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.'”
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.
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.
“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
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.
Which leads his conscience into hallucinating about a dagger telling him to kill Duncan and other influences that led to his decision. Macbeth knew that killing Duncan was treason and that he will get into major trouble with Scotland if anybody finds out. Macbeth’s downfall starts to take a turn because the only person that knew about Macbeth’s prophecies from the witches was Banquo. That’s when Macbeth started to get even more paranoid ; he knew his best friend had heard the prophecies and that in one of the predictions was that the descendants of Banquo will be king of Scotland. His paranoia about Banquo getting the crown leads further on his downfall by planning Banquo’s death along with his son Fleance.
Firstly, Macbeth’s mental deterioration, due to his lust for power presents itself, when he decides to betray his best friend Banquo.
Banquo is mindful of the destruction that Macbeth’s ambition may cause and attempts to prevent it by stating that the “deepest consequences” may unfold, should Macbeth follow the prophecies of the witches. As the relationship between the two develops, it is shown that at first Banquo does not have a huge impact on Macbeth; but once Macbeth murders Banquo to ensure the crown, it is shown that Banquo eventually is able to influence Macbeth through the guilt and conscience. Macbeth’s
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).
Daydreaming, cloud walking, and hallucinating are all words that can explain escaping the reality of earth, and with such an unpredictable world one could understand wanting an escape from harsh realities. When William Shakespeare writes Macbeth he shows how unbearable reality can be so he provides his characters with versions of reality for release, but as they deal with these realities they also depend on faces they put on to hide the truths in their actual realities. The themes of versions of reality and masks tie together to help conceal the truths of reality and emotion. With characters taking on their own versions of realities and empty actions made present as patterns in Shakespeare's work Macbeth it is clear to see that Shakespeare
Macbeth becomes more suspicious of people around him, and begins to lose his value of life. He feels threatened by Banquo’s fate of his children being kings. Macbeth says “It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight, of it find heaven, must find it out tonight.”(3.1. )
It was between 1590 and 1613 when William Shakespeare had written his famous and intriguing work, approximately 37 plays and 153 sonnets. Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s written plays is considered one of his darkest and most powerful works. The play illustrates the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake, centering on the protagonist, Macbeth. As seen in many works of literature, the uses of imagery and symbols are very key in deepening the understanding of the works. A significant excerpt in this play portrays the uses of imagery, symbols as well as looking at the work in a different perspective.
