How Does Shakespeare Present the Characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?

In Macbeth, Duncan is Macbeth’s first victim. The witches told Macbeth that he will be King of Scotland. In order for Macbeth to

If upon hearing the prophecy, Macbeth was just suspicious and slightly moved, his heart was quickly poisoned when hearing the news of him being made the Thane of Cawdor. In his astonishment of realizing that the first part of prophecy had come to reality, the idea of regicide has germinated in the depth of his mind. Macbeth was utterly shaken of the “fantastical murther”, while the ambition inside him was like a beast woken by the weird sisters, tiering his conscience apart. At the end of Act1 Scene 4, the King, who was utterly ignorant of Macbeth inner struggle, announced his son Malcolm as successor at same time heartily praised Macbeth as noble and deserving. The stars, representing high virtue and heavenly power, was used in such an ironic way, for Macbeth with his dark thoughts currently had nothing to do with these qualities, but need to evade their watchful eyes. At this point, Macbeth already had it in his mind to murder the King, yet he still unsettled, thinking about the trust and glory he had received from beloved Duncan. In the next scene, Lady Macbeth would push him onto the doomed

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.

It was prophesized by these three witches that Macbeth would be Thane of Cawdor and King here after. Banquo who was also given a prophecy was told that he would be father of many Kings though he shall never be King and he replied to the witches in the way if Macbeth had followed would not lead to so much bloodshed and suffering caused to himself and others. Banquo said that he would leave such things to nature and the hands of time; if it be so then it will happen. Macbeth on the other hand did not stop to think that the witches were evil and trying to deceive him, for as Banquo states, sometimes evil forces in order to win us over tells us good, just to deceive us later.

In the beginning of the play in Act 1 Macbeth starts with Banquo and Macbeth running into 3 witches. The witches give them three prophecies: Macbeth shall be named as Thane of Cawdor and then king; Banquo, although he shall not himself rule in Scotland, will be father to future generations of kings. After the witches left a terrible thought comes across Macbeths head. “Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings: My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,

However, he growingly becomes suspicious of someone close to him, Banquo, trying to bring him down. Macbeth remembers that Banquo was with him when he received the prophecy, and that Banquo was told by the witches that his sons would become kings. Macbeth believes that Banquo will do anything he can for this prophecy to come true, and that killing him would be the only way. Power hungry, Macbeth has Banquo and his son killed, so the possibility of them taking his power away are no more. This shows that power has driven Macbeth to kill another one of his

He mentions how as king he is very powerful, but he would be even more powerful without Banquo to worry about stating “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown” (Shakespeare 114). Here Macbeth refers to the three witches who prophesied Banquo would father an heir to the throne. Macbeth interprets this prophecy as he will not have an heir because Banquo’s sons will take the throne directly after him. He is not happy about this occurring because it would remove his power as well as his purpose for ruining his characteristics. In order to stop this from occurring, Macbeth decides to have Banquo and his sons assassinated. To do this, Macbeth uses his power and influence as king to convince three murderers to terminate Banquo and his son Fleance. In doing this Macbeth continues to corrupt his power and character only for the gain of more

Now that King Duncan had named Malcolm heir to his throne, Macbeth had to somehow make himself king regardless of

Instead, he decided that he must take action and go through the obstacles on his own. Macbeth proceeds to murder the king Duncan to allow his fate to be king to approach to him faster and take place. An additional example from the second scenario, is when Macbeth arranges the murder for Banquo and his son Fleance. Macbeth says, “They hailed him father to a line of kings”. (3.1.62).The witches basically told Banquo that his sons will become kings after Macbeth. He also says, “Put rancors in the vessel of my peace. Only for them: and mine eternal jewel. Given to the common enemy of man, to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings!” (3.1.70-74). Macbeth is furious because he assumes that he became king just for the sake of Banquo’s sons, that him becoming king is just for nothing. So, Macbeth decides to deal with Banquo and Fleance by killing them both so the fate of Banquo’s sons becoming kings will be false and Macbeth would remain king for a long

This was stated by the King to Macbeth before his untimely death “O worthiest cousin” (pg 19) which settles that Macbeth was in-fact King Duncan’s cousin. Hence, Macbeth was a part of King Duncan’s bloodline, and thus could take the throne if King Duncan had no sons to rise to the throne. But Malcolm was named as the heir to the throne, therefore King Duncan had to be murdered. This was known to Macbeth. The prediction of the witches only twisted his mind therefore confirming the deed that was going to happen and to start planning the murder of king Duncan and ripping the throne from his dying

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

loyalty. Banquo and Macbeth both know about the prophecies the witches told about Macbeth becoming king. Even though Banquo's children are the heir to the throne, Banquo disregards it. According to Hacht, “Banquo believes Macbeth is still his friend, despite knowing what the prophecies say. This trust leaves him vulnerable. Macbeth arranges the murder of Banquo” (Hacht). This causes Macbeth to take an advantage of him because of Banquo’s vulnerability and Macbeth’s disloyalty. Banquo is the first to be suspicious of the murder of King Duncan and the possibilities that Macbeth had committed it. In Act One Macbeth explains “the prince of Cumberland. That is a step/ On which I must fall down or else o’erleap, For in my way it lies” right in front of Banquo (1.4.55-57). Macbeth is saying he finds Malcolm like an obstacle that he needs to overcome right in front of Banquo but stays loyal and continues to disregard. This is how Banquo represents such a strong impact upon Macbeth’s traits that prove he is disloyal and

After Duncan's murder, Macbeth realizes that the witches' prophecy about him becoming king has come true, and he feels that it is his destiny to be the king of Scotland. Macbeth begins to believe in everything the witches say. Macbeth, however, does not want to risk giving up his crown to the son of Banquo like the prophecy said. Thus, Macbeth hires three murderers to kill both Banquo and his son. He tells the hired murderers to "leave no rubs nor botches in the work . " (Act III: ii: 133). By having both men killed, no one will be in line to take the crown from Macbeth, and he will secure his position has king.

After Macbeth and Banquo receive prophecies, the foil characters start to diverge as Banquo’s takes the moral path of goodness while Macbeth takes the immoral path towards his ultimate decline. Banquo and Macbeth have the opportunity to pursue the same path, but because of his unchecked ambition, Macbeth deviates from Banquo's path of good morals. Immediately after the witches tell their prophecies, Banquo’s mindset is wary and rational. He warns Macbeth that, “oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / the instruments of darkness tell us truths...” (1.3.125-126). Banquo is not obsessed with the prophecies and the idea that one day his ancestors will be kings. On the other hand, Macbeth speculates, “Two truths are told, / as happy prologues to the swelling act / of the imperial theme.” (1.3.130-132) Because two of the three prophecies have come true, Macbeth is blinded by his ambition and seems to fantasize about the idea of being king. These contrasting reactions show that Macbeth takes a