Key points
Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare that tells the story of a Scottish nobleman called Macbeth.
At the start of the play, Banquo is Macbeth’s friend and is also a general in King Duncan’s army.
Banquo suspects that the Witches may be tricking Macbeth and he is the first to suspect Macbeth of murder.
The Witches have predicted that Banquo’s descendants will become kings. Macbeth starts to feel threatened and pays assassins to murder him and his son.
Banquo dies while protecting his son, Fleance, and comes back as a ghost to haunt Macbeth.
Did you know?
James I was the king of England and Scotland when the play Macbeth was first performed. He believed that he was a A person who is directly related to someone from a previous generation. For example, a child is a descendant of their parents. of Banquo.
It has been suggested that Shakespeare presented the character of Banquo in a positive way to please the king.
Plot summary
Banquo’s key moments
Click through the slideshow to see Banquo’s key moments
Image caption, Macbeth and Banquo meet the Witches
The play begins with Macbeth and Banquo as friends, returning from fighting together for King Duncan. On their journey home they meet three witches, who share their predictions. Banquo is suspicious of the Witches.
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Banquo’s personality
Suspicious
He suspects Macbeth might have murdered Duncan to become king himself and stops trusting his old friend.
Loyal
Macbeth knows that Banquo is loyal to King Duncan. He does not involve him in his plot to murder the king.
Sceptical
Banquo doesn’t trust the Witches’ predictions. He warns Macbeth that evil creatures sometimes tell only half the truth to tempt people. In Comparing two or more things to show difference. to Macbeth, Banquo is not tempted to commit an evil act, even though the Witches promised his sons would become kings.
Did you know?
In Shakespeare’s time, many people believed that witches were real.
King James I was fascinated by witchcraft and wrote a book on the topic, which is said to have inspired Shakespeare when he was writing Macbeth.
Relationships
A friend
Banquo and Macbeth start as friends and fellow warriors, but the Witches’ predictions cause tension in their relationship.
After the murder of King Duncan, Banquo becomes suspicious of Macbeth. Banquo knows that the Witches’ predictions have given Macbeth a motive for murdering King Duncan.
Macbeth orders Someone who murders someone else, often for political reasons. Sometimes an assassin is hired to kill someone on behalf of another person. to murder Banquo and his son, Fleance, but Fleance escapes.
When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, he is terrified. The ghost is a reminder of the crime he has committed.
In many ways Banquo is the opposite of Macbeth. He is caring, loyal and trustworthy.
What does Banquo’s murder tell us about Macbeth?
Macbeth is obsessed with the idea that Banquo’s son, Fleance, will take over from him as king. Even though Banquo is his best friend, he pays people to murder him and his son, although Fleance escapes.
This shows the audience how much Macbeth has changed and how violent he has become.
A father
The relationship between Banquo and his son show us that Banquo is a caring, loyal character. When they are attacked his first thought is to keep his son safe and he tells his son to run away. Banquo’s son Fleance manages to escape.
Macbeth has no children. This causes more tension when Banquo is told his A person who is directly related to someone from a previous generation. For example, a child is a descendant of their parents. will become kings.
Staging a play
What does staging a play mean?
Staging a play is how the play is presented to the audience. The director is in charge of the staging of the play, which can include lighting, set design, costumes as well as how the actors play their roles.
Watch this short video about how to stage Banquo’s ghost and then answer the following question.
Presenter: Hello, and welcome to The Big Scene. We’re at rehearsals for Macbeth, and scenes don’t get much bigger than this. It’s the clash with Banquo’s ghost and the director really needs the audience to appreciate Macbeth’s horror at seeing the ghost of his old best friend who he’s had murdered. This is a big challenge! Can she pull it off on this team’s budget?
And as you us, the feast is well under way and Banquo’s ghost is about to enter.
Banquo’s ghost: Woo! Woo!
Presenter: Oh, and what a silly boy. The director’s not happy at all. She wanted a ghost, she’s got a tablecloth with eyes. Clearly no one told the young lad the audience needs to take the supernatural seriously. Ah. But this looks more promising. Oh, and he’s really pulled his socks up here and has put in one hell of a performance. He almost looks real. Could make Macbeth and the audience question if Banquo’s been killed at all!
Macbeth: Which of you has done this?
Presenter: And that is back-from-the-dead-tastic. 110 percent from Billy Banquo and it’s more than enough to scare the paranoid pants out of the out of form Macbeth – and us, for that matter. I’ve got the heebie-jeebies.
Banquo’s ghost: Erm, don’t have any lines.
Presenter: Hey, hey, hey. The guy’s right, and he’s got the boss really thinking. Has she got a more stylised approach in mind,perhaps?
Macbeth: Which of you has done this?
Presenter: Well, well, well, Banquo’s been replaced by nothing more than lighting and sound effects.
Banquo’s ghost: Ridiculous.
Presenter: It’s utter madness, if you ask me. Macbeth’s madness, that is. It’s a classy move by the director. It puts a doubt or two in the mind of the young king and it makes the audience really question his sanity. Hang on, it looks like she might have another trick up her sleeve. Can she up the tempo once more, I wonder?
Macbeth: Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake thy gory locks at me.
Presenter: Well, no one saw that coming. She’s decided she doesn’t need an actual ghost in that position at all. She’s made the audience think Macbeth’s totally lost his marbles. Oh, but what’s this?
Oh, some numpty’s waltzed through with Banquo’s goat, of all things. No audience would want to see that. A rehearsal of two halves and no mistake.
Who can see the ghost?
Only Macbeth can see the ghost of Banquo. This suggests that the ghost might be haunting Macbeth alone, as revenge for the murder Macbeth ordered. Or it could possibly be that the ghost is not real and has been imagined by Macbeth due to his feelings of guilt. Macbeth is terrified and shouts at the ghost, which remains silent.
Changes in character
Banquo is a loyal friend to Macbeth. He begins to become suspicious of his friend after the meeting with the Witches and the death of Duncan, however, he keeps his suspicions to himself.
After his murder, Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth. The ghost appears at the A large, formal meal for lots of people. and sits in Macbeth’s seat. Only Macbeth can see the ghost, so it is possible the ghost is not real and has been imagined by Macbeth.
Although Banquo is an ambitious A title of nobility in Scotland., he is unwilling to commit murder to achieve power. This shows that he is more loyal than Macbeth. Although Macbeth achieves power for a short while, Banquo’s A person who is directly related to someone from a previous generation. For example, a child is a descendant of their parents. later become kings of Scotland.
Activity - Order it
What do these key quotations mean?
… to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths;
– Banquo,
Banquo realises that the Witches could wish to harm him and Macbeth. Even if they are telling the truth, they could still be evil. He is more cautious than Macbeth and does not trust the Witches.
May they not be my oracles as well,
And set me up in hope?
Banquo is dismissive of the Witches at first, but when he sees the predictions coming true for Macbeth, he begins to wonder what fate might have in store for him.
Banquo is noble and loyal to King Duncan and, unlike Macbeth, does not contemplate acting on the Witches’ predictions. In Act 3, scene 1, however, he does seem to have ambitious thoughts. However, he dismisses these thoughts from his mind, showing that he is less open to temptation than Macbeth. Little does he know, the Witches’ half-truths typically miss out the important information: that he will not live to see his children become kings.
O, When someone who you trust betrays you.! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!
Thou may’st revenge.
Just before he is murdered, Banquo urges his son to escape. He asks him to avenge his death. Because Fleance has escaped, the audience knows that the Witches’ prediction, that Banquo’s sons will become kings, could come true.
Why has Shakespeare made Banquo a good man?
Banquo’s decent, loyal character gives the audience a Comparing two or more things to show difference. to Macbeth. At the start of the play, the two men have many characteristics in common. The friends are also together when they hear the Witches’ predictions.
Macbeth trusts the Witches and the audience sees a darker side to his character. In contrast, Banquo does not trust the Witches and is not tempted to commit evil acts:
…to win us to our harm,
the instruments of darkness tell us truths;
– Banquo,
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