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Summary Lady Macbeth and King Duncan revision slides
This is an in depth revision resource for Lady Macbeth and King Duncan
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Duncan is kind, but too trusting: He is an example of a good king:Theme – Kingship
• Duncan is the king at the start of the play. • Shakespeare presents Duncan as a model k
• In Act 4, Scene 3, Malcom tlaks
He's a kind and generous man who rewards honest and fair.
loyalty – he hands out honours to Macbeth about what a good king should be • Duncan uses a lot of plant imagery – he sa
and Malcolm. like. He says a ruler should have Macbeth and make sure he is “full of grow
• Nobody has a bad word to say about “stableness”, “mercy”, and “justice” he nurtures his subjects.
Duncan; even Macbeth says that “his – qualities that Duncan has. • Macbeth says one of the reasons that he s
virtues/Will plead like angels”. Duncan is because he’s a good leader with
• Duncan's floor is that he is too trusting. He Macbeth also calls him “a most sainted kin
trusts Macbeth and doesn't suspect he's • Duncan is kind, generous and trusting, and
plotting to kill him, and he describes the needs ahead of his own. This contrasts wit
treacherous thane of Cawdor as “a is a bad king – he’s a tyrant who’s feared a
gentleman on whom I built/An absolute King Macbeth puts his own selfish desires ahea
trust”. However , Duncan can be firm when Duncan
needed – he execute the thane of Cawdor
when he betrays him.
Duncan isn’t like the other men:
• Duncan isn’t a soldier like Macbeth or Macduff – he’s gentle
Duncan is…
and less aggressive. He doesn’t fight himself, but he sensibly • Kind: “let me enfold thee/And hold thee to
sends his own soldiers to fight for him, my heart”
• He’s not afraid to be emotional – he shows “drops of sorrow” • Trusting: “There’s no art/To find the mind’s
because he’s so happy and talks about his “gentle senses” – this
might have been seen as unmanly. construction in the face”
• Duncan doesn’t have the qualities that other characters • A good king: “So clear in his great office”
associate with manliness, but Shakespeare shows that he’s kind,
fair and generous. This leads the audience to question whether
a good leader really needed to be a violent warrior.
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