Banquo's Presentation Of Manhood In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

When you think about a man what are the first things that come to mind? Is it that a man is more strong-willed or maybe it’s that usually a man is more likely to admit that they are wrong, but only if there are around a woman. Now, I would like you to take a minute and think about what it truly means to be a man. Is it being honest and helpful or maybe brave and able to take terrible news without crying. To me being a true man is to be someone who is always there when you can use some help, no matter how much work he has to do. A real man is strong, both physically, but also emotionally; someone who never gives up no matter what the situation may be. These are mainly things that I think about when I think about my father, personally I think
that throughout your life you truly do believe that your father is the biggest man that you know. I believe that especially being a male myself that I have somewhere along the line made an unconscious decision to become the most like my father that I can, because he is the best man that I know. Throughout the history of our world the definition of being a man has changed drastically. Manhood has been interoperated as anything from a real good killer to a person who doesn’t shed a single tear after being told of the murders of his entire family. In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare we see both of these characteristics and many more. Shakespeare really does a good job in this play of going through in all of the first four acts and truly evaluating what it means to be a man, for example in act one we see Macbeth being rewarded for killing a traitor, in act two we see Macbeth’s manhood being questioned by his wife, in act four we see what a true man looks like, and finally in act four we get to see how a man takes the news of his entire family being murdered. The first example of manhood that we are given in the play Macbeth is in the first act of the play, describing Macbeth after he has returned from a great battle. Macbeth and his best friend and right-hand man Banquo have just finished fighting a major battle/war against the troops of the traitorous Thane of Cawdor. Once Macbeth and Banquo have finished fighting and destroying the opposing forces news of Macbeth cutting a man from the nave to the chops and planting his head on a stake reaches the king. The King of Scotland, Duncan after hearing of Macbeth’s bravery calls him a worthy gentleman and gives him the title of Thane of Cawdor. We see this in act one, scene two lines 19-24; “Like valor’s minion carved our his passage till he faced the slave; which nev’r shook hands, nor bade farewell to him till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops, and fixed his head upon our battlements. O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!” This quote is a prime example of what it meant to be a worth man in the Elizabethan time period, Macbeth was considered to be a true man by the king because he gruesomely killed a man. Later in the play Macbeth is actually physically rewarded for this task that people today would get severe punishment for. Shakespeare is showing the audience that when you are a fighter and when you go out and kill people with your sword, by cutting them almost in half, you will be considered a true gentleman. In modern day society it would be truly frowned upon for someone to go and cut someone in half with a sword, remove their head, and plant it on a stake; even if they were at a time of war like Macbeth. Sometime after the world wars it was decided that we as world lived in a more advanced and non-savage time, where we would treat people with respect, even if they are our enemies. Now, most other countries, but the United States don’t follow it, but that’s because in our great Nation we have a much more mature definition of being a true man. The second time that manhood comes into play during this the play a Macbeth is in the second act when Lady Macbeth uses it to her advantage. Once hearing that her husband has been promised and given the Thane of Cawdor, but also promised the King of Scotland Lady Macbeth starts thinking of ways to make that happen. Macbeth himself has already been brainstorming ways to become king, but he hasn’t been able to think of any that he likes or would be willing to do so far. Lady Macbeth on the other hand has thought up the perfect way to get her man the crown, kill current King Duncan and anyone else who stands in their way. When she actually tells Macbeth of her plan he is not only shocked, but automatically tells her to never speak of killing the king again, he is not willing to play dirty to get what he wants. This isn’t good enough for Lady Macbeth however, she is going to try to convince her country hero husband to do this terrible act. Now you might be asking yourself how she thinks she is going to be able to do so and the answer is that she is going to bring his manhood into question. No matter who you are, if you’re a guy and someone calls you a chicken for not doing something, you usually do it right then and there. Lady Macbeth uses this to her advantage and actually gets her husband to murder Duncan, afterwards however he bring the murder weapons with him. Now, I’ve never murdered anyone, but I’m pretty sure that carrying around the murder weapons in your hands might get you caught and Lady Macbeth agrees. She tells Macbeth to take the dagger back into Duncan’s room and leave them with the body, but Macbeth refuses. After a quick conversation about how unmanly he is Lady Macbeth takes the daggers into the room herself. We see this in act two scene two lines 47-53; “Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there: go carry them, and smear the sleepy gooms with blood. I’ll go no more. I’m afraid to think what I have done…. …Give me the daggers.” When Macbeth tells his wife that he isn’t will to back to the scene of the crime he is showing her and the audience how much of wimp he really is, in this entire act and the last half of the previous one she is the man in the relationship, not worthy Macbeth. The third time that manhood is represented in this play is during the third act and it is represented by Macbeth’s best friend Banquo.
Now Banquo throughout the entire play is actually thought to be a bigger, better man that Macbeth anyway. Not only does Banquo fight alongside Macbeth in the major battle, but he is also given prophesies by the three witches and doesn’t take them to hear too much. Banquo takes the words of the witches as lies and really doesn’t even think twice of them until after Macbeth is given the title of Thane of Cawdor; Macbeth on the other hand decides to live by those words from minute one. Another reason that Banquo is considered to be a better man that Macbeth is quite obvious he doesn’t murders someone who has done nothing but good things for him, such as Macbeth does with Duncan. Duncan did nothing but good things for Macbeth; he gave him the title Thane of Glamis and then Thane of Cawdor. Up until the point that he is murdered out of the play Duncan has done nothing but good things for Macbeth, not only has he given him two well admired titles, but he has also praised him for being such a great guy, Banquo on the other hand has only been told thank you for his services. Now I think that was Banquo I would be a little ticked if all I got was a pat on the back when my best friend who did the same as me got a promotion to second-in-command of Scotland. At now point though do we see Banquo feeling mistreated or underappreciated, he only continues to served get on with his life, this to me makes his a better man. The only time that we even catch a glims of Banquo’s inner feelings is when he questions whether or not Macbeth had anything to do with Duncan’s murder, but he doesn’t do any follow up with it. Banquo is also seen as a better man that Macbeth is because Macbeth has him, his best friend, murdered for no legitimate reason. We see this in act three scene three lines 16-19: “Let it come down. O treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly,
fly! Thou mayst revenge, O slave!” The only reason that we are given for Banquo’s early death is that it is best for his own good, which it might have been, but surly a man who lies full of honor for is country and his brothers and is then killed by them is more of a man that most people even today. The final time that we see an example of manhood in the play Macbeth is in the fourth act of the play and is expressed by Macduff. Macduff doesn’t do much for us throughout the play until he goes to England to recruit Malcolm to return to Scotland and take back the crown for the rightful family. Macduff does this because he is almost positive that Macbeth was behind the murder of Duncan and of Banquo, but also because Macbeth has done nothing good for the country of Scotland. Personally I believe that Macduff would have stayed out of Macbeths way had Macbeth done better things with his power while he had it. It’s obvious to the audience that once Macbeth is given power he does nothing with it, but miss use it. Macduff realizes this and wants him out of there. Due to Macbeth being told to worry about Macduff by the evil witches and because Macduff is trying to go against him Macbeth orders the death of Macduff and anyone who stands in the way. This probably wouldn’t have been such a big deal had Macduff been in Scotland when Macbeth decides this, but as you might remember he is in England trying to get Malcolm. Instead Macbeth’s troops go into Macduff’s castle and kill everyone inside including Macduff’s wife and children. When Macduff is told the news of their death by his noble cousin Ross he is torn apart completely, but does little to show it, in fact he accepts the responsibility of their deaths and feels bad about it. We see this in act four scene three lines 204-225; “Your castle was surprised; your wife and babes savagely slaughtered. Merciful heaven! what a man! … The greif that does not speak whispers the o’er-fraught…. … Dispute it like a man. I shall do so; but I must also feel like a man. I cannot but remember such things were that were most precious to me. Did heaven look on, and would not take their part? Sinful Macduff, they were all struck for thee!” At the point of Macduff not really showing much emotional sadness in public due to the death of his loved ones, but also taking full responsibility for it and not blaming anyone but himself we see that he is a true man. Throughout the entire first four acts of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth we see four different example of what it means to be a true man, these of course are in act one we see Macbeth being rewarded for killing a traitor, in act two we see Macbeth’s manhood being questioned by his wife, in act four we see what a true man looks like, and finally in act four we get to see how a man takes the news of his entire family being murdered. All of these acts of manhood come with a cost whether it be that you are a murder to the fact that you get murdered some would say that the only way to truly be a man is to die for something. At the end of the play Macbeth himself does meet his maker, but by that point of the play you’ve already decided he isn’t a man. The idea of manhood is an interesting thing something that we think about as a society a lot. People are always questioning what kind of a man someone really is before they give them a chance to do anything great, such as lead our country or maybe even an company. Lady Macbeth on the other had was more of a man than her husband for the amount of time that she was in the play, which is an insight to our modern day society where women are treated equally by the government, something Shakespeare accounted for almost six hundred years earlier.