What effect does Banquo's character have on the play 'Macbeth'?

Answer 1

=The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches' prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo thinks ambitious thoughts, but he does not translate those thoughts into action. In a sense, Banquo's character stands as a rebuke to Macbeth, since he represents the path Macbeth chose not to take: a path in which ambition need not lead to betrayal and murder. Appropriately, then, it is Banquo's ghost-and not Duncan's-that haunts Macbeth. In addition to embodying Macbeth's guilt for killing Banquo, the ghost also reminds Macbeth that he did not emulate Banquo's reaction to the witches' prophecy.=

Answer 2

Banquo is portrayed as Macbeth's counterpart. He challenges the witches to fortell his future, yet remains skeptical of the enitre encounter whereas Macbeth chooses to embrace the prediction. Banquo represents the person who remained loyal to the heavens and God, in contrast to Macbeth who prays to the evil spirits.

Answer 3

Banquo was a foil to Macbeth, because when him and Macbeth visited the witches, they said his sons would become kings, and Macbeth felt that his position would be challenged if they learnt that Macbeth killed the king, Banquo's sons would do the same

Answer 4

They are both warriors, essentially fighting men. But they are also thinking men, both capable of subtle thought. What makes them different is that Macbeth's closest relationship is with his wife, whereas Banquo's is with his son; Banquo is used to leading Fleance, whereas Macbeth is led by his wife.

Answer 5

Banquo's character has three effects on the Shakespearean play. The first effect is showing to readers and viewers the bravery that he and fellow General and friend Macbeth [c. 1014-August 15, 1057] share on the battlefield. The second effect is bringing out the fatal flaw in the hero's character. The witches' prediction of the Scottish crown for Macbeth and of a monopoly over the Scottish throne by Banquo's descendants brings out the raging ambition that Macbeth and his Lady [b. c. 1015] barely hold in check. The third effect is taking the first step towards the Macbeths' downfall. The slitting of Banquo's throat by Macbeth's hired murderers signals the beginning of the end for the King and his Queen. Things go in Macbeth's favor until Banquo's murder and his son Fleance's escape. For example, after Banquo's death, Macbeth has Macduff's entire family and household slaughtered. But Macduff escapes, to come back and behead Macbeth.

Answer 6

First of all, your question assumes that Shakespeare held a position in the King's Men similar to a modern director and that he made decisions about how plays should be performed. We have no evidence that he performed such a function or even that anyone did. The leader of the company was the star actor Richard Burbage, and if anyone made decisions of this kind it would be him. But in the portrayal of ghosts, the company probably did what they had previously done to portray ghosts in plays such as Richard III, Julius Caesar and Hamlet, and what they had seen done in many other Elizabethan plays such as The Spanish Tragedy or Thomas of Woodstock.We have an account of an early performance of Macbeth by the King's Men which describes this scene, as follows (the spelling has been modernised):

• The next night being at supper with his noblemen, whom he had bid to a feast (to the which Banquo should have come), he began to speak of noble Banquo and to wish that he were there. And as he thus did, standing up to drink a carouse to him, the ghost of Banquo came and sat down in his chair behind him. And he turning about to sit down again saw the ghost of Banquo which fronted him so that he fell into a great passion of fear and fury, uttering many words about his murder, by which when they heard that Banquo was murdered they suspected Macbeth.

Clearly the ghost was visible to the audience, and could be seen entering the stage behind the back of the actor who played Macbeth. This set up a dramatic irony as Macbeth complains that Banquo has broken his promise to attend the feast, while the audience sees him sitting there. How did the audience know that it was a ghost? Again we must speculate. It cannot have been costume as the audience needed to know just by looking whose ghost it was, and costume is how they would have recognized the character. Perhaps white makeup was used.

Answer 7

Banquo is a character in the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare in about 1606. He is a general in the army of Scotland, and a close friend of the title character, Macbeth, who is also a general and the cousin of the Scottish king.

Answer 8

In the early scenes we contrast Banquo's reaction to the witches with Macbeth's.