<P> The red, tall, golden - haired one, he will be pleasant to me among them; Scotland will be brimful west and east during the reign of the furious red one . </P> <P> Macbeth's life, like that of King Duncan I, had progressed far towards legend by the end of the 14th century, when John of Fordun and Andrew of Wyntoun wrote their histories . Hector Boece, Walter Bower, and George Buchanan all contributed to the legend . </P> <P> In Shakespeare's play, which is based mainly upon Raphael Holinshed's account, Macbeth is initially a valorous and loyal general to the elderly King Duncan . After being flattered by Three Witches and his own wife, Macbeth rationalizes that murdering his king and usurping the throne is the right thing to do . Ultimately, however, the prophecies of the witches prove misleading, and Macbeth alienates the nobility of Scotland and is defeated in battle by Prince Malcolm . As the King's armies disintegrate he encounters Macduff, a refugee nobleman whose wife and children had earlier been murdered by Macbeth's death squads . Upon realizing that he will die if he duels Macduff, Macbeth at first refuses to do so . But when Macduff explains that if Macbeth surrenders he will be subjected to ridicule by his former subjects, Macbeth vows, "I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, to be baited by a rabble's curse ." He chooses instead to fight Macduff to the death . Macbeth is then slain and beheaded and the play ends with Prince Malcolm planning his coronation at Scone . </P> <P> The likely reason for Shakespeare's unflattering depiction of Macbeth is that King James VI and I was descended from Malcolm III via the House of Bruce and his own House of Stewart, whereas Macbeth's line died out with the death of Lulach six months after his step - father . King James was also thought to be a descendant of Banquo through Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland . </P>

Who is crowned king of scotland at the end of macbeth