Comparing Duncan And Macbeth

People want power because it gives them control and dominance over others. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare shows how power can affect a person positively and negatively by comparing the characters Duncan and Macbeth. Duncan and Macbeth share some similarities, but in general, they are complete opposites of one another.

Although both Duncan and Macbeth are powerful characters in the play, they use their high-status as king in different ways. At the beginning of the play, Duncan is already demonstrating the characteristics of a good king. Upon receiving the news of Scotland’s victory in battle, Duncan immediately announces that “No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive/ Our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death/ And with

Duncan fails to notice Macbeth’s hidden intentions because he is not a good judge of character. After Macbeth is rewarded the title of Thane of Cawdor, he declares in an aside that “I am Thane of Cawdor. / If good, why do I yield to that suggestion” (1.3.135-136). After hearing the witches’ prophecies, Macbeth immediately thinks about murdering Duncan to take his place on the throne. This shows that Macbeth is no longer a loyal and virtuous soldier. Duncan, who is oblivious to Macbeth’s disloyalty, foolishly spends the night at Inverness, where he is murdered by Macbeth. Similarly, it is ironic that Macbeth’s trust in the witches and their prophecies ultimately leads to his tragic death as well. After learning that Macduff was not technically born of a woman, Macbeth expresses his anger in the witches: “And be these juggling fiends no more believed, / That palter with us in a double sense, / That keep the word of promise to our ear, / And break it to our hope” ( 5.8. 19-22). Macbeth interprets the apparition’s prophecies literally and he fails to realize the double nature of these prophecies until it is too late. Thus, he confidently and foolishly fortifies his castle with the few soldiers that remain as he is convinced that the events that the apparitions foretold could not be true. This shows how naive and blind Macbeth has become and how the witches have managed to deceive him. Ultimately, Macbeth misinterprets these prophecies which leads him to the hands of Macduff. Appearances are deceiving; a crucial life lesson that Duncan and Macbeth should have