Poor Duncan. It is hard not to feel sorry for him given
the kind of characters that he is up against. This scene is very crucial for gaining an
understanding of Duncan, because he is rather too honest about his own shortcomings. In
particular, one of the more revealing comments he makes reveals his own tendency to be
taken in by appearances rather than reality, which is ironic given that he is just about
to do exactly the same thing, which will lead to his death. Note his comment about the
former Thane of Cawdor and his relationship with him:
There's no art
To
find the mind's construction in the face:
He was a
gentleman on whom I built
An absolute
trust.
Duncan clearly is a
very naive and gullible King, as the way that he was taken in by his former treacherous
Thane of Cawdor amply demonstrates. He appears to lack the necessary political
Machiavellian mind to operate well in a position of power. However, he is clearly
presented as a very kind, generous and loving monarch, eager to award faithfulness in
every way that he can. Note how he responds to Macbeth's arrival in this scene
(ironically coming straight after the quote above, indicating the way in which Macbeth
will be misjudged by him too):
The sin of my ingratitude even
now
Was heavy on me. Thou art so far
before,
That swiftest wing of recompense is
slow
To overtake thee: would thou hadst less
deserv'd,
That the proportion both of thanks and
payment
Might have been mine! only I have left to
say,
More is thy due than more than all can
pay.
Duncan is shown in this
speech to be a noble monarch, eager to give Macbeth the reward he deserves for his acts
of valour on the battlefield.
Overall, then, we can argue
that Duncan is presented in this scene as a generous, kind and loving king, whose fatal
weakness lies in his naivety and gullibility and his inability to differentiate between
appearance and reality.
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