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Q3. Explain the line ' he died as one that had been studied in this death'.
This line means that the Thane of Cawdor was expecting to be put to death by king Duncan of Scotland as
punishment for having assisted the enemy of the the King. The word 'studied' means prepared. The Thane of Cawdor
was ready for death when he was executed.
Q9.Just before these lines, Duncan uses a metaphor to express similar feeling of gratitude. What was the metaphor?
The metaphor that Duncan uses is " the swiftest wings of recompense is slow to overtake thee", By this he means
that by the services rendered by Macbeth he had gone so far (in term of obligation to king Duncan) that even the
best compensation could not over take the services rendered by Macbeth.
Q13. What does he mean by 'on which i must fall down, or o'rleap?
By this Macbeth means that the appointment of Malcolm as the price of Cumberland is a stumbling block in his
ambition of becoming the king of Scotland. Macbeth means that the appointment of Malcolm as the price of
Cumberland is a step over which he must lead (overcome) or stumble (fail).
Q17.Express your views on the line: " There's no art, To find the mind's construction in the face.
When king Duncan thinks about the betrayal by the Thane of Cawdor, he thinks about the trust that he had placed
on the Thane of Cawdor and how he was betrayed by the very person on whom he placed his trust. Then he thinks
that there is no way one can find out what a man is thinking. How does one know or find out who is trust worthy and
who is not by just looking at a man's face.
He is now going to place his full trust on Macbeth and is going to make Macbeth the new Thane of Cawdor.
However, as the future events will tell us, even this trust is going to be misplaced. He would once more be betrayed
by Macbeth - thus history repeats itself. King Duncan's misgivings that one cannot know who to trust is there for his
bane. The lack of trust has caused his downfall.
Q18. Give your own views of the character of Duncan, supporting your statements with quotations from the play.
King Duncan was a kind hearted, generous, trusting and caring ruler. He gave the Thanes (the head of each district
who reported to the king) of his kingdom respect and autonomy. The fact that he gave the Thanes autonomy was
apparent from the the fact that the Thane of Cawdor could put together an army to attack king Duncan and even
side with an enemy - the king of Norway. We can say that king Duncan was generous from the way he treated
Macbeth and Banquo after they returned victorious from the battlefield. They were generously rewarded. Yet, king
Duncan felt that no reward could compensate them for the bravery they displayed in the battle-field.
King Duncan also treated his lieutenants almost like his equal. We can say that because in order to honour Macbeth,
he decides to spend a night at Macbeth's castle in Inverness. King Duncan's weakness was that he was too trusting
and not a very good judge of people. We can say that becuase even though he realizes, after the betrayal by the
Thane of Cawdor, that one cannot find out what a person is thinking he make the mistake of trusting Macbeth too
much. His trusting nature leads him to his death.