Banquo and Macduff as Foils to Macbeth in Shakespeare's Play

[Music] although macbeth is a multifaceted character

he undeniably commits some horrific crimes to secure the throne of scotland this villainous edge is particularly

noticeable alongside some of the other characters in the play who are noble and upright

because we can easily draw comparisons between his wrong choices and their right ones

it is not a coincidence that banquo and macduff the two men we will analyze today

display all the qualities that macbeth lacks as they would have been included by

shakespeare as foils to macbeth a foil is a literary term for a character who has contrasting values and

characteristics to the protagonist so in this play banquo and macduff are often in the company of macbeth because

their virtues make his flaws extra visible while macduff does not appear until the middle of act two

banquo is mentioned often from the beginning his name comes up in act 1 scene 2

where messenger is relaying the outcome of a recent battle to king duncan both he and macbeth are referred to as

captains and praised for their bravery which helped to secure the king's victory

this tells us that banco and macbeth have equal rank and that they are both thought of as

noble and loyal subjects since they seem to have very similar qualities at the start

we cannot help but compare their individual journeys throughout the play based on the decisions they make from

this point onwards banquo is the only other character to interact with the witches apart from

macbeth but he is immediately more skeptical of their supernatural abilities and his

companion and questions live you or are you ought that man may question

are you fantastical or that indeed which outwardly ye show even after the witches promise him that

his children will be kings he remains doubtful and asks macbeth were such things here as we do speak

about or have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner by comparison macbeth states in response

your children shall be kings the witches have sowed the seeds of ambition in both men

but there is a clear difference in their reactions as macbeth is deeply affected by their prophecies

while banquo seems to look at the situation more practically and initially treats it as a

hallucination or a hoax soon afterwards macbeth is informed of his promotion to thane of cordor

which confirms one of the prophecies so he asks benguel do you not hope your children shall be

kings when those that gave the thing of cordor to me promise no less to them banquo very astutely responds to this

the instruments of darkness tell us truths win us with honest trifles to betray us

in deepest consequence this advice foreshadows macbeth's fate but also shows us that banquo is

distrustful of the witches and is wise enough to suspect that aligning yourself to dark supernatural

forces is bound to end in tragedy unlike his friend he would rather preserve his

upright moral character rather than risk everything to further his ambition

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banquo does not receive a new title like macbeth he shows no signs of jealousy and seems

content to praise his friends good fortune later in act 2 scene 1 however he

reveals to his son freyance that the witches and their promises have been on his mind

admitting a heavy summons lies like lead upon me merciful powers restraining me the

cursed thoughts that nature gives way to and repose despite his noble character he is not

immune from the temptation of ambition and is possibly also guilty of fantasizing about removing king

duncan from the throne at this point he converses with macbeth who unbeknownst to him is on his way to

kill the king and says he dreamt of the witches and wants to discuss their encounter in more

detail in the future it is unclear how far banquo's cursive thoughts may have taken him

had macbeth not acted first by killing the king but it is interesting to note how the promise of power is able to

affect even the noblest of royal subjects and reminds us that macbeth did not start

out as an evil character and it is possible that any of duncan's captains may have made the same choices

had they been assured something so tantalizing as the crown however it is macbeth who commits the

treasonous act and is crowned the new king of scotland and banquo cannot help but make the

connection saying to himself thou hast it now king cordor glams all as the weird women promised and i

fear thou played most fouly for it along with his suspicions however he also realizes that

he may stand to benefit from macbeth's coronation it was said that myself should be the

root and father of many kings if there come truth from them may they not be my oracles as well

and set me up in hope but hush no more banquo can see how macbeth's treachery has resulted in the fulfillment of the

witch's prophecies but he seems to be unable to cross the ethical boundaries that macbeth has

crossed which would allow his ambition to translate into actions

he keeps his suspicions to himself and is outwardly loyal to his new king although this may well be a front

however macbeth is not convinced that banquo was truly on his side and is so paranoid that he hires

assassins to kill him while he is away with his son france in his final moments banquo cries out oh

treachery fly good flayers thou mayest revenge o slave he realizes too late that his

friend has betrayed him but in dying he creates an opportunity for his son to escape

and avenge his murder in some ways he could be perceived as naive for not foreseeing the attempt on his life

because macbeth would have had to get rid of banquo and his children in order for his descendants to keep the

crown that he had killed for perhaps he does not believe that macbeth could be ruthless enough to kill him

because he himself is not capable of doing something so despicable in the battle between ambition and

morality banquo's upright nature prevails but at the cost of his life banquo may

have died but his character still has one more appearance to make

this time in the form of a ghost at macbeth's banquet it is a matter of opinion whether this

apparition is really his ghost or a manifestation of macbeth's guilt but either way it has the effect of

driving macbeth into a state of panic and disrupting his festivities banquo's supernatural presence is a sign that

macbeth's crimes are catching up to him and that he will suffer the mental and physical consequences for his immoral

decisions because bangko does not survive until the end of the play

makduff seems to take over the role of foil after his entrance in act 2 scene 3.

he arrives suddenly at macbeth's castle to meet king duncan but instead discovers that he has been

murdered this truly shocks him and he cries out oh horror

horror horror awake awake ring the alarm bell murder and treason as from your graves rise up and walk

like sprites to countenance this horror we can gather from this outburst that he is a loyal subject of the crown

and is horrified that someone could have the audacity to murder divinely appointed king macbeth soon

steps in and tries to match macduff's outrage with his own fake distress but his insincerity is all the more

visible to the audience in comparison to mcduff's honest reaction although he does not immediately accuse

macbeth of the murder he is hesitant to align his loyalties with the new king

and does not attend his coronation or the banquet held celebrated to make matters worse the witches tell

macbeth to beware macduff in act 4 scene 1 which puts him directly in the path of his murderous intentions

he does not attempt to kill mcduff however and instead decides to slaughter his wife and children

while mcduff is away meeting duncan's son malcolm who was gathering an army to fight

against macbeth his opinions about macbeth at this point are decidedly negative

even without the knowledge that his family has been slain not in the legions of horrid hell can

come a devil more damned in evils to top macbeth many of the words he uses to describe

him from this point onwards associate macbeth with dark supernatural forces

so by opposing him he is placing himself in the position of righteous and holy avenger he is also passionately

loyal towards his country proclaiming oh scotland scotland o nation miserable with an

untitled tyrant bloody sceptered when shalt thou see thy wholesome days again this proves that his motives

stem from patriotism and a desire for justice and again this is an opposition to

macbeth whose motives are purely selfish and ambitious upon hearing the news of his family's

slaughter however he must now mourn their loss along with the loss of his country

oh my pretty ones did you say all oh hell kite all malcolm rather callously tells him to

dispute it like a man to which macduff responds i shall do so but i must also feel it as a man

he has an understandably emotional response to losing his family unlike macbeth when he hears news of his

wife's death in act 5 scene 5. rather ironically however the murder of macduff's family is the

motivation he needs in order to fight alongside malcolm's army so by ordering their deaths macbeth has

essentially ordered his own because according to the witches mcduff is the only man who can kill him

by now the audience can see that mcduff has been placed in the role of good in good vs evil so when he finally faces

macbeth and act 5 scene 10 we can feel with some certainty that macbeth is doomed to fall to his sword

mcduff does not mince his words and calls macbeth a hellhound bloodier villain

coward monster and tyrant in the space of a few lines he also has the satisfaction of crushing

macbeth's final hope of victory by telling him that he was not born of a woman but through a c-section

he is destined to kill macbeth and by doing so he is able to avenge his family his rightful king and his country

both banquo and macduff play the role of foil at various points in the play but despite their similarities the two

men are not completely alike benquo has some personal ambition and is tempted by the thought of his

descendants one day ruling scotland but it does not overwhelm his sense of right and wrong and he is able to keep

his noble character intact mcduff on the other hand does not have any ambitions towards the crown

and is solely focused on avenging macbeth's wrongdoings it is not surprising that macbeth chose

to target these characters in his murderous rampage because they serve as reminders of the

man he once was before his flaws consumed him thanks for watching guys if you found

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