How is Banquo presented in Macbeth?

How does Banquo's role develop across the play?

In Act 1 Scene 2 a wounded captain reports that Macbeth and Banquo were no more worried by a fresh enemy attack than eagles are by sparrows. The two men start the play as equals. In Act 1 Scene 3 the witches promise Macbeth the crown, and tell Banquo "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none", meaning his children will be kings even though he will not. Banquo is curious but wary. He notices Macbeth "start", or jump, at words that sound so good, and warns him that evil powers sometimes tell small truths in order to trap people.

In Act 1 Scene 4 King Duncan hugs Banquo, who replies "There if I grow, / The harvest is your own": any success he has will belong to his king. Act 2 opens with Banquo unable to sleep. He has been dreaming about the witches, and he prays for help against the thoughts that come to him at night. When Macbeth hints that supporting him later would bring honour, Banquo agrees only if he can keep his "allegiance clear", his loyalty to the king unstained.

After Duncan's murder, in Act 2 Scene 3, Banquo declares "In the great hand of God I stand" and promises to fight treason. But in Act 3 Scene 1, alone on stage, he admits he suspects Macbeth cheated his way to the crown. He also wonders whether the witches' promise to him might come true, and he tells nobody what he suspects. Later in the same scene, Macbeth hires men to murder Banquo and his son Fleance.

In Act 3 Scene 3 the murderers attack Banquo on his way to the feast. His last words tell his son to run: "Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!" Fleance escapes, which keeps the witches' prophecy alive. Banquo returns as a ghost who never speaks: first at the banquet in Act 3 Scene 4, then in Act 4 Scene 1, where he points at a line of eight kings descended from him.

What are the key moments for Banquo?

Act 1 Scene 3: "The instruments of darkness tell us truths". "Instruments" here means tools, so Banquo sees the witches as the devil's tools, telling small truths to win trust before a great betrayal. In the same scene, the prophecy puts the first thought of murder into Macbeth's head. Shakespeare places the two reactions side by side, so the audience watches one temptation land on two different men.

Act 2 Scene 1: "Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature / Gives way to in repose!" Banquo admits he is tempted too. "Repose" means rest, so the thoughts come when he sleeps. The difference is what he does about it. He prays to "merciful powers" for help, while Macbeth asks the stars to hide his desires and Lady Macbeth calls on dark spirits. This may be the clearest picture of Banquo as Macbeth's foil.

Act 3 Scene 1: "I fear / Thou play'dst most foully for't". The verb "play'dst" makes the murder sound like a game Macbeth has cheated at. Yet Banquo ends this soliloquy, a speech made alone on stage, with "But hush, no more", and keeps quiet. Is it caution, or a quiet hope that the witches will keep their promise to him too? The play never settles it, which leaves you room for your own interpretation.

Act 3 Scene 3: "Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! / Thou mayst revenge." Banquo's last thought is for his son and the future, and the repeated "fly" makes the line urgent and breathless. It is also the moment Macbeth's plan goes wrong. Fleance lives, so the witches' promise to Banquo can still come true.

What context matters when writing about Banquo?

King James I, the patron of Shakespeare's acting company, was believed to be descended from Banquo through Fleance. In Act 4 Scene 1 the witches show Macbeth eight kings in Banquo's line, the last holding a mirror (a "glass" in the play) that shows many more. The scene is often read as a compliment to James, a living descendant of that line.

That helps to explain a change Shakespeare made. In his main source, Holinshed's Chronicles, a history of England, Scotland and Ireland first published in 1577, Banquo helps Macbeth kill the king. Shakespeare's Banquo has no part in the murder. Showing the king's ancestor as a murderer would have been a risky choice, and making him innocent sharpens the contrast with Macbeth.

Banquo's distrust of the witches also fits the time. Many Jacobeans, including the king, believed that witches were real servants of the devil who tempted people towards damnation. Banquo reacts the way a good Christian was supposed to, and although he dies, his descendants inherit the future the witches promised.

What might an exam question on Banquo ask?

On AQA's Paper 1, the Shakespeare question gives you an extract and asks you to explore it and the play as a whole, for 30 marks plus 4 for spelling, punctuation and grammar (AO4). A question could focus on Banquo himself, but he is just as useful in answers on ambition or the supernatural, because he shows the path Macbeth did not take. Most boards set an extract-based Shakespeare question, so check your own board's wording.

Two focuses to practise:

• Starting with Banquo's soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1, explore how Shakespeare presents Banquo's loyalty.
• Starting with the moment the witches vanish in Act 1 Scene 3, explore how Shakespeare uses Macbeth and Banquo to present different responses to temptation.

What does a strong paragraph on Banquo look like?

Here is an original model paragraph for the second focus:

Shakespeare uses Banquo to show that the witches tempt people but do not control them. Both men hear prophecies in Act 1 Scene 3, yet Banquo warns that "The instruments of darkness tell us truths" only to betray us later. The noun "instruments" presents the witches as the devil's tools, so Banquo reads their words as bait, while Macbeth's mind turns straight to murder. In Act 2 Scene 1 Banquo prays against his own "cursed thoughts", admitting temptation but refusing to act on it. For a Jacobean audience who feared witchcraft, Banquo shows the right response, which makes Macbeth's decision look like exactly what it is: a choice.

The paragraph never retells the plot. Each piece of evidence is there to prove the first sentence.

Key Banquo quotations to learn

Banquo has far fewer lines than the Macbeths, so a small set covers him well.

• "why do you start, and seem to fear / Things that do sound so fair?" (Act 1 Scene 3): he spots Macbeth's guilty reaction before any crime has happened.
• "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none" (Act 1 Scene 3, the witches): "get" means father, and this prophecy is what later makes Macbeth fear him.
• "The instruments of darkness tell us truths" (Act 1 Scene 3): he recognises the witches as the devil's tools.
• "There if I grow, / The harvest is your own" (Act 1 Scene 4): loyalty in the language of crops, promising his success to his king.
• "Restrain in me the cursed thoughts" (Act 2 Scene 1): tempted like Macbeth, he prays instead of plotting.
• "Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!" (Act 3 Scene 3): his last words save his son and keep the prophecy alive.