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Macbeth Banquo Quotes

Decent Essays

1. As Scene 1 opens, Banquo is fearful and suspicious of Macbeth. He suspects him of killing Duncan. Since the witches’ prophecy has come true, Banquo feels that Macbeth has been rotten in his pursuits to be king. The quote, “Thou hast it now---King, Cawdor, Glamis, all/As the Weird Women promised, and I fear/Thou played’st most foully for‘t’” (Shakespeare, 81) is said by Banquo. He comes to the realization that Macbeth is power hungry and his ambitions are unchecked. He is also suspicious that since Macbeth’s prophecy came true, Macbeth will want to make certain that his prophecy won’t be fulfilled.
2. In Macbeth’s soliloquy in Scene 1, his thoughts and motives are exposed to the audience. The quote, “To be thus is nothing,/But to be safely thus,” (Shakespeare, 85) is representative of his inner thoughts. Although, he has already become king, he is wary of what is to come. He cannot enjoy being king because he feels as if he won’t be safe until he makes sure to ruin Banquo’s prophecy. He believes that killing Banquo will solve this problem. He reasons with himself by explaining that Banquo has always tried to steal the glory away from him. This is significant since it shows that in order to ease his conscience Macbeth excuses his plans to kill Banquo as just and fair under the circumstances. At this point, …show more content…

At the beginning of Scene 5, Hecate is shown to be angry at the three witches for the harm they had caused to Macbeth. She is not really mad at them for doing it; instead, she is mad at them for not including her. She contributes to their scheme by conjuring up magical illusions. The quote, “Upon the corner of the moon/There hangs a vap’rous drop profound./I’ll catch it ere it come to ground,/And that, distilled by magical sleighs,/Shall raise such artificial spirits,” (Shakespeare, 111) provides information that she does this. The magical illusions she conjures up are the three apparitions that will appear to Macbeth and eventually prophesize his

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