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Banquo's Ambition In Act 4 Scene 1 Macbeth

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Act 4 Scene 1 in “Macbeth” is made such a memorable moment in the play by Shakespeare, as it demonstrates the uncontrollable nature of Macbeth's ambition, foreshadows the ending of the play and uses the supernatural to exploit the one weakness of Macbeth, soon to be his downfall. It is where Macbeth finds out that after all the people he has killed, his throne will be lost after him.
The Witches are an evil supernatural force – their “strange intelligence” and ability to predict the future gives them power over humans. In Act 4 Scene 1 they are the first character we meet and their evil sets the scene for everything to come: thunder and lighting, an example of pathetic fallacy, suggest the havoc that Scotland is about to experience. The Witches’ …show more content…

It changes him from a “valiant” soldier to a “dead butcher”. Ultimately it becomes a “fatal flaw”, leading to Macbeth aiming too high so that he fails and eventually loses everything. The previous apparitions have been taken at face value by Macbeth because that is what he wants to hear and this has led to him thinking he is untouchable. This an example of the witches’ deception. However, the fourth apparition with Banquo strips away all this confidence. The endless line of Banquo’s descendants is torturing to Macbeth as “thy crown does sear mine eyeballs”, he can almost feel the pain as Macbeth is forced to come to terms with the inheritance of the throne. In doing so, the guilt of killing Banquo returns to him as he notices that Banquo is “blood-bolstered” but still he “smiles”. The matting of blood in Banquo’s hair and the presence of his eight heirs creates a horrific, haunting image mocking the stability of Macbeth’s throne. However, despite Macbeth’s initial feelings of dejection and the “pernicious” effect of the apparition he continues to pursue his plans and descend further into evil. Shakespeare creates dramatic tension by showing Macduff’s escape at the point when Macbeth is in pursuit. This acts as a trigger for the play to move forward as now “the now the very firstlings of” his “heart” are going to be acted on and he suffer the consequence and mental justification

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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)

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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.'”

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Seeing Banquo had to be a sign of his guilt because he misses him and they were best friends that fought battles together. Macbeth wishes he could take back what he has done to Banquo, but he knows he can't because his ambition is telling him to continue and fight for becoming king. By showing how guilty he is, and it tells us that this is one way ambition can impact on

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Analysis of Act 4 Scene 1 * Begins with witches instead of Macbeth to emphasise their control over him Act 4 Scene 1 correlates with the beginning scenes of the play. In these parts of the play, the witches are able to foresee Macbeth’s ‘destiny’ signifying the type power they have over him. Their prediction for Macbeth is foreshadowed through casting a spell including ingredients of entrails or body parts of loathed animals or human beings. For example, the ‘eye of newt and toe of frog’ and ‘wool of bat and tongue of dog’ when taken together are inferred as creating a monster. In this case, the witches’ predict that Macbeth’s actions and decisions will become monstrous once he has lost his human like qualities.

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In play Macbeth, Shakespeare reveals that an individual’s great desire for power will lead him/her to perform consequential deeds that will scar his/her conscience and change the outcome of his/her life eternally. Macbeth is informed by three witches that he is going to become king and this initiates Macbeth’s thought of becoming powerful. Macbeth doesn’t act on his thoughts until he tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, that he could become king. Lady Macbeth is extremely power hungry and does all she can to convince Macbeth to be just as desirable as her. Together, they come up with a plan to murder King Duncan, so that Macbeth can become king like the witches foretold.

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He reveals that he is not strong minded and is easily influenced by those around him. It is through Banquo that one can actually identify Macbeth with these traits. If it were not for Banquo’s calm and responsible reaction to the foretelling, it would be difficult to hold Macbeth on a basis on the appropriate way to respond to the situation. Banquo is not after sole success, and still considers himself successful even with his sons being heirs to the kingdom. With this genuine appreciation, we are able to view Macbeth as a greedy and irrational character.

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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

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441 Words | 2 Pages

Act 3 scene 4 Analysis Scene 4 of Act 3 takes place at Forres,The murders return to tell Macbeth of Banquo 's death Macbeth returns to the banquet only to be tormented by the ghost of Banquo which is presented in William Shakespeare 's Macbeth usage of metaphors and imagery. The Death of banquo his former best mate has Macbeth reflecting about the moments happening in his life. Macbeth states “I had else been perfect,Whole as the marble, founded as the rock”(2.4.23-24) banquo 's death has Macbeth reflection about his old self and how he used to be a strong man with free will and now he 's reduced to a man who 's easily manipulated almost like a shell of his former self. This scene establishes that Macbeth is no longer the man he used to be he a ghost of his former self.

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This extract is from Act 4 Scene 1 of the acclaimed play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers of English literature in the history. He is famous for his poetries, quotes, tragic and comedy plays. We must assume that some of his writings on misery and warmth were a reflection of his own life experience. Love and marriage in his plays always ended miserably and symbolized as tragedies, or full of unnecessary disputes on trivial issues.

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Furthermore, the murder of Banquo led Macbeth to destruction. Later in the play, Macbeth was troubled by the Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth acts out of desperation to get rid of Banquo’s ghost (III, iv, 82-7). Here, it shows Macbeth’s destruction of mind, which is fuelled by his fear and guilt. Eventually, Macbeth’s

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(IV.I.127-129). Macbeth still sees a blood covered Banquo and is haunted by the sight of his friend in such a way. These ghosts not only haunt his mind, but take over his moral judgement and wipe it out. Macbeth’s ambition gets the best of him and he leaves the witched with the intent of killing

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1257 Words | 6 Pages

Due to his betrayal of a loyal friend, Macbeth feels guilty. To further emphasize, the ghost, which Macbeth fears, is not of Duncan but instead, it is of Banquo. This shows Banquo’s significance in Macbeth as it demonstrates Banquo’s greater impact to Macbeth compared to Duncan. Duncan was his king, whom Macbeth was loyal to at the beginning, however, he betrayed him by murdering him to get the crown. On the other hand, Banquo was his partner in hardship, whom Macbeth trusted and was close to.

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If ill, //Why hath it given [him] earnest of success, //Commencing in a truth? [he is] thane of Cawdor.//If good, why [does he] yield to that suggestion//... And make [his] seated heart knock at [his] ribs "(Act1:3:130-135). The image of a heart beating uncontrollable at the ribs emphasises the internal struggle as his heart is internally fixed inside him. The thrashing of the heart against the ribs seems as if it is trying to escape, similar to the righteousness within a person, which makes a person good, trying to escape the therein suppressing wrongfulness, which is making the person evil.

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As human beings, there are occasions where we choose between right or wrong. Certainly, It can materialize into effect on how other people judge you based on their glimpse of moral senses. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare displayed a dark and erroneous side of humankind. The three preeminent characters accordingly demonstrate identical attributes of greediness. For instance, Banquo who appears to be noble fails to resist his desires, and in relation to Lady Macbeth, she overrules herself with greed to a fate of anguish, and thus, Macbeth becomes engulfed with greed that leads to horrendous deeds.

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The personality of Macbeth changes over the course of the play as Macbeth murders many innocent people like, Duncan, Banquo and Macduff's family. The death of these characters symbolizes the death and birth of something inside Macbeth and the beginning of his downfall. Macbeth, at the beginning or the play, a brave soldier only protecting his people and his king, to Macbeth a murderous tyrant only looking out for the greater good of himself. The death of Duncan symbolized the death of Macbeth's before anxious and confused self and birthed a Macbeth full of guilt and anxiety. After being led to Duncan by a floating dagger and murdering him, Macbeth returns to his wife crying, "One cried "God Bless us!"

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