Kingship

• who do you discuss in a kingship essay?

  duncan

  macbeth

  compare their reigns
• Duncan key quote which shows his nurturing persona

  'I have begun to plant thee and will labour'

  • shakespeare creates imagery of 'plant' and 'labour' to convey his role as a benevolent king as he sees himself as a gardiner whom cultivates loyalty and good citizenship in society
  • this portrays duncan to be an ideal king as he is the embodiment of idealistic elizabethan monarch expectations due to his ability to be both nurturing and firm enough to uphold the state
• why is it significant that Duncan has an heir?

  • His sons give Scotland security as he establishes a legitimate line of successors, ensuring a stable and predictable future for scotland
• 'he was a gentleman who i built on absolute trust'

  • this shows duncan's misuseage of trust in others, as he was brutally betrayed by the former thane of cawdor
  • dramatic irony as he is blissfully unaware of macbeth's plans to brutally murder him
• 'There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face'

  • shows his trust issues
  • he coudl perhaps be seen as an ideal monarch due to his ability to put trust and confidence in others, however it also is his fatal flaw
  • foreshadows macbeth's betrayal
  • apparence vs relaity