Trust In Macbeth

In his plays King John and Macbeth, William Shakespeare foregrounds trust as a device which is exploited by its main characters. Trust is the foundation for a good relationship and is depicted in various situations within both plays. In King John for instance, the first citizen makes a suggestion to both kings to marry Blanche and Lewis in act two scene one, the result of this being “…Two such controlling bounds shall you be, kings, To these two princes, if you marry them: This union shall do more than battery can…” ” (Bate and Rasmussen, 2012, p46). The marriage between Blanche and Lewis ultimately signifies friendship between England and France, allowing both kings to trust each other which is fundamental for their peace.

The characterisation

This is because the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is based on a long-term, mutual trust for one another. However, their relationship is also based on a continuous power shuffle in which the drive for power eventually blinds them both of what’s truly important, therefore descending them into a state of lunacy. Macbeth shows how much he trusts his wife as she is the first person he consults about the witches’ prophecy. Trust has been described “…to be ‘the bond of society’…” (Hollis, 1998, p1). It allows us to form cohesive and worthwhile relationships that can be displayed in a variety of ways. Lady Macbeth shows her trust in Macbeth in a dissimilar way to Macbeth himself. Whilst he trusts Lady Macbeth regardless of her low status, she only has trust in him when he is under her control which is controversial as during the renaissance period, women were compliant to a patriarchal society where men were proved to be superior to women. As a result of Lady Macbeth’s dominance, Macbeth allows himself to be manipulated and controlled by his wife as he is convinced by her that murdering Duncan is the solution to becoming

We notice this particularly when Duncan talks about his trust for the previous Thane of Cawdor. “There’s no art To find the mind’s construction in the face: He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust.” (Elloway, 1971, p49-51). It can be argued that Duncan was naïve and ironically, he foreshadows the upcoming deceit. It is only when Macbeth becomes heavily seduced by the idea of becoming King that he is willing to betray Duncan’s trust in order to achieve his ambition of obtaining the throne. “Trust is not something out there in which we can choose whether or not to participate. Our choices imply a response to relations of trust within the community of which we are a part, from which we are never able to separate ourselves.” (Keller, 2005,