Who Is Banquo In Macbeth

At the start of the play, Macbeth was just on his way home from war when the witches plotted for Macbeth and his friend, Banquo to come meet them. The 3 Witches informed Macbeth that he would be the King of Cawdor. Macbeth was very confused and wondered why he would be king if Duncan was still alive. Macbeth even said, “ The thane of Cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman, and to be king. Stands not within the prospect of belief, No more than to be Cawdor. “ (1.3.70-73) When the witches told him he did not believe it and did not think it would actually be right, so he wrote to his wife, Lady Macbeth. When Lady Macbeth first saw the note she could not be happier. At first she thought that Macbeth was not going to go through with it. Lady Macbeth
said, “ Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou'dst have, great Glamis, From that moment on she knew that she was going to do whatever it took to successfully complete the task.” (1.5.13-19). This quote is explaining how Lady Macbeth thinks that Macbeth is too nice to commit any crimes. She said that he does not have what it takes to take the crown. That is exactly what happens, because Macbeth is trying to prove her wrong. He wants her to think that he will sacrifice anything to be a powerful king. This is exactly what Lady Macbeth was trying to do the whole time. Now that Duncan is dead Macbeth knows she knows that he is a changed person and wants to convince him that this is a new and better him. Macbeth discovers that she is right, because he is under the impression that in order to be a good king he can not be someone who is kind to people and who treats everyone equally. Lady Macbeth convinces him that in order to become king, and be a powerful one he needs to care less about other people and think about what will help him. As the play continues on Macbeth continues on his downward path of destruction. His mind becomes warped on the fact that he is going to control all of Cawdor forever. Anyone that interferes and comes in his way they will be harmed. This is in full swing when Macbeth kills Banquo. Macbeth knows who is a threat to him, he wants so make a clear path so everyone is unable to defeat him. When Banquo is talking to Macbeth about how he became king and suspects him of cheating his way into it, he says, “ But that myself should be the root and father
Of many kings. If there come truth from them—As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine—
Why, by the verities on thee made good, May they not be my oracles as well,And set me up in hope?
But hush, no more.” (3.1.5-10). Banquo is saying that if what the witches said about Macbeth came true, maybe what they said about him will come true too. Banquo is hoping that his sons and grandsons will be handed the crown instead of Macbeth’s. That really triggered Macbeth to take a turn against his friends. He used to be the thoughtful person until this life style took over. The witches and Lady macbeth's thoughts of conquering and staying king stayed in his head and could not keep the thought out. All he had in mind was to achieve greatness. His mind completely took a turn for the worst, in that point in time. The way that Macbeth started to think was his new self and became way too much involved in all of this. Finally, after all the damage Macbeth has constructed, by killing King Duncan, Banquo, Lady Macduff, and Lady Macduff’s son, he came to his senses. He started to realize that the repetition of killing more and more people is an ongoing battle. This battle keeps going because there will always be someone that is a possible threat. Macbeth said, “ Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day. To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools. The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief
candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player.
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more. It is a tale. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” (5.5.). Macbeth is actually starting to increase in awareness and self knowledge about all the damage he has done. Each day he would make sure that no one is able to take over king. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow; is representing the redundancy in his life of trying to stay on the top. The turning point of his life is when he figures out that there is always going to be another person that is a possible hazard. Macbeth Concluded that he was not being himself. He was under that impression that he had to be this person he's not, just to be king. In reality though, the person who he started out as is the person that was the “heroic” person that was the runner up to be king. Not the guy that the witches and Lady Macbeth turned him
into.