Banquo's Great Betrayal

Banquo's declaration of allegiance also allows for proof towards his unchanging ideals, whereas immorality and blind ambition poison Macbeth?s thoughts. Macbeth describes his fear of Banquo shrewdly in that they ?stick deep, and his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared. ?Tis much he dares he hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor to act in safety? (III.i). Macbeth concludes his friend has remained his pure self and therefore is his moral antithesis. Banquo continues to hold a much clearer grip on life and real quality as a man in comparison to Macbeth, hence, Macbeth is forced to kill him if he is to follow through with his plan and go down a dark road.

In this play, the three equivocators have a resilient effect, not only on Macbeth but on the other characters too. ‘Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy yet much happier. Thou shalt get kings though thou be none.' (Act 1 Scene 3) Banquo is directly involved with the three witches; he talks to them face to face. Being at first strongly contrasted with Macbeth, as an innocent man with a guilty one, it seems like this contrast must be continued to his death; while, in reality, though it is never removed, it is gradually diminished. Banquo in fact may be described much more truly than Macbeth as the victim of the Witches.

After killing the king, Macbeth is seen to be embracing evil over and over again when he decides to murder Banquo. Having already gained the crown of Scotland, he now wants further security and believes that Banquo will disrupt that. Although at first manipulated by his wife to

Although some may argue that Macbeth is responsible for King Duncan's death because he was the one to murder him, Banquo is actually the one to blame because he could have stopped it from happening. From the second the witches told the men their fortune and the prophecies came true, Banquo knew that things would end poorly, "All’s well. I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: To you they have showed some truth." (Act 2, Scene 1). Why would Banquo be dreaming about the witches and wondering if Macbeth was alright unless he was questioning how Macbeth received the witches' predictions? As one of King Duncan's most trusted men, Banquo should have notified the King of the witches and the fortunes they told. Truth be told, one can't help but wonder if Banquo wanted to see

This time due to a cowardly action committed out of selfish fear. It is no surprise to me that Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth at this table since Macbeth called for two murders to kill him and his son. Banquo’s ghost appearing shows that Macbeth felt guilt and that he was not the completely heartless monster that he appeared to become. When Banquo's bloody ghost sits at the table with the lords, Macbeth tries to believe that he did not kill banquo. “ Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake Thy gory locks at me.” (III,iv,53-54). Macbeth’s episode with Banquo’s ghost reveals how the quest for power had driven his mind into pure insanity. This powerful hallucination driven from the little heart left in Macbeth proved to all the lords that Macbeth’s mind was gone, and that he was not fit to

“Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy yet much happier. Thou shalt get kings though thou be none.” said Banquo while he was directly involved with the witches, when he talked to them in person. At first he was very different than Macbeth, he was an innocent person accompanied by a guilty man, this contrast lasted until his death. Although never fully changed it slowly went away as the play goes on. Banquo is actually described as a much better person than Macbeth as a chosen one of the witches. There were other characters besides Banquo who were affected by the prophecies. Duncan being one of the primary ones. Because of the prophecies he was killed off very early in the play. The witches were the ones who caused this evil action to occur which greatly affected Duncan and Banquo.

For one, it is without a doubt that, at this stage of the play, Macbeth is delusional and is no longer mentally fit enough to think rationally. This is clearly shown when he begins to see Banquo’s ghost at the banquet, who is part of his imagination. His madness is clear when he rages at the ghost, commanding,

In the play, Macbeth was a man who had shown very little mercy to friends let alone his foes. After killing Duncan to become King, he had hired assassins to go and kill Banquo and his son so that he could secure his reign. Banquo was a close friend of Macbeth, they had gone to war together, lived together, fought together and without a second thought, Macbeth has put a death warrant on Banquo and his son’s head. Here Macbeth shows his newly developed uncompassionate character as he does not care about Banquo and their friendship. “ Rather than so, come fate into the list, And champion me that’ utterance.” Here we can see Macbeth speak about the prophecy and how he realises he let go of his morality but for “ Banquo’s seeds” Macbeth not only showed a lack of compassion towards his best friend but also to other characters such as

Audience becomes aware of Macbeth’s corruption when he plans to kill his ‘friend’, Banquo. He describes him as “dispatched” (3.4.15), and later as “safe” (3.4.25). This positions the audience to feel as though Macbeth is somewhat desperate to convince himself that he has acted appropriately despite using corrupt power. Using this stylistic device of language further demonstrates that Macbeth has now been corrupted to the extent that he longer feels compassion for his former companions. This ultimately establishes the representation that Macbeth’s illegitimate power has directly resulted in his destructive nature.

After the King’s demise, Banquo travels to Macbeth’s banquet but never arrives. Shortly after toasting to the memory of Banquo, Macbeth says to an imaginary figure, “Let the earth hide thee. Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold” (3.4.113-114). I have reason to believe that he was communicating with the spirit of Banquo because of the personal remarks and rants he dictated. Because he seemingly lacked common sense when he talked to empty space, he may have seen apparitions related to his guilt. Since Banquo was with Macbeth when they heard their destinies from the weird women, Macbeth may have massacred him to cover up his true intentions. Furthermore, Banquo may have suspected that his friend did whatever was necessary to achieve kingship. This resulted in Macbeth assassinating his best friend because it was the only manner necessary for him to prosper freely. Macbeth was faced with the task to achieve his destiny through any means possible and that is exactly what he did. His uncontrollable delusions establish Macbeth as a king that is incapable of ruling Scotland and a criminal to the people of

Banquo’s ambition is unlike Macbeths and Lady Macbeths, his ambition does not drive him to kill. His ambition is he wants his son to become king, and he wants his son’s son to become king and so on. He does not quite know how to make his ambition successful but he knows that it is not worth killing for. Macbeth becomes jealous of Banquo’s ambition and Macbeths ambition drives him tell people to kill Banquo.

One of the cordial characters in Macbeth is Banquo, who is a close friend of Macbeth’s and has a son named Fleance, with whom he often goes riding and spends time. Banquo does not seek more power or riches than he has been blessed with, and he always does what he can to help others, even warning Macbeth that “oftentimes, to win us our harm

After killing King Duncan , Macbeth is starting to realize what it is that he has done, and becomes suspicious and paranoid of everyone around him by puting spy's in every castle and killing those who are any treat to him what so ever. Banquo is the only other person who knows of the meeting with the witches and he would assume that it was Macbeth who killed the King. The witches also said that Banquo would beget kings but he himself would never be king after Macbeth, and so Macbeth decides that Banquo is a threat to him. To get rid of the treat with banquo he decides to kill him and his son Fleance.

In the real histories of the time, Banquo was either completely unmentioned, or was an accomplice to the murder of King Duncan. In all known records and tales of the murder of King Duncan, Banquo was Macbeth’s best friend who helped him murder King Duncan. For example in Holinshed 's Chronicles, a text from which Shakespeare sourced Macbeth, Macbeth consulted Banquo before killing the king: “At length therefore, communicating his purposed intent with his trustie friends, amongst whome Banquho was the chiefest, vpon confidence of their promised aid, he slue the king at

By encouraging Macbeth not to fear his prophecy, Shakespeare establishes that his foil Banquo also has a sense of ambition. Unlike Macbeth, however, Banquo has the ability to control his ambition. These opening scenes establish a foil between Banquo and Macbeth in order to show their shared positive characteristics prior to Macbeth’s moral decline.