Macbeth Leadership Evaluation.

King Duncan
King Duncan was a not a very effective leader because his decisions were made quickly and on the spot not leaving much time to think about what he was doing. This is evident in 1.2 "No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth."(1.2.70-72) In this scene the king though having some trust in Macbeth already before seeing Macbeth again and seeing if war had put Macbeth's mind in a unsafe state therefore rendering him unfit to lead. This decision was also made just after a loyal man of the king had just betrayed him so Duncan may not be thinking the way he normally would on a decision not related directly to his previous choices. The king in the same seen had to quickly make a decision to execute the man with no info other than a confession which could be easily due to the fact that their enemy had his family hostage so he had to do what they say. The kings quick choices may have lead to his demise or I might be overlooking that the witches may have done the same to anyone else who would become the Thane of Cawdor.


Macbeth
Macbeth followed many Machiavelli's quotes very well so far through the story. "A prince never lacks legitimate reason to break a promise" This quote from Machiavelli is followed by Macbeth when he kills the king who he says he is loyal to in 1.4. But Macbeth isn't always following Machiavelli. "The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it." This quote from Machiavelli does not apply to Macbeth because the more time that passes the foggier that his vision becomes. For example before he killed Banquo his mind was able to bear, but after his mind begins to drive him to insanity. He is seeing Banquo's ghost and this is leading him to a state not fit to lead in. In the end I believe that Macbeth does not follow Machiavellli enough and I feel that this will lead to his downfall.