The examples of dramatic irony in this scene mostly
revolve around Duncan and his praise of Macbeth and trust in him, even as Macbeth is
already contemplating to kill Duncan to seize the crown himself. Let us just remind
ourselves that dramatic irony is when the audience and one (or more) characters know
something that another character or group of characters does not. Surely the most
powerful example of dramatic irony in this scene comes at the end, when Duncan has
announced that his eldest son, Malcolm, will inherit the crown after his death, and has
given him a new title, the Prince of Cumberland. In an aside that reveals his feelings
about this, Macbeth makes it perfectly clear that he is planning to kill Duncan to gain
the power and position that he believes has been promised to him and is part of his
destiny:
Stars, hide your
fires!
Let not light see my black and deep
desires;
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that
be,
Whic the eye fears, when it is done, to
see.
This is said in an aside
just before he leaves to go to his castle and make preparations for the arrival of
Duncan and his lords. What is ironic about this though is how Duncan closes this scene,
praising Macbeth's character to Banquo:
True, worthy Banquo: he is full so
valiant,
And in his commendations I am
fed;
It is a banquet to me. Let's after
him,
Whose care is gone before to bid us
welcome:
It is a peerless
kinsmen.
Duncan's assessment
of Macbeth as being "full so valiant" and a "peerless kinsmen" clearly highlights his
naivety and gullibility. He has already in this scene confessed that he is unable to
distinguish between true loyalty and the mere appearance of loyalty in the case of the
former treacherous Thane of Cawdor, and this is only underlined by the way he makes the
same mistake with Macbeth.
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