Lord Banquo In William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Additionally, it also accentuates the unjust nature of Banquo’s murder later on. This is due to the fact that unlike Macbeth, he remained true to his reputation until his death. The night that King Duncan is scheduled to visit Macbeth’s, Lady Macbeth warns him to act normal to avoid suspicion and

After his encounter with the witches, though his thoughts began to change. After hearing “All hail, Macbeth,/ thou shalt be king hereafter!,” (1.3.50) from the witches, he is ready for his prophecies to become true. When Duncan announces that Macbeth is now the Thane of Cawdor, Banquo attempts to warn him to not over analyze the witches’ prophecy. He tries to tell them that they are trying to trick him by only telling him little parts of the truth. He says to Macbeth, “ But 'tis strange:/And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/The instruments of darkness tell us truths,/Win us with honest trifles, to betray's/

In William Shakespeare's, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is a noble warrior who had to kill the king, Duncan, in order to take the crown due to prophecies he was told by the witches. After the murder many people were suspicious of Macbeth including his friend Banquo. Macbeth knows the prophecy of Banquo as well, he shall be father of kings, and since Macbeth is king he has to do something about that. He hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. The audience is supposed to accept Banquo's ghost as a fantasy representing Macbeth's guilty conscience.

Macbeth is effortlessly susceptible to evil where Banquo takes a more cautious approach to almost everything that he encounters and ponders about what may come next. Banquo plays it safe and never is hasty when it comes to making decisions while Macbeth is quick to act and believes everything that he is told; “Shakespeare's Banquo is the antithesis of Macbeth -- his pure, moral character foil. Banquo has no 'vaulting ambition' and thus can easily escape the trap of the Witches' prophesies.” (Mabillard, “Introduction to the Characters in Macbeth”). Banquo stays untainted by the witches prophesy while Macbeth allows and calls upon evil spirits to help him on his malevolent pursuit.

Macbeth was in desperate need to get Banquo killed because he thought his crown is as at stake because of him. Even though he hired two murderers he could not fully trust them so he hired his servant whom he could fully trust. He could easily identify Banquo

Banquo did not express any interest in making his prophecy come true, though it came true anyway. In the text Banquo states “And oftentimes to win us to our harm,/ The instruments of darkness tell us half truths,/ Win us with honest trifles to betray’s/ In deepest consequence” (I.iii.123-126) Banquo from the very beginning mistrusted the witches but what they had told Macbeth intrigued him though he still did not believe them. When Shakespeare had Banquo say “To me you speak not./

He reveals that he is not strong minded and is easily influenced by those around him. It is through Banquo that one can actually identify Macbeth with these traits. If it were not for Banquo’s calm and responsible reaction to the foretelling, it would be difficult to hold Macbeth on a basis on the appropriate way to respond to the situation. Banquo is not after sole success, and still considers himself successful even with his sons being heirs to the kingdom. With this genuine appreciation, we are able to view Macbeth as a greedy and irrational character.

In the book Shakespeare shows us how Macbeth gradually becomes hardened to his crimes and yet how he suffers from fears which he has brought on himself. Macbeth is known as a mighty and ambitious warrior, one of the leaders of Duncan’s army. A witches’ prophecy leads him to murder Duncan so that he himself can be king, but his conscience afterwards will never him rest. Banquo is known as Macbeth’s co-commander in Duncan’s army. He also hears the witches’ prophecies, but resists their temptation.

Macbeth made Banquo appear to be their enemy, when reality he is not, showing

Macbeth Dreams The first scene in Act 3 plays a vital role in Macbeth because it displays Banquo’s internal conflict between control and loyalty. The picture reveals three witches who tell Banquo a prophecy that involves his descendants becoming rulers of the kingdom. The representation of eight heirs to the throne shows how long his kinship will last. This puts him in a position where he can either take action and have his lineage become kings by spilling royal blood or he can stay loyal to the current ruler and not murder him.

However, where Banquo possesses steady and significant moral courage, Macbeth

In Macbeth, Fleance had the role of Banquo’s son in the play. I researched Fleance to see if he was a real life character. Hector Boece has presented Banquo and Fleance as fictional characters by historical facts. He was a historian philosopher who was trying to find evidence to prove that Banquo and his son Fleance were fictional characters. Shakespeare didn't elaborate on Fleance’s older year he only appears as a child in Macbeth because they didn’t want to take the focus of Macbeth in the play.

On the way back from battle, Macbeth and his fellow nobleman, Banquo, are stopped in their tracks by 3 hideous witches. In their exchange, the witches tell Macbeth that he is to be Thane of Cawdor and later King, and tell Banquo that his children are to be Kings. Banquo questions what just happened and is skeptical of what he was told asking if he might have eaten a root that makes him hallucinate, while Macbeth is much more excited and shouts after them “Stay you imperfect speakers. Tell me more..”(1.3.73). Before they can ask any questions, the witches vanish.

Even so, both characters’ actions are exceedingly different. Each character make a choice. Macbeth makes a choice to achieve his prophecy by force while Banquo chooses the passive approach.

Banquo believes that the witches are trying to trick both of them into their own destruction and he is absolutely correct. For all he knows, these “witches” could be anyone. Banquo doesn’t trust the witches but goes along with what Macbeth says. After seeing Macbeth takes the place as Thane of Cawdor, his thoughts about the situation had changed. “I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: / To you they have show'd some truth.”