Kingship

• The play revolves around kings: a good king is murdered, a wicked king rises and is overthrown, and a rightful king resumes succession.
• Macbeth and Banquo are both tempted by the witches with promises of the throne. Macbeth's ambition causes him to succumb to this temptation.
• Macbeth and Duncan represent opposing styles of leadership, reminding us of how important it is to have a fair and good king.
• We are also told about King Edward who is presented as almost a saint, reminding us of the relationship between God and kings.
• At the end of the play, the good king wins - Malcolm promises to be like his good father.
• 'All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter" (1:3)
• "If chance will have me king, why chance / May crown me" (Macbeth 1:3)
• "Your highness' part is to our duties / And our duties are to your throne and state, children and servants" (Macbeth 1:4)
• "The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth" (Ross 2:4)
• "Then, prophet-like / They hailed him father to a line of kings"(Macbeth 3:1)
• "Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown" (Macbeth 3:1)
• "The gracious Duncan / Was pitied of Macbeth" (Lennox 3:6)
• "Were I king / I should cut off the nobles of their lands / desire his jewels and this other's house" (Malcolm 4:3)
• "Bleed, bleed poor country [Macduff on Scotland under Macbeth]" (Macduff 4:3)
• "I think our country sinks beneath the yoke / It weeps, it bleeds and each new day a gash / Is added to her wounds" (Malcolm 4:3)
• "Now does he feel his title / Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe / Upon a dwarfish thief" (Angus 5:2)
• Duncan acts as a catalyst for Macbeth's spiral into amorality, whilst also remaining an essential part of Shakespeare's discussion on the theme of kingship.
• Duncan and Edward are often connected through descriptions of their religious piety.
• Edward ("the most pious"), Duncan ("a most sainted king" by Macduff), and after his corpse is discovered compared the regicide to the sacrilegious ransacking of a temple: "most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope / The Lord's anointed temple". Even Macbeth describes his corpse using the language of precious metals ("his silver skin laced with his golden blood") - this language connotes with portraits of saintly martyrs in religious art.
• Edward is a holy healer and rewards his people with spiritual health and the promise of future stability (" 'tis spoken / To the succeeding royalty he leaves / The healing benediction"), whereas Duncan rewards with materialistic gifts of status (Macbeth is given an additional title and Lady Macbeth is given a 'diamond').
• In stark contrast to Duncan, who fails to interpret the present, let alone the future, Edward also "hath a heavenly gift of prophecy". Duncan's gullibility and naive trusting of others is shown as his fatal hamartia. He complains bitterly about the original Thane of Cawdor's treachery ("He was a gentleman on whom I built/ An absolute trust"), and then replaces this traitor with Macbeth. Naively, Duncan takes at face value what he sees and hears and is blind and deaf to disguise and duplicity.
• Shakespeare's use of dramatic irony when Duncan describes the castle as a 'pleasant seat' where 'the air / Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself' ensures that Duncan appears fatally innocent and even foolish.
• Macduff's intense reaction to Duncan's murder may reflect the status of Duncan within the play as a good king.
• Despite his saintly ways and the intense loyalty he evokes in men like Macduff, his kingdom is a shambles of social upheaval, teetering on the brink of collapse - the first act establishes a Scotland on the brink of social implosion, threatened by both internal division (Macdonald and Cawdor) as well as external invasion (the Norwegian army). Additionally, the fact that Macbeth can, and clearly has in the past, envisioned regicide as a stepping stone to individual advancement is worrying.
• Additionally, Lennox and Ross appear worryingly ambiguous in their political loyalties, which implies that though Duncan may be saintly, he is not a compelling leader. Despite this, Shakespeare implies that although Duncan's rule may be weak and leave his country vulnerable, it is better than Macbeth's vicious tyranny.
• Malcolm, Duncan's son, is presented as a much more functional, pragmatic alternative to his father. Where Duncan was gullible and gushing in his praise of the violent men who served him, Malcolm is a far shrewder man, despite his inexperience of kingship and the battlefield.
• Malcolm is quick to realise that appearances can be deceptive. After their father's death, Malcolm comments that showing 'unfelt sorrow' is something the 'false man' does easily, while his brother comments perceptively that 'Where we are/ There's daggers in men's smiles'.
• Malcolm lacks the warrior prestige that Macbeth possesses, but he is able to command men like Macduff and Old Sword for his own purposes. Shakespeare refuses to show Malcolm in combat so we do not know his aptitude for violent conflict.