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Time has passed. Macbeth is now established as king of Scotland.
Banquo continues to remember the witches' promises to him but remains honourable and hopeful.
Macbeth, on the other hand, hates the thought of Banquo becoming father to a line of kings and therefore
plans to murder his former friend.
EQUIVOCATION
Equivocation is a major theme in Macbeth.
Equivocation means the use of ambiguous words to hide the real meaning. It also means to prevaricate,
i.e. to speak or act evasively or misleadingly.
The porter spoke of equivocation at great length when he had to open the castle gate to Macduff who had
arrived early to awaken the king.
He pretended to be the Porter of Hell, putting souls of the dead on trial and sentencing them to eternal
damnation for their equivocation.
Of course, it was Macbeth who was the ultimate victim of equivocation.
The witches gave him an equivocal prophecy. He was to be the Thane of Glamis -- which he was
already.
He was also to become Thane of Cawdor -- which title had just been given him although he did not yet
know it.
Ultimately, he would become King of Scotland -- which, however, was already a distinct possibility for a
man of his prowess.
The witches made it seem as if Macbeth would have to murder to become king, and this was certainly the
way Lady Macbeth saw it.
The truth, however, was that he might have become king anyway if he had just waited patiently. After all,
he was an heroic man and, in those days, great heroes became kings.
Macbeth was therefore the victim of equivocation. He was told half-truths: evasive and misleading
statements, words that were ambiguous and whose real meaning was unclear.
The tragedy, of course, was that Macbeth acted upon this equivocation and therefore condemned himself
to a possible life in Hell. There he would meet the real Porter of Hell's Gate!
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and, I fear,
Thou play'dst most foully for't: yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be the root and father
Of many kings."
- Explain what Banquo's fears and his hopes were. (4)
[Need help?]
Banquo realised that almost all the witches' prophecies had now indeed come true.
His fear, of course, was that Macbeth has committed murder in order to become king.
His hope, on the other hand, was that the rest of the prophecy would also come true: that he himself
would give birth to a line of kings.
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"We hear our bloody cousins are bestowed
in England and in Ireland, not confessing
their cruel parricide, filling their hearers
with strange invention."
- What is parricide? What is Macbeth's purpose in saying these words to Banquo? (4)
[Need help?]
"Parricide" is the killing of one's own father. We tend to call it "patricide" these days.
By "strange invention", Macbeth means that Malcolm and Donalbain are making up stories, telling
everyone that it is Macbeth who has murdered their father!
Macbeth, of course, does not know whom he can trust and whom he can't. Banquo has been his old
friend and yet it is quite probable that he thinks the worst of Macbeth.
It is Macbeth's task in life therefore to attempt to quash any doubts that might exist in people's minds.
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Macbeth lists two reasons why Banquo must be killed. What are these? (4)
[Need help?]
First, because Banquo is such a good and honest man, it is absolutely certain that he will have correctly
concluded that it is Macbeth that has murdered Duncan.
Second, the witches have prophesied that Banquo's children will be kings, which means that Macbeth has
murdered Duncan purely so that Banquo will be rewarded.
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Why does Macbeth request that the murderers also kill Fleance? (3)
[Need help?]
Think of the witches' prophecies. Although Macbeth would be king, the crown would not pass on to his
own children.
On the other hand, Banquo would himself not be a king but his progeny would be kings. Macbeth wants
to overturn this prediction and the easiest way of doing so would be by murdering both Banquo AND his
son, Fleance.
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How do you know that the meeting with the murderers is not the first time that Macbeth has met with
them? (1)
[Need help?]
Macbeth's opening words to them are, "Was it not yesterday we spoke together?"
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Sum up the reasons Macbeth gives the murderers why they should hate Banquo. (2)
[Need help?]
Macbeth hints at many hardships which the murderers have had to endure. He claims that all of these
hardships have been inflicted on them by Banquo.
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AND NOW FOR SOMETHING MORE CHALLENGING:
Comment on both the fears and the hopes which occupy Banquo's mind during his opening
speech. (5)
[Need help?]
Banquo's biggest fear is that Macbeth has murdered Duncan in order to gain the crown -- but he also
has hopes.
If the witches' prophecies for Macbeth have come true, then perhaps their prophecy for him will also come
true: that he himself will become progenitor to a line of kings.
Notice that Banquo was quick to point out when the witches first made these prophecies that they
shouldn't put their trust in them. Now we discern a different attitude.
Indeed, there is a ray of hope in Banquo's mind that, since the prophecies have come true for Macbeth,
may they not also then come true for him?
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Macbeth asks Banquo, "Is it far you ride?"
- Is there perhaps a touch of dramatic irony in this question? (4)
[Need help?]
Perhaps there is. If one understands the play, then one knows that Banquo is in fact going to be riding
very far that night, all the way to death and to eternal life.
But perhaps this is reading too much into it. Macbeth was, of course, merely attempting to get information:
he is going to murder Banquo and therefore needs to know how long Banquo will be away.
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"To be thus is nothing
but to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo
stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
reigns that which would be feared."
- By referring to the entire passage, explain why Macbeth has developed such a fanatical
hatred for Banquo that he must murder his former companion and friend? (10)
[Need help?]
Can evil and good exist side by side?
Macbeth has indeed become thoroughly evil, while Banquo insists on remaining squeaky clean. This must
have irritated Macbeth. Nevertheless, there are other reasons why Banquo had to go.
First, Banquo was a witness to the witches' prophecy that Macbeth would become king and he had warned
Macbeth even then to be careful of such prophecies.
Banquo would definitely be most suspicious that Macbeth has murdered Duncan because he knows the
circumstances better than anyone.
Second, the witches told Banquo that he would become father to a line of kings. Such news would have
been dreadful for Macbeth who, it seems, didn't have children.
If Macbeth wished to reverse this last prophecy, he would have to rid himself of both Banquo and his son.
Then, and only then, would there be a chance that his own wife would bear him an heir.
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Macbeth goes to much trouble to explain to the murderers that there are major reasons why they should
hate Banquo.
- Why does he not just offer them a good fee to murder him? (4)
[Need help?]
We are entering here into the realm of pure speculation!
It is possible that Banquo is so honoured by everyone that even a good fee would not entice the murderers
to kill him.
It is also possible that Macbeth would like the murderers to kill Banquo out of their own hatred and not
committing the crime as paid servants of the King.
In a sense, therefore, although Macbeth is obviously setting up the murder, he is also distancing himself
from it.
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