Scene Summary
The scene opens with a meeting between King Duncan of Scotland, his two sons Malcolm and Donalbain, and Lennox, a thane. A bloody captain approaches them with news of the rebellion, telling King Duncan that the rebel thane Macdonald has been defeated and slain in battle by Macbeth, who is revealed to be Duncan’s cousin. The captain further tells of Macbeth’s bravery, defeating Macdonald’s Norwegian ally with his fellow thane Banquo. Sending the man off to be healed, King Duncan receives more news as the thanes Ross and Angus enter, telling him of the victory they won against Macdonald’s ally, the Thane of Cawdor. Looking to reward Macbeth, Duncan grants him the title of Thane of Cawdor, stating “what hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won,” tasking Ross to deliver the news.
Scene Analysis
After the mysterious and supernatural nature of the opening scene, this scene acts as the audience’s first real introduction to Macbeth’s Scotland and serves to establish characters and events that become crucial to the play’s central conflict. To start with the characters, this is our first introduction to King Duncan and his sons Malcolm and Donalbain, with Malcolm in particular being one of the more prominent characters, as he is the one to avenge his father and defeat Macbeth at climax of the play. Yet in this scene, Malcolm barely speaks; he only introduces the captain. The audience gains a brief sense of his character as his line “who like a good and hardy solider fought... hail brave friend” mirrors the noble personality displayed by Duncan in this scene. Furthermore, Duncan is portrayed as a man of honour and kindness – he freely praises the bravery of Macbeth and Banquo, and generously gifts Macbeth an additional lordship, making him one of the most powerful men in Scotland.
It appears that Shakespeare wrote Duncan this way to highlight the evil of his murder and the villainous nature of Macbeth and his wife, but another interpretation is that this generous and trusting nature of the king can ominously be seen as a contributing factor to his downfall. As stated in the text, Duncan rewards Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor, as the previous thane who held this position was a traitor to the crown, actively trying to overthrow Duncan. The granting of this title on Macbeth is a clear example of dramatic irony; as seen in the next scene, the witches will foretell that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and then king, which sets Macbeth’s destructive ambition in motion. Hence, Duncan’s naïveteseemingly contributes to his own downfall, as with many of Shakespeare’s tragic characters. Both Duncan and Macbeth share a hamartia – for Duncan it is his trusting nature, and for Macbeth it is his ambition.
It is also important to note, once again, that Macbeth does not physically appear in this scene; he is only named and talked about (another common a technique Shakespeare uses for the eponymouscharacters in his tragedies). Though we gain a better sense of his character, Shakespeare has intentionally created an air of mystique around his enigmatic main character, a technique that heightens the tension for the rest of the play.
