Macbeth

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1. 
   luannw Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   Banquo doesn't have much time to react to the attack from the murderers sent by Macbeth in Act 3, sc. 3.  He does realize, it seems, that the attackers were sent by Macbeth because his words are: "O, treachery!...." and "...Thou mayst revenge..." By saying "treachery" and telling his son to get revenge, he appears to know that Macbeth is behind the killings.  He also tells his son to run away, so his concern is for his son and his son's safety.  This shows us that Banquo is a good and caring father.  The haunting by Banquo's ghost that occurs in sc. 4 of this act indicates that it truly was treacherous for Macbeth to have his good friend killed.  Whether the ghost is merely a figment of Macbeth's guilt-stricken conscience or is a real ghost come to torment Macbeth is not clear.  Either way though, Macbeth was a tyrant to have his best friend killed merely to save Macbeth's crown and Banquo seems to have realized that.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/

   http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/act-iii-summary-analysis

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   Posted by luannw on Thursday May 15, 2008 at 4:10 AM