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King Duncan is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Macbeth. He is the father of two youthful sons ( Malcolm and Donalbain ), and the victim of a well-plotted regicide in a power grab by his trusted captain Macbeth .
Donnchad mac Crinain (Scottish Gaelic: Donnchadh mac Crìonain; [1] anglicised as Duncan I, and nicknamed An t-Ilgarach, "the Diseased" or "the Sick"; [2] c. 1001 – 14 August 1040) [3] was king of Scotland from 1034 to 1040. He is the historical basis of the "King Duncan" in Shakespeare's play Macbeth.
One of Shakespeare's principal sources is the Holinshed (1587) [2] [full citation needed] account of King Duncan. Holinshed described the future King Macbeth of Scotland and his companion Banquo encountering "three women in strange and wild apparell, resembling creatures of elder world" who hail the men with glowing prophecies and then vanish ...
Shakespeare conflated the story of Donwald and King Duff in what was a significant change to the story. [10] Shakespeare made another important change. In Chronicles, Banquo is an accomplice in Macbeth's murder of King Duncan, and plays an important part in ensuring that Macbeth, not Malcolm, takes the throne in the coup that follows. [11]
Influenced by the prophecies of three witches, he murders Duncan to take his place as king of Scotland. Lady Macbeth ( hist ), wife to Macbeth, is a central character who conspires with her husband to murder Duncan.
The name of Cawdor still connects the castle to Shakespeare's play Macbeth. However, the story portrayed by Shakespeare takes extensive liberties with history. The historical King Macbeth ruled Scotland from 1040 to 1057, after his forces killed King Duncan I in battle near Elgin.
Far from being the aged King Duncan of Shakespeare's play, the real King Duncan was a young man in 1034, and even at his death in 1040 his youthfulness is remarked upon. [11] Duncan's early reign was apparently uneventful. His later reign, in line with his description as "the man of many sorrows" in the Prophecy of Berchán, was not successful.
Malcolm is a character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth (c. 1603–1607). The character is based on the historical king Malcolm III of Scotland, and is derived largely from the account in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of Britain. He is the elder son of King Duncan, the heir to the throne, and brother to Donalbain. [1]