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Macbeth at this time is blinded by greed as he kills his best friend in order to keep his political status. Macbeth and Banquo are connected spiritually because Banquo was with Macbeth as the three witches told him his prophecy. “All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! / All hail Macbeth!
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.'”
As the play progresses, the audience sees that Macbeth is losing the little control he thought he had. His paranoia and fear of losing his control cause him to take his fate into his own hands and do whatever necessary to keep these things. He becomes king but remembers that Banquo was told his sons would be kings as well. Macbeth's increased paranoia leads him to think that Banquo is suspicious of Macbeth and that he may try and kill him in order for his son to gain the throne, insert quote.
One of these changes is his relationships and trust between many of his trusted and best friends. After achieving the throne, Macbeth recalls the prophecy saying that Banquo’s children will eventually take the throne and so, Macbeth's ambitions rise once more, “Both of you know Banquo was your enemy, So is he mine”(3.1). Macbeth, even after feeding his ambitious thoughts for his first goal of achieving the throne, his ambitions grow even more with new goals to secure his position for good. However,once again, there are those who stand in his way of his goals to securing his title, and so, Macbeth must again kill for the sake of his ambitions. Ambition has very different effects on those who are good and those who are bad, the ambition that takes hold of Macbeth is so strong, that he is unable to resist it and is even willing to kill his own best friend to satisfy his ambitions.
Macbeth’s psyche throughout the play begins to develop a very schizophrenic way of functioning, which is simply based off of the surroundings Macbeth experiences. Macbeth’s efforts to achieve and secure his power are committed blindly, and this is simply seen through his ruthless acts of murder. Beginning with the murder of Duncan, Macbeth commits the murder without a second thought, but prior to it he falls into a hallucination where he looks upon a dagger which provokes the murder in the first place. Further on in the play, once he achieves the throne, Macbeth looks back on Banquo’s fortune and recalls that his offspring was alleged to have had the throne in the future. To prevent this, Macbeth orders to have both Banquo and his son murdered.
“Things are not always as they seem; the first appearance deceives many”. This quote was written by a Roman poet, named Phaedrus around 370 BCE, long before Shakespeare’s time. Thousands of years later, Shakespeare incorporates many deceiving motifs in Macbeth that put the words of Phaedrus into action. The use of ill-fitting clothes, sleep, and bloodshed is all examples of imagery used to illustrate that not everything that looks genuine is so. Just as clothes appear to fit well, they can be very uncomfortable at the same time.
His ambition led him to murder his noble friend Banquo. Macbeth was no longer under his wife’s influence; he only saw Banquo as a threat to his advancement. The contrast between Macbeth’s ambition and the noble Banquo is
In Macbeth, Shakespeare utilizes the motif of appearance vs. reality to emphasize how a limited perspective of something or someone will most likely lead to the destructive nature of deception. This is shown in the first act of the play where Macbeth and Lady Macbeth hold false appearances to keep their plans a secret and later in the play when Macbeth is king and dealing with the guilt of killing the king and Banquo’s death. In the first act at the start of the play the motif is introduced by three witches chanting “fair is foul, and foul is fair”(1.1.12). This sets up one of the main themes of the play.
Appearance vs. reality happens every day to everyone with just a look. Just a glimpse of someone's facial expression in the hall and you can tell you how things appear, but the reality could be monumentally different from the appearance. What I'm trying to convey is how no one knows someone's true feelings and thoughts by looking at the surface, their deepest desires, secrets, and struggles are locked away from the naked eye. Someone could easily be smiling but be dying on the inside, or someone can seem sane but truly be psychotic. An example of appearance vs. reality in Macbeth is how Macbeth appears to be a loyal friend to Banquo, but in reality he's plotting to eliminate him for his own benefit.
After receiving this prophecy, Macbeth begins to crave and desire power. Rather than allowing the future to happen on its own, Macbeth took matters into his own hands. Banquo’s character contrasts with Macbeth by emphasizing Macbeth’s impulsivity and violence. Macbeth sees Banquo as a threat to the throne and sends three murderers to kill Banquo (III). iii.
Firstly, Macbeth’s mental deterioration, due to his lust for power presents itself, when he decides to betray his best friend Banquo.
Macbeth is supportive of Duncan and is fulfilling his job as a general. He recognizes his ambitious nature and feels horrendous about his thoughts of committing the act of killing the king. After the ceremony, Macbeth senses that Banquo knows that something suspicious going on with Macbeth; therefore, Macbeth sent three murderers to take care of Banquo, "In such bloody distance: that every minute of his being stabs me against my dearest life. With vulnerable power get rid of him from my sight.
He is influenced by his wife, lady macbeth, who informs him that the only way for the two of them to be rich and happy is for Macbeth to become king and take the throne from Duncan. Banquo, a friend of the king and acquaintance of Macbeth also agreed with lady Macbeth and their plan to kill Duncan. While Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were plotting Duncan’s death he began to go insane. He would hallucinate a lot and act a lot different. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?
In an attempt to keep his unchecked power, Macbeth plans Banquo’s death. In this stage Macbeth’s paranoia is only somewhat reasonable based on his suspicion of Banquo. Critic Wilson Knight says, “He himself is hopelessly at a loss, and has little idea as to why he is going to murder. He tries to fit names to his reasons - “ambition”, he was not capable of ration conduct while doing it” (Wilson 59).
Have you ever read the tragic love story about two lovers whose families were sworn, enemies? Have you ever read the tragedy where a strong Roman leader was murdered by his best friend? Chances are that at one point in time you read one or both of these plays that were written by the best poet known to England, William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was christened on April 26 but it is believed he was born three days earlier, on April 23 which happens to be the same day he passed away. Shakespeare was a genius at expressing complex universal truths.