Full Free Grade 9 GCSE King Duncan essay and how to write it.
No Fluff! Just what you need! On this page:
3 best quotes for King Duncan
Fully written essay example
Analysed for language
Fully written essay example
Analysed for structure
Analysed for Form
Linked to effects
Writer’s intention
Personal response
Understand the character function
Understand the character development
Understand the character function
Relevant context for each quote
Essay paragraph plan
How to write an intro
Go through section by section and actually learn how to write a quality GCSE exam essay OR use the content section to jump around to what you need.
King Duncan’s Character Development
When answering a question about any character, you’ll get top marks if you understand and explain how that character grows and improves as the story progresses.
However, a tragedy like Macbeth is different because the Tragic Hero shifts from being good to being bad. King Duncan also dies for being good – so what’s going on?
By being so kind and generous, King Duncan is used as a plot device to make Macbeth’s actions seem so terrible that audiences reject him.
Let’s find out more…
King Duncan’s Character Story Arc.
Your examiner will love it if you analyse how your character transforms as the storyprogresses.
That’s why your exam essay will have an introduction, conclusion and 3 main paragraphs. Each paragraph will explore either the beginning, middle or end of the character’s transformation. Here’s how this character develops…
BEGINNING
Our first impression of Duncan is a kind and grateful king that will help Macbeth.
MIDDLE
King Duncan was only guilty of placing too much trust in Macbeth.
END
King Duncan’s reputation as a beloved king forces Macbeth to accept his own plan is evil.
King Duncan’s Speedy Character Storyline
Every character has a personal storyline (a story arc) that fits within the overall story. To get the highest grades, you must understand how each character functions as a tool of the writer helping them to deliver the overall message.
King Duncan is introduced discussing recent battle (Act 1, Scene 2)
Hears of Macbeth and Banquo’s bravery (Act 1, Scene 2)
Orders execution of Thane of Cawdor (Act 1, Scene 2)
Names Macbeth new Thane of Cawdor (Act 1, Scene 2)
Praises Macbeth and Banquo when they visit him (Act 1, Scene 4)
Names Malcolm as his heir which annoys Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 4)
Visits Macbeth’s castle and places his safety in Macbeth’s hands (Act 1, Scene 6)
Welcomed warmly (and deceitfully) by Lady Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 6)
Comments on the castle’s pleasantness (Act 1, Scene 6)
Goes to bed in Macbeth’s castle (Act 2, Scene 1)
Murdered by Macbeth while sleeping (Act 2, Scene 2)
Body discovered by Macduff (Act 2, Scene 3)
Shocks everyone with news of his death (Act 2, Scene 3)
His sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee (Act 2, Scene 3)
His murder leads to Macbeth’s coronation and eventual downfall (Act 2, Scene 4)
After Macbeth is killed, Duncan’s rightful heir Malcolm becomes king (Act 5, Scene 9)
King Duncan appears to be the perfect ruler. He is powerful yet kind and grateful. He understands the importance of Macbeth and Banquo and was committed to helping them succeeded. Unfortunately, his trusting nature was his downfall. When he placed his safety in the hands of the Macbeths, he would not survive to see the error of his judgement.
REVISION TIP! You won’t reach the highest grades if you don’t even know the story!
Try writing the plot points out on flashcards. jumble them up and practice putting them into the proper order so you don’t get mixed up with events in the exam.
Essay Guide: How does Shakespeare present Banquo?
Writing Your Essay Introduction
In your GCSE exam, you will get a question about a character or a theme. A standard essay contains a introduction and a conclusion and a main body with a number of analytical paragraphs in it.
Typically, during an exam, you want to write three paragraphs in your main body – each paragraph can depict the beginning middle and end of each character journey and transformation.
Some of you have to write an entire essay from memory, whereas others will need to refer to an extract that you are given in the exam.
If you have an extract question, the information on this guide is still super useful. Decide where the exam extract comes from in the character’s development and use quotes from that extract to create that specific paragraph. You can then use the ideas in this guide for your other paragraphs – simple!
What To Put In Your Introduction
FORMULA for INTRODUCTIONS
Character’s Function + Writer’s Message + Story Arc = Introduction
So, what is King Duncan’s Character’s Function?
King Duncan is used as a device to heighten the sense of Macbeth’s betrayal and treachery by being a kind, generous and trusting ruler.
After hearing about the witches’ prophecy, Macbeth is consumed with greed to become king. instead of waiting to see how fate will deliver the crown to him, he inexplicably to kill King Duncan even though he has been told he will become king. Shakespeare ensures that King Duncan is presented as such a great king that Macbeth has no reason to kill him other than person greed. Thinking about killing King Duncan is the beginning of Macbeth’s tragic fall.
You can learn more about Macbeth’s character here.
What is the Messageof the play?
This demonstrates Shakespeare’s message about the dangers of selfish ambition.
Character Story Arc
King Duncan is a good and generous king whose only flaw was to be too trusting and his murder sparks at the beginning of Macbeth’s tragic fall.
Introduction example.
Here are the 3 elements combined to create an introduction. See how the colours link to the FORMULA for INTRODUCTIONS above.
King Duncan is used as a device to heighten the sense of Macbeth’s betrayal and treachery by being a kind, generous and trusting ruler and to help demonstrate the dangers of selfish ambition. King Duncan is a good and generous king whose only flaw was to be too trusting and his murder sparks at the beginning of Macbeth’s tragic fall.
Writing the Main Body of your Essay.
The 3 points of your 3 essay paragraphs
Your examiner will love it if you analyse how your character transforms as the story progresses. So, your exam essay will have an introduction, conclusion and 3 main paragraphs.
Each paragraph will deal either the beginning, middle or end of the character’s transformation.
HUH?
The points of an essay link directly to the three stages of development for a character.
So, the 3 points below link back to the three stages of the King Duncan’s development.
Scroll back up to the section about King Duncan’s Story Arc if you can’t remember.
BEGINNING
Point 1
King Duncan is a kind and grateful king that will help Macbeth.
MIDDLE
Point 2
King Duncan was only guilty of placing too much trust in Macbeth.
END
Point 3
King Duncan’s reputation as a beloved king forces Macbeth to accept his own plan is evil.
These 3 points will be the first lines of each of your main paragraphs. They explain how the character changes in the three different stages of the story.
You will also see them in the first section of the 3 individual table paragraph plans below.
Paragraph Plans: Quotes and Analyses.
Paragraph 1 Plan
| Point 1 | King Duncan is a kind and grateful king that will help Macbeth. |
| Quote | “I have begun to plant thee, and will labor To make thee full of growing” Act 1 Scene 4 |
| Quote Means | I have planted seeds of a great career for you and I will make sure they grow. |
| When? | After the battle but before going to Dunsinane, Macbeth visits King Duncan who tells him how grateful he is and how he will make him the second most powerful man in the land.. |
| Language Analysis | Extended gardening metaphor Metaphor 1 “plant” – King Duncan will nurture and care for Macbeth; this makes Macbeth’s murderous actions harder to justify for audiences. Metaphor 2 “growing” he is generous and intends for Macbeth to gain power only second to his own; this is as much power anyone could reasonably expect. Macbeth’s greed means he wants more. Emotive Verb “labor” – labour – Duncan will work tirelessly to repay Macbeth’s heroic deeds. Rather than a lazy gift of money, King Duncan will make personal sacrifices for him – reinforces his benevolent nature. |
| Writer’s Intention | – The writer wants to remove any excuses for Macbeth’s treachery by depicting King Duncan as actively trying to improve Macbeth’s position. – This image of good kingship juxtaposes with Macbeth’s tyrannical rule when he becomes king (tyranny is ruling through fear and violence). |
| Audience Response | Audiences will warm to King Duncan as an example of a benevolent king and would view him as untouchable. |
| Context | – Christian society should not challenge the Chain of Being as Macbeth does. This is the idea that authority flowsfrom God to the king and down through the status levels of society. Generous King Duncan is the epitome of a good king and a good choice by God. – Messaging like this helped Shakespeare’s King James I to maintain peace because it encouraged his Christian society to view dissatisfaction and suffering as a test that must be passed to gain entry to heaven. |
| Personal Response | Modern society is less likely to believe in the Chain of Being or the Divine Right of kings, though they would recognise him as a just and worthy ruler. |
Paragraph 2 Plan
| Point 2 | King Duncan was only guilty of placing too much trust in Macbeth. |
| Quote | He’s here in double trust… I am his kinsman… subject… host. Act 1 Scene 7 |
| Quote Means | Duncan is here because he trusts me doubly… I am his relative… subject… host that should protect him. |
| When? | King Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle and, in doing so, entrusts his safety to him. Macbeth later ponders regicide aloud to himself. |
| Language Analysis | Metaphor “Double trust” – Symbolises that Duncan’s only failing was to trust Macbeth so much – there is no betrayal without trust. Emotive Language “Kinsman” – relative – belief in family loyalty will not protect him against Macbeth. Emotive Language “ “Subject”– King Duncan assumes allegiance and protection through the Chain of Being. Emotive Language “ “Host” – in ancient cultures, a guest’s life should be protected; it was considered sacred and equivalent to matricide or patricide. Where King Duncan believes in social morality, shameless Macbeth does not. This misplaced trust is the main reason Macbeth was able to get close enough to kill him. |
| Writer’s Intention | – King Duncan functions as a temptation to test Macbeth’s morality and honour. |
| Audience Response | King Duncan’s understandable trust in common social beliefs create audience empathy for him whilst anger at Macbeth’s treachery. |
| Context | – Ambition and greed are tests of temptation laid down by evil that is present on earth after Adam, considered the original tragic hero, gave into temptation in the biblical story of Adam and Eve. |
| Personal Response | Modern audiences will see the immortality in Macbeth’s actions even though many of these social beliefs are generally less important. |
Paragraph 3 Plan
| Point 3 | Duncan’s reputation as a beloved king forces Macbeth to accept his own plan is evil. |
| Quote | his virtues Will plead like angels … against The deep damnation of his taking-off Act 1 Scene 7 |
| Quote Means | His good qualities mean that there is no reason to kill him. |
| When? | The night of the regicide during Macbeth’s “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly” soliloquy where Macbeth acknowledges that there would be no excuse for killing King Duncan other than greed. |
| Language Analysis | Personification “virtues” – King Duncan’s high moral standards are so obvious and impressive that it is like they speak for him. Emotive language “plead” reinforces that it is emotionally difficult for Macbeth to kill Duncan because of the king’s links to God. Simile “angels” Duncan is chosen by God; regicide is an act against God and heaven. Emotive language “deep damnation” – Duncan’s life is protected by the sentence of an eternity of hell which Macbeth ignores. |
| Writer’s Intention | – King Duncan acts as a plot device to depict Tragic Hero Macbeth’s understanding of his own wrongdoing as he begins his tragic fall from a noble place in society and embarks on his cathartic journey. |
| Audience Response | Audiences will look back at this final description of the living king and compare it to Macbeth’s reign of tyranny as it unfolds. This will create a demand for Macbeth’s demise and a yearning for a return to God’s plan in the form of Malcolm. |
| Context | – Shakespeare’s negative presentation of ambition reflects Christian values that required society accept the lives they were given as a test of patience which could lead to heaven. |
| Personal Response | – The message warning against ambition could be viewed as a form of biassed Jacobean propaganda designed to keep society under control especially since Guy Fawkes had recently failed to assassinate King James I. – However since ambition is more acceptable in modern society, the modern lesson could now be about the limits of healthy ambition. |
King Duncan’s “virtues Will plead like angels … against The deep damnation of his taking-off” Act 1 Scene 7
How can I learn this information?
- Write the notes up as questions and answers in your own words.
- Then turn them into flashcards and/or practice tests.
- Learn the elements of a good answer (the headings on the left-hand side of the tables above).
- Memorise key quotes using flashcards, noting their meanings and contexts.
- Practise writing out the quotes on a piece of paper and then annotating the analysis around it to make a spider diagram. You should be able to mind map each paragraph inside 4 minutes (you would get 12 minutes in an exam to plan the whole essay).
- Read the scenes around each quote so that you know what’s going on and don’t make mistakes in the exam. As far as examiners are concerned, there’s no excuse to have not read the text.
- Use the essay plan in the guide to write out your own version of an essay.
- Make sure you know your character’s timeline.
Full written essay: How does Shakespeare present King Duncan?
This what the introduction and the first of the three essay paragraphs could look like with all the elements from the three plans written up.
Notice:
- How the colours link to the section headings in the tables above.
- Also not that not much extra is added.
FREE ESSAY | How does Shakespeare present King Duncan?
SUMMARY
That’s everything you need to know about King Duncan’s character to get a Grade 9 in GCSE English for this question.
To learn about other Macbeth characters see our other guides.
There’s a lot of information here – probably too much to remember in one go. So, bookmark this page and come back to it whenever you need a reminder when you next have to analyse something.
For more tips on analysing LANGUAGE, check out our incredibleGCSE English Language Analysis | EASY Beginner’s Grade 9 Guide.
If you want to learn more about analysing STRUCTURE,visit our incredibleGCSE English Structure Analysis | EASY Grade 9 Guide
Need to learn about analysingForm?Visitour incredibleGCSE English Form Analysis | EASY Beginner’s Grade 9 Guide.
Keep practising, stay curious, and you’ll be well on your way to mastering analysis in no time. Happy studying!
Peace.
The Oxbridge GCSE Tutor.
