ipl-logo

Banquo Betrayal In Macbeth

393 Words2 Pages

Flawlessly Tragic
How far would one go to attain certain, desired, goals? In 11th century Scotland, people went as far as murder to become king, and the prophecy from 3 witches lead Macbeth to do the same, but he didn't stop there. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the tragic flaw of betrayal to suggest how Macbeth’s distrust of others lead to his betrayal of friends and his eventual downfall.
Macbeth betrayed King Duncan to follow his prophecy of becoming king, and distrust began to grew between him and other characters in the tragedy. At the beginning of Act 3, Banquo has a soliloquy that starts with “Thou hast it now-King, Glamis, Cawdor, all as the weird women promised, and I fear thou hast played’st most foully for’t” (Shakespeare 3.1.1-3). Banquo has doubts about his …show more content…

After the endless bouts of tyranny, not excluding the murders throughout this short play, Macbeth’s actions are met with a consequence: an army of 10,000 was coming to overthrow him, an army that includes rebels and the English forces, along with his own friends and some of his soldiers, and his final prophecy is coming to happen. While preparing to face the army, Macbeth boasts that he would’ve personally met them to fight if “Were they not forced with those that should be ours”(Shakespeare 5.5.5). As a result of his conduct, his own soldiers ditched him in favor of trying to remove Macbeth from the throne that he’s worked so hard and inhumanly to keep. His betrayals lead his own friends and army to betray him. One might refer to it as karma, what goes around, comes around.
Throughout The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth betrays numerous people due to his distrust that they might threaten his power. This tragic flaw showed how his distrust lead to betrayal and his downfall. While there may be certain shortcuts to get where one wishes to be, everything comes with a price at the end of the day. One might be lead to believe that foul was actually

Show More
Related

  • Explain Why Malcolm Is To Blame For Macbeth

    665 Words  | 3 Pages

    As he ponders on the fortunes of the Weird Sisters and their accuracy, he wonders if Macbeth compromised them: “Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,/As the weird women promised, and I fear/ Thou play’dst most foully for’t” (3.1.1-3). However, as he starts to gather his thoughts, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, as well as others enter, interrupting him. Even though he suspects foul play in this situation and has numerous opportunities to speak up, he decides not to tell anyone, making him in some sense responsible for the tragedies of Macbeth’s reign of terror. Banquo later pays for his mistake with his life, when Macbeth kills

    Read More

  • Examples Of Betrayal In Macbeth

    739 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although, the most common occurrence throughout the play is how Shakespeare uses the character of Macbeth to illustrate how betrayal and deception will come back to get you in the future. Macbeth's betrayal to King Duncan ultimately led to the downfall of his evil actions, and finally his death. By Macbeth carrying out the assassination of King Duncan and his guards he betrayed not only his whole life of accomplishments but most of all, Duncans loyalty to Macbeth as a man. Earlier in the play King Duncan

    Read More

  • Macbeth Dbq

    807 Words  | 4 Pages

    Banquo says, “I fear thou play’ds most foully for’t” (Act 3 sc 1 lines 2-3). I feel that Banquo is seeing that Macbeth is getting everything that he wants and Banquo is noticing that it’s out of the ordinary and he ends up getting suspicious of Macbeth. Macbeth notices that Banquo is getting suspicious of him. Also, the weird sister told Macbeth that one of Banquo sons is going to be king one day. Macbeth doesn’t like the idea of both of these, so Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance.

    Read More

  • Greed Quotes In Macbeth

    793 Words  | 4 Pages

    Greed causes even the best of men to brood immoral intentions. The Tragedy, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, describes the flaws of human nature and the traumatic effects unrestrained ambition may cause. The play commences, featuring Macbeth as an eminent, highly esteemed Thane and loyal warrior to the king; however, after being prophesied by the three witches, a torch of ambition is lit. Furthermore, upon hearing the witches prophecies, his reputation is downgraded as he steps into a realm of evil, and more tragically, finds that he has “in blood stepped in so far that should [he] wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er”. After murdering the rightful king of Scotland, Duncan, and therefore subsequently, one murder leads to another; to a point where he cannot return from his life of evil “I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er”.

    Read More

  • External Forces In Macbeth

    967 Words  | 4 Pages

    Of all the failures human beings experience none are as crushing as those that are a result of following someone else’s desires. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist self-destructs because of his external forces as well as his own poor choices. An external force that influenced Macbeth includes Lady Macbeth’s strong goals, which she forced on her husband. Additionally, the witches impacted Macbeth’s choices by offering him their tricky prophecies. The blind greed that took over Macbeth’s life also impacted his choices.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Greed Quotes In Macbeth

    929 Words  | 4 Pages

    Macbeth committed sinful acts of betrayal that over all hurt his allies. As Macbeth’s ambitions take him over the ideas of Heaven and Hell grows weaker within him. Macbeth’s trust in everyone disappears and he starts to betray all of them including Banquo. While other characters create bonds of trust with each other, creating powerful alliances, Macbeth makes

    Read More

  • Greed Quotes In Macbeth

    533 Words  | 3 Pages

    Greed and guilt are two characteristics that can wreak havoc on the human mind and soul, and give someone what they deserve over time. Therefore, nothing seems more satisfying than when the villain or protagonist gets what they deserve for their bad deeds. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare shows these traits, along with their affects, through the tragic hero of the play, Macbeth, and his wife, Lady Macbeth, also leaving the reader with the question: “Could this happen today?” After gaining the corrupt title Macbeth craves, being king is not as significant as he implies. Macbeth admits to his reign being spoiled saying, “To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus”(Act III, Scene I, lines 50-51).

    Read More

  • Hunger For Power In Macbeth

    760 Words  | 4 Pages

    Macbeth’s impatience for power leads to drastic actions. He murders the king in the belief that “this blow might be the be-all and end-all” (1.7.5). This assassination could never “trammel up the consequence” (1.7.2-3), as Macbeth believes, but only leads to more trouble. Although Macbeth seizes the throne, Macbeth had to betray his loyalty to the king whose “virtues will plead like angels” (1.7.18-19), and his morality has paid the price. Macbeth has now lost all sense of what honor is by using such dishonest ways to become king.

    Read More

  • Lamb To The Slaughter Macbeth Betrayal Quotes

    1070 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the story, Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, gets too engulfed in his greed making him betray the people around him. For example, this quote from the story shows him plotting to kill King Duncan in order to become the King of Scotland. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee,” (2.1.33-34).

    Read More

  • Examples Of Greed In Macbeth

    880 Words  | 4 Pages

    Macbeth shows how he betrays his own best friend and sends out assassins to have Banquo dead. The development of this trait is on account of his greed for power. Despite already murdering Duncan horridly, he becomes unmerciful as his greediness comes in the way of his morals. In conclusion, the mercy he does not show contributes to the factors that lead to his

    Read More

  • Lady Macbeth Guilty Analysis

    778 Words  | 4 Pages

    From murder to greed Shakespeare’s Macbeth portrays a story of how one’s flaws can transform into a person’s way of thinking and acting. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth changes from a cold-hearted, greedy, shell of a human body into a guilt ridden woman. Her selfish desires met with ambition and a want for power pushed her into driving Macbeth to kill Duncan. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth become very guilty because of the crime they have committed.

    Read More

  • Causes Of Macbeth's Downfall

    876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Macbeth started off as a valiant and courageous soldier, who would do anything for the king. By the end of the play, Macbeth was a tyrant and a horrible leader who killed those who trusted him to maintain the throne. It takes many factors to take a strong man and transform him into an evil monster. Macbeth’s downfall was caused by the deception and temptation of the witches and their prophecies, Lady Macbeth’s greed and aspirations for her husband to be king, and Macbeth’s own greed, jealousy and ambition.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Betrayal In Macbeth

    714 Words  | 3 Pages

    In shakespeare 's Macbeth there are and twist and turns shake ups and things you couldn 't even imagine. In the play a man named Macbeth is driven crazy with power and starts to do thing out of the ordinary shakespeare says that even the ones closest to you will turn on you though Macbeth by making him turn on the people close to him Betrayal happens right in the beginning of the play it is the reason why the war was started because someone betrayed the king of Scotland. An example of it in act evonne is when king Duncan says “No more that thane of cawdor shall deceive” (act I,III,71) he says this because the thane of cawdor betrayed him and was giving away all of his plans during the battle with Norway. After Macbeth hears his prophecy he decides to take further action which is to kill the king he says “It were done quickly if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch” he was basically saying that if he kills the king and get caught there would be serious consequences.

    Read More

  • Foreshadowing In Macbeth

    420 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare writes Macbeth in order to convey the central idea that the drive for greed results in the downfall of oneself and the ones around you. In Act 1 Scene 7, “When Duncan is asleep (Whereto the rather shall his day’s hard journey Soundly invite him), his two chamberlains Will I with wine and wassail... What not put upon His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt Of our great quell?” Macbeth and Lady Macbeth desperately want to become king and queen so they decide to kill King Duncan. Even though King Duncan is a friend of theirs, they are willing to go to extreme measures.

    Read More

  • Macbeth And Banquo Comparison Essay

    525 Words  | 3 Pages

    Unlike Macbeth, Banquo, from the beginning of this encounter, continues to doubt the witches, “I’th’name of truth are ye fantastical, or that indeed which outwardly ye show?” (1.3.51-52) Banquo didn’t believe what the witches were saying, he questions their intentions and accuses them of raising Macbeth’s hope. Throughout this whole encounter, Banquo continues to protect Macbeth while staying loyal. He never once acted on his prophecies, he simply disregarded what the witches were saying and remained the noble man he is. Even to his death, Banquo has not once acted without honour and

    Read More

More about Banquo Betrayal In Macbeth

Open Document