In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, when Banquo and Macbeth first encounter the witches, both men are intrigued, however, Macbeth is rather demanding, while Banquo is skeptical, foreshadowing that Macbeth will take the prophecy more seriously than Banquo.
To begin with, when the witches tell Macbeth the prophecy about himself, he forcefully instructs the witches to further explain the prophecy.
In particular, after the witches state the prophecy about Macbeth becoming the king, as they start to disappear , Macbeth insists for the witches to, “Stay you imperfect speakers. Tell me more.\By Finel’s death, I know I am Thane of Glamis,\But how of Cawdor?” (I.iii.68-70)
Macbeth is commanding the witches to stay and tell him more. He is really
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“Think about what hath chanc’s and at\more time,\The interim having weigh’d it, let us speak\Our free hearts each to other.”(I.iii.152-154)
After the entire ordeal with the witches, Macbeth is really interested in carrying out more discussion with banquo in order to talk about what happened. He is very interested in what the witches had to say and he is putting a lot of effort into it, foreshadowing that he is taking the prophecy a lot more serious. Macbeth is portrayed to be demanding towards the prophecies given by the witches, making him take the prophecies seriously, however, though Banquo is intrigued, he tends to remain skeptical.
On the other hand, after both Banquo and Macbeth encounter the witches, Banquo becomes skeptical towards the prophecy. “What, can the devil speak true?” (I.iii.106)
Banquo expresses doubts as to the validity of the prophecy, as it does come from witches. He is wary that the witches’ way is to lead them to evil, rather than success. In this, Banquo shows a lower level of seriousness and rather skeptical that Macbeth does not possess.
Moreover, Banquo tells Macbeth to be careful of what the witches tell