Banquo In Macbeth

Banquo's purpose in the play is the quintessential foil of Macbeth, both in acting, as well as in meaning. Shakespeare utilizes Banquo in order to create opposite moods to what is the drive of the play, which is Macbeth and his wife plotting, scheming, and murdering, by offering great solid blocks of integrity, passion, and goodness, that slightly descend into questioning. In contrast to Macbeth's ambitious state, his transformation into an immoral form of such a state, and his acting on such, Shakespeare creates Banquo in order to give the reader a feeling for contrasting points in order to augment, and practically create, the play.

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.

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

“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.

   In William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth the main two characters are worthless knaves because they have forsaken their moral values. The next character with stature is Banquo, whose prowess in battle ranks him alongside Macbeth. He lives a moral life and is heroic for this in a sense.

Later in the story, Macbeth does in fact gave Banquo killed and attempts to kill his lineage in fear that Banquo's line will take his throne.

This speech portrays Banquo’s new found reluctance towards the witch’s forecast of the future. He now sees what Macbeth is blind too, the possibility of knowledge becoming more harmful to the men rather than helpful in Macbeth’s want for more, particularly pertaining to him becoming King. As Macbeth begins to weigh the prophecy against logic and the now present, he accepts the fact that if “two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme.” Macbeth is now beginning to assume that if portions of the prophecy are being fulfilled as the witch’s had said, it is only a matter of time before he shall become king. As Macbeth continues to be engulfed by what will be his future downfall, he assumes that all of his new found

As Scene 1 opens, Banquo is fearful and suspicious of Macbeth. He suspects him of killing Duncan. Since the witches’ prophecy has come true, Banquo feels that Macbeth has been rotten in his pursuits to be king. The quote, “Thou hast it now---King, Cawdor, Glamis, all/As the Weird Women promised, and I fear/Thou played’st most foully for‘t’” (Shakespeare, 81) is said by Banquo. He comes to the realization that Macbeth is power hungry and his ambitions are unchecked. He is also suspicious that since Macbeth’s prophecy came true, Macbeth will want to make certain that his prophecy won’t be fulfilled.

Lady Macbeth wasn't involved in the plot against Banquo because Macbeth didn't want to worry Lady Macbeth. So in Act 3,Scene 3 Macbeth told Lady Macbeth "be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck".....Till thou applaud the deed." So Macbeth decided to keep his plans of the murder of Banquo from his

Macbeth wants to know more from the witches, he doesn’t think that what they are telling him is enough because he know he will eventually be Thane of Glamis, by his father’s death (inheritance) but he doesn’t understand how he will be Thane of Cawdor. Banquo wants to know more from the witches because he believes that they can see into the future. He is not scared of what they have to say to him. He is skeptical of them. Macbeth is hard to satisfy, even when things seem to be in his favor, Banquo doesn’t know if he truly believes that the witches were real, and that what they say was true, but he wanted to know in case it might have been

From the outset, Shakespeare brings loyalty very much to the fore. In the initial stages of the extract, Macbeth questions Banquo by asking, 'do you not hope that your children shall be kings'. The questioning employed here by Shakespeare suggests to the audience that Macbeth is attempting to determine where Banquo's loyalties lie, what his feelings are regarding the very real prospect in Macbeth's eyes of his descendants becoming king. Some may also believe that in addition to testing him, he is doing his utmost to convince Banquo to see the situation in the same light that he does. That approach is supported by the phrase 'do you not hope'. Shakespeare may be informing the audience that Macbeth here is seeking a clear-cut demonstration that would leave him in no doubt as to whether loyalty to the King, to Macbeth or to ambition would take precedence as far as Banquo is concerned. However, it is important to note that Shakespeare may well be seeking to convey to the audience that although it could be said that Macbeth is scrutinising and persuading Banquo, he is doing so in a subtle manner. The audience knows that Macbeth isn't making his intentions and motives blatantly obvious, he is keeping his cards relatively close to his chest in that sense.

Shakespeare uses Banquo to highlight the fact that Macbeth is “Rapt withal”, Macbeth is very gullible and takes things at face value and he begins to think of the witches’ statements as providence rather than prophecy. Shortly after, during his aside he state that he will leave it to chance but the seeds of ambition are already beginning to grow in his mind due to these prophecies. Also, the quote “to me you speak not” shows that Banquo, contrasting heavily from Macbeth, is rather unfazed by these prophecies. This also furthers their character’s differences, in the sense that Macbeth is more easily persuaded and not questioning anything, while Banquo is more down to earth and is taking the witches words

Julio Villarreal English 4-W Professor Zirulnik January 18, 2015 The Tragedy of Macbeth Macbeth and his wife invite thanes of Scotland to a banquet with means of proving themselves throne-worthy. Much like the ethereal dagger that leads to Duncan's room, the ghost of Banquo appears at the banquet constantly, pushing Macbeth into random fits of rage and despair. Macbeth’s first order of events as a king is this exquisite banquet, a supposed representation of great discipline and benevolence, which becomes a wicked mockery of itself. Instead of Macbeth gathering with his subjects as he would wish, he is thrown off by the bloody apparition of his former ally. Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel tackles Macbeth in a true-to-the-origin fashion in

A homograph is a word that is spelled the same but can be pronounced differently or have different meanings. Different pronunciations of the word are used based on the context of the sentence it is in. This same idea is also true of people. Two people can have the exact same experiences, yet react to it in completely different ways. Characters in literature often reflect this same phenomenon, foil characters with identical aspects who react differently to circumstance. In Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, Banquo serves as a foil character to Macbeth emphasizing Macbeth’s unchecked ambition, a fatal flaw, that leads to his ultimate moral decline.

Characters in plays begin to become influenced as their stories unfold. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, two prominent characters Macbeth and Banquo have certain differences and similarities, and as the play progresses, contrasting attributes of both characters begin to appear. Both characters uniquely develop in the play, portraying eminent leadership skills, while possessing contrasting attributes towards temptation, and relationships with their families.