Essay On Banquo Is More Important To The Play Dead In Macbeth

Macbeth - Discovery beyond the script - Individual critical response

Anneli Tan

Banquo is equally important to the play dead as he is alive. Discuss.

Banquo is a brave, noble and loyal general, who fights beside his fellow general, Macbeth, to protect his King, Duncan, and his people. He is a man who keeps his promise and does not betray trust given to him. His close relationship with Macbeth and King Duncan and his encounter with the three witches prove to be important in the course of the play and gives us insight on how he is important dead as he is alive.

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Banquo had a chance meeting the three witches on their way back to their kingdom from a hard-fought battle with the Scottish. In their encounter, the three witches

At this point, the Ghost of Banquo appears at the party. The appearance of the ghost distracts Macbeth, which can be shown by his distracted conscience. Some instances are when Macbeth says “Thou canst not say I did it; / never shake / thy gory locks at me.” and “Avaunt, and quit my sight!” to the ghost. Due to his betrayal of a loyal friend, Macbeth feels guilty. To further emphasize, the ghost, which Macbeth fears, is not of Duncan but instead, it is of Banquo. This shows Banquo’s significance in Macbeth as it demonstrates Banquo’s greater impact to Macbeth compared to Duncan. Duncan was his king, whom Macbeth was loyal to at the beginning, however, he betrayed him by murdering him to get the crown. On the other hand, Banquo was his partner in hardship, whom Macbeth trusted and was close to. Similarly, he sent murderers to kill him as he was fearful of the loss of his kingship. Macbeth’s relationship with Banquo has more significance to him than his relationship with Duncan, thus, him betraying Banquo affected him with a greater impact than his betrayal of Duncan. This is evidenced by how his guilt takes the form of Banquo and not