<P> 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 . The origin of the character lies in a narrative of the historical Donnchad mac Crinain, King of Scots, in Raphael Holinshed's 1587 The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 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 . </P> <P> King Duncan is a father - figure who is generous but also firm ("No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interest . Go pronounce 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 and therefore may come across as naive . 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 . </P> <P> King Duncan of Scotland (c. 1001--1040) is the ruler of Scotland who Macbeth murders for his throne . Shakespeare's Duncan is an elderly man, a respected and noble figure; as Macbeth reflects, he' Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been / So clear in his great office, that his virtues / Will plead like angels, trumpet - tongu'd' (1.7. 17--19). Duncan's generous and trusting nature contrasts strikingly with the evil which surrounds Macbeth . Though he appears only in Act 1, he is an important symbol of the values that are to be defeated and restored in the course of the play . His generosity and fatherly affection for Macbeth make his murder even more appalling . The unconscious irony is sharp when he greets Macbeth, who is already plotting against him, with a declaration of his own ingratitude, in 1.4. 14--16 . Duncan's faith, misplaced first in the rebellious Cawdor and then in Macbeth, provides the audience with an introduction to the atmosphere of betrayal that exists throughout the world of the play . </P> <P> The historical Duncan was a much younger man than Shakespeare's character, only a few years older than Macbeth . The playwright altered Duncan's age to stress the evil of Macbeth's crime, but in fact Macbeth did not murder Duncan; he usurped the crown through a civil war, and Duncan died in battle . The two were first cousins, both grandsons of Duncan's predecessor on the throne of Scotland, King Malcolm II (ruled 1005--1034). Duncan's claim to the throne was somewhat stronger than Macbeth's as it appears that Malcolm II had named Duncan as his heir, although the facts are obscure . However, Macbeth's action was an ordinary political manoeuvre in 11th century Scotland; King Malcolm II took the throne previously by murdering his cousin, Kenneth III (997--1005). Shakespeare devised his version of Duncan's death from an account of an earlier royal assassination, that of Malcolm II's uncle, King Duff (d . 967), in his source, Raphael Holinshed's history . </P>

How old was king duncan when he died in macbeth
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