Banquo's Foil In Macbeth

This is shown in the play, when Macbeth faces his consequences, like guilt. Shakespeare uses anaphora to show the audience that what Macbeth is saying relates to something important. Macbeth always had this fear of Banquo, because Banquo has his suspicions of Macbeth and hopes the prophecy about his son will come true. Macbeth is afraid of Banquo because of the witches’ promise that Banquo’s sons will be king so he then said, “To be thus is nothing. But to be safely thus.

In Act 3 Macbeth fears that being king won’t last if Banquo's descendant is destined for the throne. In the beginning of Act Three, Macbeth has become king, he feels being king is worthless if his position is as king is safe. (Act 3, Scene 1, Lines (52-76) Macbeth thinks he can cheat fate by killing Banquo thereby preventing him from producing heirs to the throne. (Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 75-76).Furthermore, this leads to Macbeth hiring murders to kill Banquo and Fleance before/away from the banquet so he can remain blameless. (Act 3 Scene 147-148)

Banquo is also approached by the witches with the same prophecy. However, he refrains from acting on his ambitions. This is evident in the play, '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 deepest consequence' (1.3.126-130). Contrastingly, Banquo is used by Shakespeare to identify the influence of one's ambition on others.

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.

With Macbeth being a general in the Scottish military, he had major influences on people and their daily lives. After the murder of King Duncan, Banquo’s suspicion of who committed the murders arose around a single suspect, Macbeth. Knowing that Banquo most likely knew the truth that Macbeth killed King Duncan, Macbeth went back to his evil ways with ease. Through his attendant, Macbeth summons three murderers. Shakespeare introduces the murders with stage direction “[Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers]” (Shakespeare, 363), in which Macbeth he uses Banquo as bait in order to gain their graces and loyalty “That it was he in the times past which held you so under fortune, which you thought had been our innocent self: this I made good to you in our last conference, pass'd in probation with you, how you were borne in hand, how cross'd, the instruments, who wrought with them, and all things else that might, so half a soul and to a notion crazed, Say 'Thus did Banquo.'”

In Macbeth’s soliloquy, he talks about Banquo’s “hath of wisdom” and how Banquo acts safely(58). This illustrates that Macbeth is afraid of what Banquo might do. This illustrates Macbeth’s ambition because he is not going to give up until he finds what he is looking for if he gets suspicious with Macbeth. This makes Macbeth very scared of Banquo because if Banquo finds out that Macbeth killed Duncan, Macbeth’s life is going to be hell and Banquo is immediately going to tell everybody in Scotland. Macbeth fears Banquo so much that he will “champion his utterance” and will battle anybody to keep his crown(77).

An internal struggle is a “psychological struggle within the mind of a literary or dramatic character, the resolution of which creates the plot 's suspense” (dictionary.refrence.com). In the drama Macbeth by William Shakespeare one could go as far as saying that the internal struggle of the main character is the base of the plot itself. The entire drama revolves around the facets of Macbeth’s internal struggle and the actions which he takes as a result of this. Catalysed by low self esteem a struggle begins in which Macbeth seeks to be admired by attempting to take power in ways which conflict with conscience. This struggle is manifold and complex but for the purpose of analysis can be divided into three governing factors.

Being that Banquo seemed suspicious of Macbeth subsequently the night of the king 's death. Apprehensive of his throne Macbeth would do anything in his power to prevent even the slightest chance for anyone to take the throne from him.

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 is worried about Banquo’s son and wisdom. He then sends two assassins to kill Banquo and his son This is important because Macbeth realizes that being king is meaningless if he is not safe, and is willing to commit another murder in order to make him live a worriless life as king. In this passage, Macbeth says that he is trapped, and cannot move forwards or backwards. Macbeth is in a situation where he is forced to “stand his ground” because he made the decision to murder Duncan. This is significant as it shows that Macbeth’s decision to kill more people in his way (fulfilling the witches prediction) as he has already killed people in order to become king.

Macbeth became king and therefore greater than Banquo but he lost his morality which made him lesser. Banquo dies but he is still happier dead than Macbeth is alive, and Banquo’s children will become kings even though he does not get to be one. All of these things happen because Macbeth hires men to kill Banquo, but also because it was Banquo’s fate regardless.

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 killing Banquo Macbeth evokes fear from the audience. Yet at a banquet thrown in honor of Macbeth’s new title of King, Macbeth begins hallucinating about the ghost of Banquo haunting him, this not only ruins the evening, but causes the audience to question the mental deterioration of Macbeth. Yes he is to be feared for his actions taken against Banquo, but the audience is left to question if Macbeth’s actions are not still reactions from the prophecies the witches gave him. They played on his ambitious tendencies and clearly manipulated him, which draws pity, although Macbeth is acting on his own, not under the constructs of any direction which causes fear of what he is capable of. In this moment with the apparition of Banquo the audience has to question the confounds of Macbeth’s sanity, it is easy to fear Macbeth because of what he is doing, but circumstances such as these and the encounters with the Weird Sisters make it difficult for the audience to despise Macbeth, instead they take pity on what they view as a delusional mind.

In general, Shakespeare emphasizes that ambition for power and wealth can invalidate morality in human nature. Victory has sworn upon Macbeth and Banquo after the defeat of the king 's traitor Macdonwald. Shortly in the midst of returning home Banquo and Macbeth halt when three suspicious ladies came into view. One by one they told Macbeth his upcoming abundance of power.

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