He was a gentleman on whom I built / an absolute trust. (Duncan, 1.4.15-16)

On paper, the trait of trust which King Duncan from Shakespeare’s play Macbeth displays may appear to be a noble strength in his kingship. If one is to see the play however, they will soon realize this trait is really a tragic flaw which will likely lead to his demise. He is oblivious to the clues that the characters around him leave which suggest their internal motives (which can be proven by the quote at the beginning of this blog which is in reference to the traitorous Thane of Cawdor), and thus leaves himself vulnerable.

This flaw of trusting based on a lack of accurate information isn’t just something that appears in ancient history however, as leaders can be plagued by it even in our modern era. If we look a couple decades back to World War 2 and the Cold War, misinformed trust such as that put on Hitler’s ambitions let situations get out of hand numerous times. As you can probably tell, our most recent explorations in Humanities 11 have been of the 1900’s and the play Macbeth, and through these I have noticed a reoccurring theme. This is that, no matter if you are a Scottish King or a British Prime Minister, accurate information is the key to all worthy trust.

Trust based off of inaccurate information can be a dangerous thing that can launch you into a world of consequences. This is why to better represent this connection, I have built the Trebuchet of Trust:

I know, it’s technically a catapult, but no matter what you call it it’s an excellent way to demonstrate what trust based off of faulty information can do. Here is what it looks like in motion:

The concept behind this machine is to show that if you are trusting false information, it doesn’t matter if you are a character from Macbeth or a figurehead in the 1950’s, as anybody on this path will themselves thrown into an ocean of trouble. If you want to know more about the stories behind each person launched by it, read on below:

No matter how much the character of Macbeth was driven by ambition, there is no doubt that Duncan’s downfall really stems from his blind trust in the man. One of his stand out lines early into the play is “there is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face” (Duncan, 1.4.14), which by Shakespeare’s clever use of irony proves to us that Duncan trusts his own judgment so much that he won’t look into things further. This leads him to form two problematic trusts during the play, and the second costs him his life. We can solidify this theme even further by looking at Macbeth’s last line in Act One; “away, and mock the time with fairest show: / false face must hide what false heart doth know”. Shakespeare, by calling back to the underlying theme of foul and fair and then using the literary devices of rhyming and alliterating makes it obvious that this line is supposed to stand out. This is because he sees it crucial that we understand the dangers of building misinformed trust, which later send Duncan straight to the fate seen in the video above.

Some have almost gone as far as to blame appeasement, a diplomatic strategy built on trust, for the start of WW2. For those who don’t know, appeasement is a process where a government will give another what they want in hopes of satisfying their needs and pacifying a threat. In the 1930’s, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain believed this to be an excellent strategy which could avert war with Hitler’s Germany, as he met with the man and believed he could trust him. However, he failed to fully consider Hitler’s ambition and how the situation was rapidly worsening with the militarization of the Rhineland, reintroduce conscription in 1935, and the construction the Luftwaffe airforce. This eventually escalated to the full scale invasion of Poland in 1939, marking the beginning of the war.

At first glance, this event seems quite different from Duncan’s trust in Macbeth as the consequences here are on a much larger scale and the nature of the trust is between two equals rather then a lesser and a superior. If you look deeper though you will see some key similarities, such as both betrayals stemming from the ambition to control. You’ll also notice that both of these ambitions are being fuelled by a belief of entitlement to power, with Macbeth believing the prophecy and Hitler believing that his country was wronged during the First World War. Most importantly however, we can see that the trust in these individuals was formed by a lack of consideration of all the facts, and in both cases this catapulted them into a negative outcome.

When Macbeth stumbles upon the cryptic trio of witches and is told a prophecy of glory and royalty, he can’t help but want to trust in it. Of course he is naturally skeptical, but this quickly gives way when the first part of the prophecy (that he will become Thane of Cawdor) comes true. Macbeth then views these events “as happy prologues to the swelling act” (Macbeth, 1.3.139), which proves he now is ready to follow the prophecy to greatness. However, in doing so he really ends up embarking down the path to his tragic demise, which can be seen in the catapult launch above. This isn’t a surprise though, as Macbeth’s trust in this prophecy came from incomplete information.

After the carnage WW1, many countries weren’t looking for power and glory, but rather peace. It was now understood now that if a conflict involving the whole world could erupt, and that if future ones were to be prevented everyone would need to be on board. This lead to the founding of the United Nations on June 26, 1945, which was made up of 51 states. Although this organization’s aim was peace and equality, this didn’t mean that everyone had equal say. The allied victors of the war, which included the United States, Britain, France, China, and the U.S.S.R. were part of what is known as the security council and through it had the power to veto decisions. In fact, all five of the countries would have to agree any action the U.N. wanted to pass for it to move forwards.

At the time, it was believed that this set up of power was an excellent idea for the countries trusted that everyone’s goal was simply peace. This was wishful thinking however, for underneath their cloak of being an ally the U.S.S.R. had their own agenda. Joseph Stalin was hungry for more land and was alway on the lookout for opportunities to take power from communism’s ideological opposite, the United States. Due to this, he abused the trust given to him and vetoed several important motions. In total, he prevented 108 from being passed, and 18 of which were directly aimed at undermining the United States. The U.S.S.R. having power within the U.N. continued to cause problems until it was disbanded in 1991.

When comparing this event to Macbeth, we can see that there are some differences, such as the nature of the trust stemming from different reasons (peace vs. ambition) and that one deals with trust in the supernatural and the other with real life situations. There is also a difference in the amount of influence that external events had in these situations, as Macbeth’s path was constantly shaped by those around him and Stalin was internally driven. Yet, we can also find that there is once again a big similarity, and that is in the way that both the U.N. and Macbeth places their trust on incomplete information, and how this ended up leading them into harmful situations.

Macbeth wrestles with himself upon realizing that the path he must take to achieve power is murdering Duncan. At first, this is a moral conflict, but soon Lady Macbeth taunts his manhood with remarks such as “when you durst do it, then you were a man” (Lady Macbeth, 1.7.54) and convinces him into listening. He is still not fully on board at this point however, which is revealed with his question of “if we should fail?” (Macbeth, 1.7.65). Upon hearing this, Lady Macbeth quickly lists all the fail-safes she plans to put in place, such as getting the guards drunk and bloodying their knives. This convinces Macbeth to the point where he is now fully on board, and trusts his wife’s judgment completely. This ends up causing problems however, for these hectically planned fail-safes were driven by blind ambition and thus were not carefully thought out, leading to details like Macbeth’s uncanny inability to hide suspicious behaviour being overlooked. Later in the play, we see this come back to haunt the couple and eventually bring about their tragic ends.

It was on March 12, 1947 that President Harry Truman announced America had entered the Cold War. Although this conflict did pose some serious future threats (e.g. an atomic war), America was really in no imminent danger. However, this did not stop people from fearing the sensationalistic idea of a communist takeover, and there were some who took advantage of this. For example, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy began to attack celebrities, intellectuals and figureheads who opposed him, arguing that they were communist spies infiltrating the Government. Despite his radical claims sounding almost comical today, people’s heightened fear got in the way of their better judgement and many trusted in him. Unfortunately, this trust lead to many innocent professionals and politicians being fired from their jobs, attacked by law enforcement, and isolated from their family and friends. People believed fully in the wrong information, and because of it America suffered greatly.

When comparing this with the trust Macbeth has in Lady Macbeth, we can see there are some difference. For one, Macbeth’s trust is formed through a number of different factors including fear, ambition, needing to prove himself, etc. where the trust in anti-communist radicals was driven almost entirely by fear. There is also the difference in the external forces influencing these decisions, with Macbeth’s relationship with his wife playing a role in it for him and the media being the big influencer for 1950’s Americans. However, it is also easy to draw parallels between the two if you look closely. For one, allowing yourself to trust someone can be a method of relieving responsibility, and we can see this to be the case with Macbeth (who now does not have to worry about the ramifications of the murder) and the public of the 1950’s who feels that the prosecution of alleged communists is relieving them from worrying about the safety of their country. Once again however, the biggest parallel is how this false trust is the real danger sending things into chaos.

For the past week, our PLP 11 class has been diving deep into the world of Macbeth and the time period of the 1950’s through a series of lectures. The knowledge we gained from these became the basis for our posts, but to branch out we were tasked with completing our own research as well. This was an excellent chance for me to explore topics that interested me in more detail, but also posed the danger of exposing me to false information. To make sure I didn’t get roped into a situation of misinformed trust myself, I made sure to validate the information found in one source with others (which is why below I have cited a couple for each topic) and investigated laterally to judge the reputation of the sources I am using:

“About Us.” SchoolWorkHelper, schoolworkhelper.net/about-us/amp/.

Achter, Paul J.

“Chamberlain and Hitler 1938.” The National Archives, The National Archives, 11 Sept. 2018, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/chamberlain-and-hitler/.

“Churchill on Russia.” The International Churchill Society, 25 Apr. 2013, winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-150/churchill-on-russia/.

“Did Appeasement Cause the Second World War?” HistoryExtra, 7 Aug. 2019, www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/did-appeasement-cause-second-world-war-policy-how-why/.

“Encyclopedia Britannica.” Media Bias/Fact Check, mediabiasfactcheck.com/encyclopedia-britannica/.

“Essay: Did the WWII Policy of Appeasement Fail?” SchoolWorkHelper, schoolworkhelper.net/essay-did-the-wwii-policy-of-appeasement-fail/.

“Explain Why the USA and the Soviet Union Did Not Trust Eachother after the War – GCSE History – Marked by Teachers.com.” Marked by Teachers, www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/history/explain-why-the-usa-and-the-soviet-union-did-not-trust-eachother-after-the-war.html.

“McCarthyism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 8 May 2019, www.britannica.com/topic/McCarthyism.

Author: Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team schoolworkhelper.net/Article last reviewed: 2019 | St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2020 | Creative Commons 4.0, et al.

“Red Scare.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 1 June 2010, www.history.com/topics/cold-war/red-scare.

The National Archives.

“Red Scare.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Jan. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Scare#Second_Red_Scare_(1947–57).

“THE MAN WHO TRUSTED HITLER.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Feb. 1985, www.nytimes.com/1985/02/17/books/the-man-who-trusted-hitler.html.

History.com Editors.

Shakespeare, William,, Mowat, Barbara A.Werstine, Paul.The Tragedy Of Macbeth. New York : Washington Square Press, 2004, c1992. Print.

“Site Review: History.com.” Site Review: History.com | Education World, www.educationworld.com/a_curr/site-reviews/history.shtml.

“Soviet Union and the United Nations.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Dec. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union_and_the_United_Nations#Security_Council_and_veto.

Taylor, James. “How Britain Hoped To Avoid War With Germany In The 1930s.” Imperial War Museums, www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-britain-hoped-to-avoid-war-with-germany-in-the-1930s.

U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nato.

Willemse, Petra. “Beginning of the Cold War” Humanities Class, Seycove Secondary, North Vancouver, Jan 20-25.

YouTube, youtu.be/_uk_6vfqwTA.

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