Loyalty In Macbeth

Banquo's declaration of allegiance also allows for proof towards his unchanging ideals, whereas immorality and blind ambition poison Macbeth?s thoughts. Macbeth describes his fear of Banquo shrewdly in that they ?stick deep, and his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared. ?Tis much he dares he hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor to act in safety? (III.i). Macbeth concludes his friend has remained his pure self and therefore is his moral antithesis. Banquo continues to hold a much clearer grip on life and real quality as a man in comparison to Macbeth, hence, Macbeth is forced to kill him if he is to follow through with his plan and go down a dark road.

In this play, the three equivocators have a resilient effect, not only on Macbeth but on the other characters too. ‘Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy yet much happier. Thou shalt get kings though thou be none.' (Act 1 Scene 3) Banquo is directly involved with the three witches; he talks to them face to face. Being at first strongly contrasted with Macbeth, as an innocent man with a guilty one, it seems like this contrast must be continued to his death; while, in reality, though it is never removed, it is gradually diminished. Banquo in fact may be described much more truly than Macbeth as the victim of the Witches.

Through the soliloquy, the audience gains insight into Macbeth’s innermost thoughts. He names multiple reasons as to why he should not kill King Duncan, noting that Duncan is his guest, kinsman and a good king. He also admits that the only motive he has is the “Vaulting ambition” residing inside of him. Here he names his own hamartia, his fatal flaw, and acknowledges that to give in and commit such a deed, would result in his “deep damnation”. While still undecided on the matter, Lady Macbeth enters, and, seeing his indecision she decides to manipulate him into the decision that suits her; for after all, she is almost if not as ambitious as her husband. By questioning his manhood, his bravery, even their marriage, she successfully leads him to make the choice to kill the king. We now must realise that although the witches’ prophecies and Lady Macbeth’s taunts were a catalyst for Macbeth’s treachery, they never force him to make these errors in judgement; it must have been something that was already inside of him that caused him to decide this. There must have been some inherent evil already a part of his character.

Foremost amongst these is the fundamental role of loyalty in friendship between Banquo and Macbeth. Banquo’s soliloquy, “Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, as the weird women promised, and I fear, Thou played’st most foully for ’t. “[Act III Scene I Lines 1-3] enlightens us of Banquo’s thoughts, suspecting Macbeth murders King Duncan. We are glad to see that he does not reveal his thoughts nor stop him, which exhibits the qualities of a faithful friend. Banquo’s truncated sentence “But hush, no more.”[Act III Scene I Line 10] reinforces our understanding of his loyalty reassuring that he will stay loyal despite knowing the evils deeds of Macbeth. We can gather from these examples that Banquo was loyal to Macbeth to the point of hiding the truth, giving audiences greater insight into universal

With attention to the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth struggles with the morality of his actions. Before the murder takes place, Macbeth begins to believe that the murder will “be the be-all and the end-all” to his clear conscious and would risk him to eternal damnation (Act I, line 5). Yet, the murder would bring him power over Scotland and he “shalt be kind” as told by the Weird Sisters(Act 1, line 50). Macbeth goes off of his ambition to murder King Duncan. The internal struggle of choosing mortality over motives brought forth an intense shift of loyalty to betrayal. The murder caused for Macbeth to turn on Scotland and only care for his own selfish motives. The betrayal causes for the play to become horrific and have a double meaning. Macbeth must put on a face to hide his murder to become the king. The double meaning is how Macbeth looks like a hero to all of Scotland, but only the people on the inside know of his horrific actions. He had to murder to to get the position of King, but the

In the 17th Century, when Macbeth was written , loyalty was highly regarded and had great value. The gunpowder plot in 1605, against King James I, shocked everybody . Treason against your own country was regarded as one of the worst crimes a person can commit and this is why Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn and quartered. In the play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare makes the themes of loyalty and family very clear to the audience in the first few scenes in the play. There are many examples of characters that were loyal and trusted, but that turned their back on the people that trusted them. With this becoming the case, it becomes very hard for people to put faith in others as in an instant they could turn their back and try and act on what they truly believe in.

Selfish desires and ambitions can have great sovereignty over one's actions as their thirst for power only grows. In the play, a loyal, honourable hero transforms into an evil murderer which is driven by his greed and ambition. Macbeth is portrayed as a brave, loyal and courageous nobleman who is incapable of committing evil deeds. Nevertheless, this changes when the witches prophecies are introduced which causes macbeth to think about his aspirations for power and his nobility ranking. He betrays king Duncan when he kills him and obtains the Scottish throne for himself. An example of his loyalty in the beginning of the play in the place when king Duncan thanks Macbeth for his bravery and victory in the battle; Macbeth responds and says, “The service and loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself. Your Highness’ part is to receive our duties, and our duties are to your throne and state children and servants. Which do what they should, by doing everything safe toward your love and honour” (I, iv, 25-30). Macbeth is pleading a great deal of loyalty by expressing that serving him is its own reward and

Macbeth is seen as a “valiant cousin, worthy gentleman” (I, ii, 24). He is a brave warrior who is well respected in his community, until the witches prophesied to him that he would one day be king (I, iii, 50). Macbeth interprets that he must act to fulfill the prophecy. He sends a letter to lady Macbeth asking what to do. She suggests that he should kill Duncan. Macbeth follows the plan and kills Duncan (II, ii, 15). Directly following the murder Macbeth can no longer say amen

In the play, Macbeth was a man who had shown very little mercy to friends let alone his foes. After killing Duncan to become King, he had hired assassins to go and kill Banquo and his son so that he could secure his reign. Banquo was a close friend of Macbeth, they had gone to war together, lived together, fought together and without a second thought, Macbeth has put a death warrant on Banquo and his son’s head. Here Macbeth shows his newly developed uncompassionate character as he does not care about Banquo and their friendship. “ Rather than so, come fate into the list, And champion me that’ utterance.” Here we can see Macbeth speak about the prophecy and how he realises he let go of his morality but for “ Banquo’s seeds” Macbeth not only showed a lack of compassion towards his best friend but also to other characters such as

Banquo says this because he knows the morals to becoming a good king, and he is a good friend to macbeth. Now why does macbeth end up killing Banquo? He does because he has a right to the throne and because macbeth knows his own morals changed and he went about getting power the wrong way based on what Banquo

Banquo was shown as a noble and loyal man and a contrast to Macbeth. In Holinshed's play, he was the exact opposite and was actually an accomplice in Macbeth’s murder of Duncan. However, King James was related to Banquo. In order not to upset James, Shakespeare wrote him to be a decent guy. Even Though there are arguments for if Banquo ever existed in the first place

The character Banquo, in my opinion, is a brave and honourable man, possessing unwavering loyalty to those he acknowledges as superior to him in the Great Chain of Being. Like Macbeth, Banquo is influenced by his own curiosity and inner desires. He contains the same ‘vaulting ambition’ as Macbeth but it is his restraint and ability to fight against temptation that leads him to choose the safer path, one without murder and betrayal. Unfortunately for Banquo, it leads to his assassination.

Banquo is a father of Fleance who goes to england to get Malcolm the king after killing Macbeth. It seems Banquo is motivated and believes in karma. “He argues that evil only offers gifts that only lead to destruction.” I believe that his wisdom threatens Macbeth.(Macbeth Study Guide) He also warns Macbeth by saying "to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths" in act scene.

After Macbeth and Banquo receive prophecies, the foil characters start to diverge as Banquo’s takes the moral path of goodness while Macbeth takes the immoral path towards his ultimate decline. Banquo and Macbeth have the opportunity to pursue the same path, but because of his unchecked ambition, Macbeth deviates from Banquo's path of good morals. Immediately after the witches tell their prophecies, Banquo’s mindset is wary and rational. He warns Macbeth that, “oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / the instruments of darkness tell us truths...” (1.3.125-126). Banquo is not obsessed with the prophecies and the idea that one day his ancestors will be kings. On the other hand, Macbeth speculates, “Two truths are told, / as happy prologues to the swelling act / of the imperial theme.” (1.3.130-132) Because two of the three prophecies have come true, Macbeth is blinded by his ambition and seems to fantasize about the idea of being king. These contrasting reactions show that Macbeth takes a

Banquo always fought for his country and king. He would risk his life for them. Shakespeare writes about Banquo in subtle ways that mention him acting like an admirable man. Banquo is a warrior and is used to fighting to protect other warriors and his kingdom, but he also protects his family. Banquo gives his life so that his son, Fleance can run away to safety when murderers are hired to kill them. As Banquo was being killed he says