play, actors are told not to mention the name of the tragedy. If it is mentioned, the play usually turns into an unmanageable theatre, which could cause harm to the cast or audience, like the occurrence of accidents. This is why unnecessary attention from the catastrophe has been seen as disrespectful to Shakespeare. This concept is due to an old spell that was cast upon the play by witches who purportedly used the real spells during the play and in casting its evils. 2. Blood as a Symbol of Guilt The blood in these scenes is usually a reflection of Macbeth's guilty conscience that is connected to what he has done. Blood is used to show that he will never have peace in his mind. But in some cases, we see that his mind almost switches over, wanting to fill his appetite for power. On the other hand, we see that Macbeth does not feel the guilt until after the murder has been committed. When Macbeth becomes king, he sees a horrible obtainment, and he tells himself that he will never have peace of mind. He feels the guilt of his dead comrade. I see the blood of a young and innocent person who died so that I can become king. I have so much blood on my hands that they will never be clean. We then see Lady Macbeth trying to glorify the murder, but her blood cannot be washed away either. After the murder of a guilty mind, she tries to justify the murder but becomes full of guilt in her dreams. They cannot get the blood off their hands. Blood in these scenes is doubled as showing the guilt of what you have done, as showing that you cannot go back on your actions. And as Macbeth said to end Act IV, scene two, "With all great Neptune's Ocean wash this blood clean from my hands?" No, this hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine. Macbeth shows that he knows he will never have any peace, that he will always be filled with guilt. Blood can be seen as a source of power or guilt depending on how a person perceives or views this world. 2.1. Macbeth's Guilt Many different topics come up in Macbeth. There are characters and actions in the play that cause even the bravest reader to be filled with horror. Words and images involving "blood" appear often throughout the text. At this particular point in the play, Macbeth's guilt causes him to psychologically experience all the blood he has shed. In Act 2, Scene 5, the First Murderer says: "Blood will have blood." In Act 3, Scene 4, Macbeth says: "Blood will have blood, they say. Blood I spur that paints the king alive." In Act 5, Scene 5 he says: "Had I as many sons as I have hairs, I would not wish them to a fairer death. And so, his knell is not "Blood will have blood" is used to mean a player will to act when he sees as much killing as he has done or will do. Blood is also used to describe Macbeth's life, hands, and mind. Macbeth says: "The life of every man is like the life of a blood-stained actor. Becoming king causes him to willingly shed blood from the men, women, and children of his land. And when his blood-stained hands cause his wife to go mad with guilt, he becomes desensitized. His last lines about blood show a dramatic change from his horrific mind state as he hears the news of his wife's death. Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare uses many symbols that reflect the depth of the impact of the action on the mind. But it is the symbol of blood that diminishes the gift of life from King Duncan and shows the true psyche of King Macbeth. 3. Blood as a Symbol of Ambition In the last section of the play, Malcolm's desire to make Macbeth's supporters bleed provides the sense of revenge and retribution for the beginning of the play. Ross' questions and the soldier's answers indicate the scope and intensity of the fighting. Great Birnam Wood is moving. As the battle rages, Macbeth is courageous in combat but still aware that Macduff is coming after him: "My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already" (Shakespeare 5.6.2). When someone enters to inform Macbeth that he has witnessed a supernatural event, Macbeth remains focused on the threat presented by Macduff: "There is need of our more cruelty!" Macbeth's immediate inquiries about Macduff drive home the importance of Macduff's ability to make Macbeth bleed, a prophecy of the Weird Sisters. In this broader sense of retribution, the dying Macbeth asks Macduff to "Let us be soldiers" and to "Let the earth hide bones". The sense that by making Macbeth bleed Scotland has been freed, and Malcolm's final regency. By saving their own breath, Macbeth and the other characters in Macbeth shed the blood of others while plotting and forever seeking more power. Blood is employed again and again as a symbol to call attention to the character of the violence of political uprisings. In particular, the characters' appetites for blood provide a sense of their ambition and the meaning of the later claims that they have overleaped the natural limits proscribed against such conduct. Blood figures also provide a sense of retribution, revenge, and divine punishment. Macbeth appears to understand these symbols better than do the other characters in the play, and by the end of the play, he has accepted them to such an extent that his death is inevitable. 3.1. Macbeth's Ambition We shall now consider the play from the standpoint of Macbeth. Way back in Act I, Sc. VII, after casting about for all sorts of anticipations of the immorality of the act contemplated by Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth raises the question of how Macbeth can possibly bring himself to commit such an abhorrent crime as the murder of King Duncan. She finds the answer in the two strong motivations that Macbeth possesses. The first of these is the ambition of which we have heard so much in the earlier acts of the play. The second involves a point that has received remarkably little attention; it was recently brought to notice by the Rev. Allen F. West in an article in American Literature for March, 1938. This second motivation is Macbeth's possession of a group hatred of the Dutch—a 'dangerous and monstrous enemy, a powerful and demonic enemy'. Macbeth is going to kill Duncan; if Macbeth can be made to see in King Duncan that grouper enemy, then he will manage to screw his courage to the sticking point, and kill that monster King, however devilish the crime may seem to be. 4. Blood as a Symbol of Violence Macbeth presents many ways in which the symbol of blood has been used to add to the atmosphere of evil. One main role of blood is to make the atmosphere of the play more fearful. For example, while Duncan was king, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decided to kill him because of the prophecy. The assassination of Duncan has been carried out and Macbeth arrives with blood everywhere after killing the king. Here, Lady Macbeth says, "My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white" (2.2.63-64). This quote indicates that they cover themselves with blood because their crime has been done with blood and Lady Macbeth worries that this fear of them will betray this assassination at once. So the action gives the play a more fearful atmosphere. As Lady Macbeth says, "the stains of his most murderous piece of work", we acknowledge guilt being automatically, symbolically, and incongruously related to it through the biblical notion that "the life is in the blood". This shows that blood has been recognized as a symbol of sin or evil, and that the more sinful the person, the redder they are. Hence, figuratively, blood, which is nothing more than a fluid with no color at all, is also an essential part of an ideal environment where various elements that are related to creating the atmosphere of great horror are found. 4.1. Bloody Acts in the Play The first deed bloodily committed is that of the battle being fought and won. The battlefield is Macbeth's glory, and a double glory. He has won more than he could have aspired to. He is the bravest and has been valorously good. But if bravery can be fruitful, it becomes malignant. Bravery in battle can change itself into savage ambition, and greatness becomes madness. It is explained that valor means shaggy; Macbeth will have learned to be covered in blood, going towards the king and provoking in him his tragic destiny. There are three moments of the play where we see Macbeth, either implicated in crimes, or with the consequences of his acts, where he says: "I have walked so deep into blood that in going back were as tedious as going o'er. Strange things I have in my head, that will to hand". He mentions the deep blood he has already shed, and it is significant that Macbeth does not admit his act and only talks about it. He does not mention what he is going to do, but strange things he has in his head, again transcends his stereotypes and anticipates a reality that starts from the blood of the victims, that he has already caused. This assumption is projected only in the world of blood, ordering the killing of Macduff's wife and son, Banquo, and Fleance. Related articles Main themes of the novel the the scarlet letter. 1. Introduction to The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and was published back in the year 1850. 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Introduction The protagonist of The Odyssey is the most cunning of the Greek heroes, and it is his intelligence which, more than anything else, enables him to reach home. The process of Odysseus' growth can be described in various stages: One: Pre-Story. We are told a great deal about Odysseus before the real story begins. Two: The Journey. What happens to Odysseus. Three: Arrival. Four: Recognition. Five: Revelation. Here is where Odysseus takes the hero's road. He is able to turn the Fury ... 316 IMAGES Eulogy for King Duncan in Macbeth Free Essay Example To What Extent Was Macbeth Responsible For the Death of King Duncan A Juxtaposition of King Duncan and Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth” by William What factors lead Macbeth to kill Duncan? Free Essay Example Lady Macbeth: the Slayer of King Duncan ⇉Who is more to blame for the murder of King Duncan? Macbeth or Lady VIDEO The Murder Of King Duncan British Superlite Championship Round 1 , George Milnes onboard Macbeth by William Shakespeare ~ Full Audiobook "Macbeth" Quotes Analysed A General Becomes King! Was King Duncan A Good Leader In Macbeth? COMMENTS Macbeth: Duncan Most importantly, Duncan is the representative of God on earth, ruling by divine right (ordained by God), a feature of kingship strongly endorsed by King James I, for whom the play was performed in 1606. This "divinity" of the king is made clear on several occasions in the play, most notably when Macbeth talks of the murdered Duncan as having ... King Duncan Character Analysis in Macbeth Malcolm. The King of Scotland, and the father of Malcolm and Donalbain. Macbeth murders him to get the crown. Duncan is the model of a good, virtuous king who puts the welfare of the country above his own and seeks, like a gardener, to nurture and grow the kingdom that is his responsibility. Duncan is the living embodiment of the political and ... Duncan in Macbeth Character Analysis Character Analysis. (Click the character infographic to download.) Duncan is the King of Scotland, but he might as well be your dad. We should all be so lucky: he's kind, generous, benevolent, and just a little weepier than you might expect from a noble warrior and king. Even Lady Macbeth, who says she would murder her own nursing babe, can't ... Duncan Character Analysis Duncan is the King of Scotland. He is characterized as a fair and wise king who is generous with his kinsmen and just with his people. Duncan awards Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor as a ... King Duncan in Macbeth Essay Topics King Duncan in Macbeth Essay Topics. Clio has taught education courses at the college level and has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction. Though King Duncan plays an important role in ~'Macbeth ... Macbeth Navigator: Characters: Duncan, King of Scotland As King Duncan is having dinner under his roof, Macbeth thinks hard about his planned murder. Macbeth is afraid of being caught, and "Besides, this Duncan / Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been / So clear in his great office, that his virtues / Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against / The deep damnation of his taking-off" (1.7.16-20). What is the relationship between Macbeth and Duncan? First and foremost, Macbeth is Duncan's loyal subject, or, at least, he is at the beginning of the play. When first we see Macbeth and Duncan interact in Act 1, scene 4, Macbeth tells his king ... A Modern Perspective: Macbeth Macbeth seems to be haunted by his last victim, King Duncan, as well as the present one. And by his outraged comparison at the end—the violent death and the ghostly appearance compete in strangeness—Macbeth suggests, without consciously intending to, that Banquo's walking in death answers to, or even is caused by, the murder that cut him ... King Duncan The king of Scotland should be a figurehead of order and orderliness, and Duncan is the epitome, or supreme example, of this. His language is formal and his speeches full of grace and graciousness, whether on the battlefield in Act I, Scene 2, where his talk concerns matters of honour, or when greeting his kind hostess Lady Macbeth in Act I ... PDF Six Macbeth' essays by Wreake Valley students In Act 5. 1 Lady Macbeth starts to sleep walk because she can't deal with the fact that her husband killed King Duncan and that it's all her fault and she says "My bloody hands". This shows she's saying it's her fault and she holds the guilt. This leads to her committing suicide in Act 5.5. Level 5 essay. Macbeth by William Shakespeare Summary, Themes, and Analysis Later, his ghost haunts Macbeth and he starts acting abnormally. King Duncan: He is the king of Scotland who is murdered by Macbeth for the lust of power and throne. He is a virtuous man and a good king who is faithful towards his country. His decision to pass the kingdom to his son, Malcolm, becomes the reason of his death. Macduff: Macbeth Key Theme: Ambition Ambition in Macbeth Essay Model Paragraph. ... Ostensibly, this language is being used because Macbeth is discussing King Duncan's prospective life after death. However, it could also be argued that this language betrays Macbeth's own acknowledgement that committing the planned act of regicide (a mortal sin in the Jacobean era) will instead ... Macbeth Character Analysis Downloadable PDFs. Subscribe for $3 a Month. Macbeth's sympathetic, doubt-racked side occasionally peers out from behind his towering violence. Before he murders Duncan—his friend, cousin, and king—he sees a vision of a dagger. The sight makes him question himself and he soon abandons regicide, only to give in to his wife's encouragement. Macbeth Act 2 Scene 2 The murder of Duncan 6. The doors are open. Lady Macbeth must have unlocked the doors into Duncan's room. Her words in lines [14, 15] show that she had been in this room after the king had gone to sleep. 5. the surfeited grooms, the drunken attendants of the king. 7. mock their charge, turn their care of the king's person into a mockery. Macbeth essay on Duncan Duncan is again shown as a caring king when he says to Lady Macbeth "honoured hostess.". The attention is shown to this line because of the alliteration and because women weren't praised in Shakespeare's time so this shows he is very caring and he acknowledges her. Duncan is also seen as a very holy king, especially in Macbeth's ... Who bears the most responsibility for King Duncan's death? Macbeth is physically responsible for Duncan's death. But if it hadn't been for the leading of his wife, Lady Macbeth, one can argue that Macbeth never would have killed Duncan. She played a major ... Macbeth Spurred by his wife, Macbeth kills Duncan, and the murder is discovered when Macduff, the thane of Fife, arrives to call on the king. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee the country, fearing for their lives. Their speedy departure seems to implicate them in the crime, and Macbeth becomes king. Worried by the witches' prophecy that ... Duncan: the King of Scotland: [Essay Example], 858 words Published: Mar 1, 2019. Duncan the king of Scotland was murdered in the castle of Macbeth the thane of Glamis and Cawdor in Castle Dunsinane at midnight on 12th November 1556. The king was murdered on his bed with a dagger. Two grooms of king were also dead; covered with blood of Duncan on their face and with the dagger used to kill him. PDF AQA English Literature GCSE Macbeth: Character Profile Macduff is, essentially, a minor character. However, he is, arguably, the most prominent minor character in the play. Macduff is a static character, in that his loyalty to King Duncan, and righteous heirs to the throne, is unwavering. He immediately distrusts Macbeth and refuses to attend his coronation. Ultimately, Macduff becomes a focal ... What Does Blood Symbolize in Macbeth 4. Blood as a Symbol of Violence. Macbeth presents many ways in which the symbol of blood has been used to add to the atmosphere of evil. One main role of blood is to make the atmosphere of the play more fearful. For example, while Duncan was king, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decided to kill him because of the prophecy. Macbeth Summary Shakespeare's Macbeth tells the story of Macbeth, a Scottish lord who receives a prophecy saying that he will become King of Scotland. Here are some key plot points: At his wife's urging ... assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis