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Macbeth Banquo Murder Analysis

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In William Shakespeare's, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is a noble warrior who had to kill the king, Duncan, in order to take the crown due to prophecies he was told by the witches. After the murder many people were suspicious of Macbeth including his friend Banquo. Macbeth knows the prophecy of Banquo as well, he shall be father of kings, and since Macbeth is king he has to do something about that. He hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. The audience is supposed to accept Banquo's ghost as a fantasy representing Macbeth's guilty conscience.
Macbeth hires two murderers initially, but a third one shows up when the murder is actually happening to help out. They plan to kill Banquo at night when he is supposed to be coming …show more content…

Macbeth speaks with them breifly to be sure that the murder was carried out as he had planned. The murderers assure Macbeth that Banquo's throat has been cut and he is dead: "Thou art the best o' th' cutthroats" (3.4.18). The murderers then leave and Macbeth goes back to the table to see that one seat is left empty, Macduff's seat: :Here is a place reserved, sir" (3.4.47). Macduff's absence is important later in the play.
Macbeth then sees Banquo's ghost in one of the chairs at the table: "Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake / Thy gory locks at me" (3.4.50-51). This is the first time Banquo's ghost appears after Banquo's death. Other people begin to wonder what is wrong with Macbeth because they can not see the ghost themselves: Gentlemen, rise, his highness is not well" (3.4.52). This shows that Banquo could not be an apparation of any sort since no one but Macbeth saw him.
The audience is supposed to accept Banquo's ghost as a fantasy representing Macbeth's guilty conscience. This is proven by the fact that no one but Macbeth even saw the ghost. Macbeth is the only one, besides the murderers, who even knew of Banquo's murder. Macbeth is guilty about killing his friend Banquo and is therefore losing his mind by seeing visions of his ghost when it is really not there at all. Macbeth is slowly losing his mind after the murder of Duncan, and now his best friend Banquo so imagining ghosts

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Proceeding with the crime, Macbeth later receives the news that only Banquo has been killed. Macbeth’s paranoia, guilt, and shame manifest into an envisionment of Banquo’s ghost at Inverness. Upon Macbeth seeing the ghost, Lady Macbeth attempts to calm him down, to which he

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(Act2:1:37-39). The imagery used of a brain physically over-heating accentuates the idea that Macbeth is beginning to lose his sanity as his brain can no longer function accordingly due to all the incalescence. Not only does the thought of killing Duncan cause Macbeth to hallucinate but also after having ordered the murder of Banquo, his guilt stricken conscience causes him to see Banquo 's ghost. No one else at the banquet can see the ghost which emphasizes that Macbeth is losing his sanity. Macbeth asks "Which of you have done this" (Act3:4:53) after seeing Banquo 's ghost because he believes one of the guests to be playing a prank on him as he is not aware that his own mind is hallucinating due to all the remorse.

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Lady Macbeth orders a servant to fetch Macbeth and before he arrives, she bemoans “Naught’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content,” indicating that even though she has gotten everything she wants, Lady Macbeth is still not happy because she had to kill to get what she wanted. According to Edith Whitehurst Williams, Lady Macbeth has “a conscience far from dead” that is seen in how she is not happy despite having the power she wanted, since the means of obtaining that power were unsavory (Williams 222). Once Macbeth arrives, Lady Macbeth consults him, advising that “what’s done is done,” meaning that Duncan is dead and their plan is through, so he does not need to do anything more or kill anyone else (3.2.12). Macbeth can sense that Lady Macbeth will not advocate for any more murders and therefore he “does not make her a party to the murder of Banquo” (Williams 222) and so when Lady Macbeth tells him to “sleek o’er your rugged looks”(3.2.27) in order to stop him from his planning of further murders, he simply agrees. At the banquet where Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, after everyone has left, Macbeth is talking about how he has more schemes to kill people, it is seen that Lady Macbeth’s “dedications to evil… [are] not going to sustain her”(Williams 222).

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