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Banquet At Dunsinane

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Banquet at Dunsinane

In Macbeth the scene of the banquet at Dunsinane shows the guilt of Macbeth, reveals to us the extent of his madness and marks the suspicion of the Scottish lords. Macbeth shows the audience the extent of his insanity, rouses suspicion from the Scottish lords and contributes to the overarching theme of guilt. Macbeth’s constant shouting at the apparition shows how far gone he is. It marks his lack of self control in the face of his guilt, his fear of being discovered and refusal to come to terms with what he has done. Likewise the lords see this outburst and are clued into Macbeth’s usurping of power by his blaming of others, he makes himself suspicious and tells them of his murdering Banquo. Macbeth’s quilt here develops a theme of guilt in the play

Macbeth shows the Scottish lords that he has bodies in his closet by the way he speaks making reference to haunting spirits, trying to shift the blame of his actions onto others and by referencing the murders he has made. In many religions the soul of a body lives on after death and continues the life of the person, Macbeth possibly believing this in his fit of anger at the apparition infront of him says “… Our monuments/ shall be the maw of Kites” Shakespeare.III.iv.120-121. Kites meaning vultures, scavenge for food by eating dead bodies. An unprotected corpse could be eaten by them and thus the soul would die. Macbeth is haunted by the soul of Banquo, which he would have reason to be haunted by.

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