Establish our estate (1.4.35-47)

DUNCAN Sons, kinsmen, thanes, And you whose places are the nearest, know We will establish our estate upon Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter The Prince of Cumberland; which honour must Not unaccompanied invest him only, But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine On all deservers. From hence to Inverness, And bind us further to you. MACBETH The rest is labour, which is not used for you: I'll be myself the harbinger and make joyful  The hearing of my wife with your approach;  So humbly take my leave. DUNCAN My worthy Cawdor!  After his previous outburst of emotion, the mid-line caesura gives him time to gather himself. He recommences his speech with a clear hierarchical ordering in his list of "sons, kinsmen, thanes", an order reflected in his speech habits too, where the natural use of assonance when he states that he will "establish" his "estate" upon his "eldest" creates balance. His speech is a performance of kingship and establishes a sense of arrangement that is expected of the rightful King. Duncan wishes to bestow his kingdom upon Malcolm, who is made heir apparent as "Prince of Cumberland". Whilst this practice of male primogeniture (passing inheritance to the eldest son)would be expected by a Jacobean audience (schooled in the Divine Right of Kings by James' treatise in the Basilikon Doron), it would have gone against the notions of tanistry of the Scottish medieval feudal estates (selection of a ruler based on merit). Regardless of how Shakespeare's audience would view Duncan's choice of succession, Malcolm clearly becomes a rival to Macbeth's ambitions. Duncan does not see the appointment of Malcolm as an end, and assures that "signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine on all deservers". Stars are connected through cosmological ideas to fate and its control, so the simile suggests that these titles will guide recipients (Macbeth, in particular) to their fates. Indeed, Macbeth is driven on to believe the witches and commit regicide by confirmation of the "two truths", his received position of Cawdor. The sibilance throughout the line amplifies the feeling of order, but also lends it an ethereal atmosphere. Duncan goes on to lay his first 'honour': he declares his intention to move "to Inverness", to grace Macbeth's castle with the honour of his visit. Macbeth responds with courtesy and the more respectful "you", which shows a polite distance. He offers to be himself "the harbinger and make joyful / The hearing of my wife", to bring good tidings. Instead of harbouring (etymologically linked to "harbinger" with the connotations of safety and protection), Macbeth will - somewhat ironically - be the herald of death and ruin (though his news will succeed in temporarily making his wife "joyful"). This irony aligns Macbeth with the witches, who epitomise the word, and once again augurs Macbeth's continued involvement with the supernatural throughout the play. He requests to "humbly" take his leave, though his subsequent aside reveals the scheming he is (much less "humbly") entertaining. This façade of an honest nobleman he attempts to emulate clearly still fools those present; Duncan responds by addressing him as "my worthy Cawdor" and, whilst Duncan clearly means this sincerely, we realise the irony of the word, as he is no longer the deserving, irreproachable man they see him to be.  

- Leah and Ruiyun