King Duncan is a fictional character in Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's Macbeth

Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

. He is the father of two youthful sons (Malcolm and Donalbain

Donalbain (Macbeth)

Donalbain is a character in Shakespeare's Macbeth . He is the younger son of King Duncan and brother to Malcolm, the heir to the throne. Donalbain flees Scotland after the murder of his father for refuge in Ireland. The character is minor, has few lines, and is sometimes completely cut in...

), and the victim of a well-plotted regicide

Regicide

The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...

 in a power grab by his trusted captain Macbeth

Macbeth (character)

Macbeth is the title character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth . The character is based on the historical king Macbeth of Scotland, and is derived largely from the account in Holinshed's Chronicles , a history of Britain. Macbeth is a Scottish noble and a valiant military man. He is portrayed...

. The origin of the character lies in a narrative of the historical Duncan I of Scotland

Duncan I of Scotland

Donnchad mac Crínáin was king of Scotland from 1034 to 1040...

 in Raphael Holinshed

Raphael Holinshed

Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....

's 1587

1587 in literature

-Events:*The Rose theatre is built by Philip Henslowe in Southwark.*Torquato Tasso travels to Rome to stay with Scipione Gonzaga, Patriarch of Jerusalem.-New books:*George Gifford - A discourse of the subtill practises of deuilles by witches and sorcerers...

 The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland

Holinshed's Chronicles

Holinshed's Chronicles, also known as Holinsheds Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, is a collaborative work published in several volumes and two editions, the first in 1577, and the second in 1587....

, a history of Britain familiar to Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Unlike Holinshed's incompetent King Duncan (who is credited in the narrative with a "feeble and slothful administration"), Shakespeare's King Duncan is crafted as a sensitive, insightful, and generous father-figure whose murder grieves Scotland and is accounted the cause of turmoil in the natural world.

Analysis

King Duncan is a father-figure who is generous but firm ("No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interest. Go pronouce his present death / And with his former title greet Macbeth."), insightful ("There's no art / To find the mind's construction in the face."), and sensitive ("This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air / Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself / Unto our gentle senses."). However, the role is full of irony; he is completely deceived in the intents of Macbeth. Although a modern reader may view Duncan as an incompetent monarch in this respect, Duncan represents moral order within the play and his murder signals the onset of chaos.

Film and television performances

Film

Duncan has been played in film adaptations of the play by Anthony Head

Anthony Head

Anthony Stewart Head , usually credited as Anthony Head, is an English actor and musician. He rose to fame in the UK following his role in television advertisements for Nescafé Gold Blend , and is known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as Uther Pendragon in...

 in 2008, Gary Sweet

Gary Sweet

Gary Sweet is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in Alexandra's Project , Police Rescue, Cody, Big Sky, The Battlers, Bodyline and Stingers....

 in 2006, and Tom Reid in 2003. Javier Ronceros performed the role in Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth

Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth

Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth are two plays by Tom Stoppard, written to be performed together. This was not the first time that Stoppard had made use of Shakespearian texts in his own plays or even the first time he had used Hamlet although the context is far different from that of his earlier...

(2005) and John Little in Macbeth: The Comedy (2001). Christopher McCann played Duncan in Macbeth in Manhattan (1999). Greg Korin, John Corvin, and Antti Litja

Antti Litja

Antti Litja is a Finnish actor.Litja entered film in 1960 and has made over 60 Finnish film and TV appearances to date...

  played the role in 1998, 1997, and 1987 respectively.
Erskine Sanford

Erskine Sanford

Erskine Sanford was an American actor in films from the late 1930s. A member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre company, he also appeared in several of Welles' films, most notably as the bumbling, perspiring newspaper editor Herbert Carter in Citizen Kane.Erskine Sanford lived the last decades of...

 played King Duncan in Orson Welles

Orson Welles

George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...

' 1948 Macbeth

Macbeth (1948 film)

Macbeth is a 1948 American film adaptation by Orson Welles of William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth.-Pre-production:In 1947, Orson Welles began promoting the notion of bringing a Shakespeare drama to the motion picture screen. He initially attempted to pique investors’ interest in an adaptation of...

and Louis Northop in a 1946 film adaptation.
Spottiswoode Aitken

Spottiswoode Aitken

Frank Spottiswoode Aitken was a Scottish- American actor of the silent era.Aitken was one of the first actors to settle in Los Angeles when the film industry was still at its strongest in New York...

 and Charles Kent

Charles Kent (actor)

Charles Kent was a British-born American silent film actor and director. He appeared in 141 films between 1908 and 1923...

 both played Duncan in silent versions of Macbeth in 1916 and 1908 (the first screen version of the play).

In Orson Welles' 1948 film adaptation of Macbeth, the role of King Duncan is reduced. 1.2 is cut entirely as well as generous portions of 1.4. King Duncan is seen briefly in 1.6 as he enters Macbeth's castle amid considerable pomp. The top of 1.4 with its description of Cawdor's execution has been transplanted to this scene. Banquo's "temple-haunting martlet" speech is given to Duncan. Duncan is later seen asleep in bed for a fleeting moment as Lady Macbeth slinks about in the chamber's shadows. Donalbain has been cut from the film, leaving Duncan with just one son, Malcolm.

Television

Vincent Regan

Vincent Regan

-Career:Regan was born in Swansea on 16 May 1965, the son of Irish immigrants. As a youth he moved to Ireland with his parents, but returned to Britain and attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich in Suffolk....

 played King Duncan in "ShakespeaRe-Told

ShakespeaRe-Told

ShakespeaRe-Told is the umbrella title for a series of four television adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays broadcast on BBC One during November 2005. In a similar manner to the 2003 production of The Canterbury Tales, each play is adapted by a different writer, and relocated to the present day...

" Macbeth (2005), Ray Winstone

Ray Winstone

Raymond Andrew "Ray" Winstone is an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "tough guy" roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over...

 in Macbeth on the Estate (1997), Laurence Payne

Laurence Payne

Laurence Payne was an English actor and novelist.-Early life:Laurence Stanley Payne was born in London. His father died when he was three years old, and he and his elder brother and sister were brought up in by their mother, a Wesleyan Methodist in Wood Green, London...

 in "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales

Shakespeare: the Animated Tales

thumb|right|[[Banquo]] and [[Fleance]] from the "Macbeth" episode. Shakespeare: The Animated Tales comprised two six-part television series, first broadcast in 1992 and 1994...

" Macbeth (1992), Griffith Jones

Griffith Jones

Griffith Jones may refer to:*Griffith Jones , Llanddowror, who established circulating schools in Wales*Griffith Jones , appointed to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1690, later Mayor of Philadelphia...

 in A Performance of Macbeth (1979), and Jacques Mauclair

Jacques Mauclair

Jacques Mauclair was a French film actor. He appeared in 30 films between 1950 and 2000.He was born in Paris, France.-Selected filmography:* Amour * Three Girls in Paris -External links:...

 in Macbett

Macbett

Macbett is Eugène Ionesco's satire on Shakespeare's Macbeth.-Plot:Two generals, Macbett and Banco, put down a rebellion. In payment for their heroic service, Archduke Duncan promises to bestow on them land, titles and cash, but he reneges on the deal. Encouraged by the seductive Lady Duncan,...

(1974), Kevin Coughlin

Kevin Coughlin

Kevin J. Coughlin is a former Republican member of the Ohio Senate, who represented the 27th District from 2001 to 2010. He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1997 until 2000...

 on the "Goodyear Television Playhouse" (1955), and Lee Patterson

Lee Patterson

Lee Patterson was a Canadian film and television actor.After attending Ontario College of Art, Patterson moved to England, where he specialized in playing virile American types in British films...

 on the "Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents" Dream Stuff

Dream Stuff

Dream Stuff is a collection of short stories by the Australian writer David Malouf, published in 2000.- Contents :* "At Schindler's"* "Closer"* "Blacksoil Country"* "Jacko's Reach"* "Lone Pine"* "Night Training"* "Sally's Story"* "Great Day"...

(1954). Other television performers of the role include Philip Madoc

Philip Madoc

Philip Madoc is a Welsh actor who has had many television and film roles.One prominent role was the title character in the BBC Wales drama The Life and Times of David Lloyd George...

 (1998), Mark Dignam

Mark Dignam

Mark Dignam was a prolific English actor.Born in London, the son of salesman in the steel industry, Dignam grew up in Sheffield and was educated at the Jesuit College where he appeared in numerous Shakespearean plays....

 (1983), Powys Thomas (1961), Malcolm Keen

Malcolm Keen

Malcolm Keen was an English film and television actor.Born in Bristol, Keen was an early collaborator with the director Alfred Hitchcock, starring in his silent films The Mountain Eagle, The Lodger and The Manxman.Keen was the father of actor Geoffrey Keen, and the two both played Iachimo in...

 (1960), Leo G. Carroll

Leo G. Carroll

Leo Gratten Carroll was an English-born actor. He was best known for his roles in several Hitchcock films and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Topper.-Early life:...

 (1949), Arthur Wontner

Arthur Wontner

Arthur Wontner was a British actor best known for playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes in five films from 1931 to 1937...

(1949).