MacBeth 1-3

These acts are my favorite because the plot starts to really take off here: MacBeth kills Duncan and then the Guards, he starts to hallucinate and question what he has done, Donalbain and Malcolm flee, MacDuff rebels, England gets involved, Lady MacBeth develops as a character, etc. All of this happens while my favorite character, and arguably MacBeth’s best friend or at least closest associate, Banquo is persecuted simply for a prophecy bestowed upon him.

It is a prophecy that he is still fixated on, and he brings this up with MacBeth who pretends to be indifferent. Banquo realizes this is not the case, in fact it is the polar opposite: MacBeth actually acted on his prophecy: “Thou hast it now- king, Cawdor, Glamis, all As the Weird Women promised, and I fear Thou played’st most foully for’t” (3.1-3). Banquo has good intuition, largely because he himself has rising aspirations that were born out of the prophecy. It is sad that he is killed, for he was a rather well-intentioned character, but redemption will follow nonetheless from his son who survived him.