Duncan's Speeches In Macbeth

At first Macbeth thinks killing King Duncan is a dreadful thing to do:”We will proceed no further in this business./He hath honored me of late, and I have bought/Golden opinions from all sorts of people,/Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,/Not cast aside so soon”(1.7.31-35). This states that

Royalty alike, generals, thanes and beloved friends of Scotland, today we are all gathered here to honour our beloved King Duncan. Through your eyes you may have seen something else but I, his successor Macbeth saw him as a wise and honourable King. Never will Scotland live to see a kind and wise King; like King Duncan. Who possessed many admirable traits such as graciousness, integrity and leadership.

(Screeching) Hark! Ravens don’t bother an owl’s nest! Get out, get out! Your talons are too small to scathe my perfectly preened feathers. Stop darkening my mind and heart you horrible devil’s messengers. (Flings her fist around her crazily, batting at non-existent ravens flapping around her. She begins speaking in a frustrated voice) That horrendous murderer, he seeks something more than power, he is greedy yet he only deserves death. A death so horrible it awakens those mortally wounded by his blade. (Picks up dagger used to kill the king and his two guards) He shall die tonight! Awake Duncan and his guards; give me the strength of a vengeful man. (Looking to ceiling as if talking to spirits) Bring back my strength, spirits, rid me of this

Macbeth is seen as a “valiant cousin, worthy gentleman” (I, ii, 24). He is a brave warrior who is well respected in his community, until the witches prophesied to him that he would one day be king (I, iii, 50). Macbeth interprets that he must act to fulfill the prophecy. He sends a letter to lady Macbeth asking what to do. She suggests that he should kill Duncan. Macbeth follows the plan and kills Duncan (II, ii, 15). Directly following the murder Macbeth can no longer say amen

In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, power is portrayed in many instances. Macbeth was just the general of Thane of Glamis, when he was walking and came upon three witches. The witches stopped him and told him the prophecies of his life. Macbeth was taken in by the witches’ prophecies and his wife’s aspiration of him being king. He (Macbeth) was so intrigued by the news and what was to come that he began thinking of all the ways to become king.

Macbeth made the decision to kill his King, Duncan, and followed through on it. He was never truly loyal to Duncan or even the nagging of Lady Macbeth would not be enough to provoke him to Kill Duncan. He was always power hungry and selfish and made the bad decisions that followed without aid from Lady Macbeth. All of his actions were based on an

In Act 1 of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth is shown as a brave and loyal soldier in command to King Duncan which happened to be his "worthiest cousin" (1.4.18) When Macbeth encounters the three witches, they speak of a prophesy, "that shalt be king hereafter!" (1.3.53) which makes Macbeth become more confident in his possible future behind what the witches prophecy states "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir" (1.3.158-9) In scene 3 Macbeth goes from a brave, capable soldier to a confident guy full of ambition with a slight habit of self doubt as we can tell by his sides and soliloquies where he has to give him self small pep talks in a way to help make decisions between right and wrong.

King Duncan was an honest king favored by many. His generosity is shown when he titles Macbeth Thane of Cawdor. King Duncan proclaims, “No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, and with his former title greet Macbeth” (Shakespeare 8). King Duncan is munificent, but gave Macbeth this title because he cares for the people of Cawdor. He is a fair KingKing since he did this for the better of the people. Morality is proven in the play after King Duncan is rewarded for his great actions. After King Duncan’s death Macbeth states, “So clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his taKing-off” (Shakespeare 20). King Duncan was virtuous and was rewarded by being honored and well respected by everyone including his murderer. He was very

3. 157-159) Macbeth’s arrogance is made apparent with the immediacy of his thoughts of becoming king and it is clear that the supernatural has given him arrogant ambition as Macbeth is already beginning to think of how he will be crowned king. Macbeth eventually decides he will show his “Black and deep desires” (1. 4. 58) and murder Duncan, the current king of Scotland. This is a shift from Macbeth showing loyalty to Scotland and the king as he now has arrogantly, for the benefit of himself becoming king, murdered Duncan, the king of Scotland. Duncan was greatly admired and respected by the population of Scotland. Macbeth himself describes Duncan as “meek” (1. 7. 17) and being “so clear in his great office” (1. 7. 18). When Macduff first realizes the death of Duncan, he describes the scene as: “O horror, horror, horror!” (2. 3. 73) Macbeth acknowledges that the reaction to Duncan’s death would be mournful before murdering him: “Pity… / Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, / That tears shall drown the wind” (1.7. 21-25). However, Macbeth’s only goal is to become king, not to please the population of Scotland who admires their king greatly and sees him as a righteous person. After tempting Macbeth with the idea of becoming king, the supernatural gives Macbeth arrogant ambition, forcing him to contrast his loyal and courageous personality, which motivates him to kill Duncan.

One major shortcoming of King Duncan is that he trusts people very quickly. This is evident in 1.4 of Macbeth because Duncan says, "He was a gentleman on whom I build an absolute trust." This shows that Duncan fully trusted Cawdor and Cawdor used his trust, which is why he is getting executed.

In Act 1, scene 7 of Macbeth, Macbeth contemplates the murder of king Duncan for the first time. He questions himself for thinking it was necessary to kill Duncan and starts going through all the cons of murdering him. First, his job is to protect his king, not to eliminate him. Second, he talks about how Duncan is actually a dependable, loyal, righteous

He doesn’t seem to be that good of a judge of character because he chose Macbeth to be king of Cawdor when Macbeth is having thoughts of murdering Duncan.(“Even though it’s just for fantasy so far, The more thought of committing murder shakes me up so much that I hardly know who I am anymore”) Duncan and Macbeth will be meeting

Ladies and gentleman of the jury. Sitting before you today is a man accused of the murder of Duncan, the King of Scotland. The prosecution will portray Macbeth as an ambitious man, one who plotted to murder his own cousin, so that he could lay claim to the title of the crown. But the issue in this case is not whether Macbeth murdered the deceased. This fact is not disputed. What you must determine is whether Macbeth was of sound mind when he committed this act. Evidence showed that this was not so. In fact, Macbeth was the victim in this crime. It was he, who was possessed and brainwashed by the evil witches. Then it was Lady Macbeth who took advantage of his state of mind. She pushed him over the edge to fulfil her ambitions of being

A murder of a King who highly praised him and rewarded Macbeth for his loyalty? It seems very unlikely bordering on fiction. Macbeth is a man of great character. Described by the King himself as noble. Also called ‘O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman’, King Duncan did not just speak these words for the sake of it but to show how he honoured him.

Duncan’s character backed up his status– he was very generous, such as in giving Macbeth the title of the Thane of Cawdor. But his naivety was his fault as a King, and it is partially what led to his downfall. When Macbeth defends him on the battlefield, he describes Macbeth as a “Valiant cousin…Worthy gentleman” (Act 1 Scene 2 L.24). He praises Macbeth in a regal way – “More is thy due than more than all can pay…I have begun to plant thee, and will labour to make thee full of growing” (Act 1 Scene 4 L.21, 28). By nurturing Macbeth in this way, he builds up his confidence, and gives him the confidence to carry out his ambitions. Horror is built up here through Macbeth taking advantage of the King’s solitary weakness – naivety.