Theme+-+The+Ideal+King

Shakespeare's patron, King James, had written a book on this topic, Basilikon Doron, and so this theme was also of great contemporary interest.

The first example is Duncan, who is a good man but not a perfect king. Macbeth pays tribute to his personal qualities when he considers in his soliloquy that Duncan has done nothing to deserve his fate: "so clear in his great office, hath born his faculties so meek….his virtues will plead like angels..." However, as a king, Duncan has the fatal flaw of being over trusting and gullible. After being taken in by the traitorous Thane of Cawdor, he transfers the title to Macbeth who will prove even more treacherous. Similarly, when Duncan comes to Macbeth's castle he misjudges the atmosphere and sees it as a "pleasant" place where the air smells "sweetly".

Banquo would clearly have made a good king, and Macbeth is jealous of his "royalty of nature", acknowledging his courage and wisdom. Shakespeare was aware his own monarch, James Stuart, claimed descent from Banquo, and this is a flattering tribute.

By contrast, Macbeth is unfit to be a king. He is dishonest and unscrupulous, happy to blame others for Duncan's murder. He is even responsible for the killing of Macduff's wife and children. Macbeth becomes the worst sort of king, a tyrant, whose cruelty drains the life blood from his country: "each new morn, new widows howl, new orphans cry." He is contrasted with the king of England, the saintly and Christ-like Edward, who is described as treating his subjects with "healing benediction": "sundry blessings hang about his throne / that speak him full of grace". This religious imagery contrasts with the demonic imagery used to describe Macbeth: "this fiend of Scotland".

Duncan's son Malcolm is depicted as the perfect king. In his testing of Macduff, he lists the "king-becoming graces", such as justice, verity, temperance, mercy, lowliness etc., showing his awareness of how a king should be. He has his father's noble character but without Duncan's fatal flaw of gullibility. He tells Macduff that he is aware Macbeth has tried to entice him back to Scotland to his death, and shrewdly tests Macduff for signs of being a dishonest flatterer. A metaphor describes Malcolm's healing role: he will be "the medicine" for his country. He restores order to Scotland after the disruption caused by Macbeth.

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