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.
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.
