Banquo

Banquo

1. first point:First impressions positive

   • He and Macbeth are spoken of as equally brave and are linked from the outset
   • Key difference: Macbeth is rewarded immediately while Banquo is not, yet Macbeth is unhappy while Banquo is not
     • “Noble Banquo, thou hast no lest deserved Nor must be known no less to have done so.” -Duncan

2. second point

   • He shows himself to be perceptive and morally upright when he and Macbeth meet the witches
     • While Macbeth is eager to learn more and keen to know from where the witches have derived their information, Banquo is less than convinced by them.
       • 'Are you ought that man may question?'-Banquo
     • Banquo is suspicious and is wary of the witches, knowing that men can be lured into evil by such temptation:
     • Banquo is not initially tempted by the witches, nor does he show any desire for the crown.

3. third point

   • As the play progresses, Banquo finds it harder to resist temptation
     • Like Macbeth, he no longer sleeps soundly, admitting to Fleance that he is struggling to restrain 'cursed thoughts' and is troubled by the witches: 'I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters'.
     • Still significant differences between macbeth and banquo:
       • Banquo readily admits to being tempted by the witches' prophecies; Macbeth does not.
       • Banquo calls on the 'merciful powers' to help him fight these troubling thoughts, while Macbeth has called on darkness to hide his 'black and deep desires'.
       • There is nothing wrong with being tempted; Banquo has not contemplated acting on these temptations, while Macbeth has.

4. 4th point: Banquo's final soliloquy seems to point to his reason for allowing himself to become morally compromised.

   • We have to wonder why he does nothing when the king he loved was murdered.
   • The reason seems to be that he believes his own desires may be realised too: 'May they not be my oracles as well, and set me up in hope?'
   • Although his descent is nothing like as rapid or as serious as Macbeth's, Banquo does undergo a moral decline.

5. conclusion

   • some view him as a 'foil' for macbeth
   • However, I believe Banquo slides from being a noble and honourable character to becoming a morally ambiguous man possessed of some of the same flaws as Macbeth.
   • Both are deceitful and both allow themselves to be tainted by the evil they encounter on the heath.
   • Banquo died before he had a chance to show his moral decline