hello everybody and welcome to today's video where we're going to look at the character of banquo in macbeth one of banquo's functions in the play is to operate as a foil to macbeth a foil is a character who contrasts another character usually the protagonist to highlight certain things about them in many ways shakespeare presents banquo as similar to macbeth both are captains in the army referred to by duncan as our captains macbeth and banquo in act 1 scene 2. both are brave warriors as explained by the sergeant in the same scene who tells of how they were as cannons overcharged with double cracks both are well respected in act 1 scene 4 duncan refers to banquo as noble the same word used two scenes earlier to describe macbeth however where the characters really differ is in their actions following meeting the witches in act 1 scene 3. macbeth receives three prophecies which include the statement that he will one day be king and banquo receives one prophecy that although he won't be king himself his descendants will be the witches prophesied to both macbeth and banquo but banquo is skeptical and wary telling the witches that he does neither beg nor fear your favors or your hate macbeth's reaction is different when the witches prophesy he will one day be king banquo asks macbeth why do you start meaning why are you so startled the reaction of macbeth is all the more notable when compared to that of banquo despite the fact that both of these men of equal position in the social hierarchy receive prophecies from the weird sisters only macbeth takes matters into his own hands and embarks on his bloody campaign of violence banquo doesn't succumb to the prophecies in the same way as macbeth because he doesn't have the same hermatia or fatal flaw see my character analysis video on macbeth for more about that it appears that banquo is not ambitious in the way that macbeth is shakespeare's source material for the play was hollins heads chronicles a history book in which there is a retelling of the true story of king macbeth of scotland but shakespeare's play differs from holland's head when it comes to the character of banquo who in the source material was part of the plot to kill the king shakespeare alters this in his own play to paint banquo in a more positive light possibly because it was believed that king james the first was a descendant of banquo remember banquo's prophecy was that his descendants would be kings shakespeare's own king was said to be one of these in this light banquo would have to be presented in a sympathetic manner by shakespeare however there is another way to look at the character of banquo in act 2 scene 1 banquo asks his son fliance to take my sword he admits he does not want to go to sleep because of the cursed thoughts he's been having what are these cursed thoughts well a few moments later banquo informs the newly arrived macbeth i dreamt last night of the three weird sisters when we put all this together could it be that banquo gave his sword to fliance because he couldn't trust himself not to do something evil with it shortly after the murder of king duncan banquel remarks that macbeth has it all now but fears that he played most foully for it this is an acknowledgment that bancro suspects macbeth but why does banquo not sound the alarm why does he not raise objections or even refuse to support the new king like macduff does a line in the previous act gives us a good idea in act 2 scene 1 macbeth tells banquo that he should cleave to my consent meaning stay loyal to me and when the time comes it will work out well for him banquo's response is very vague and he simply says that so long as he loses no honour by doing so he will so banquo believes he stands to gain from macbeth's position as king and this is perhaps why he keeps his thoughts to himself about the evil act his friend has committed ultimately however bancro's resistance to evil and his goodness are what cost him his life when macbeth agonizes over the decision to kill his friend he refers to banquo's wisdom that doth guide his valor in act 3 scene 1. macbeth is acknowledging that the thing he fears most about banquo is his good and wise nature many critics observe that macbeth representing evil and banquo representing good cannot exist together only one can survive whether shakespeare was simply rewriting the history books in order to please king james the first or rewriting his source material to tell an even better story banquo is a character that is often misunderstood in terms of his complexity he is good where macbeth is evil and he leaves things up to chance where macbeth takes fate into his own hands the character of banquo complements macbeth insofar as he highlights macbeth's downfall but banquo himself is no angel his actions and his indecision in the face of treason paint him out to be a more complex character than we may imagine perhaps shakespeare is allowing for the fact that nobody is perfect no person is all good or all evil but the conflict within macbeth that leads him to do evil deeds appears to have the opposite result in banquo yet more evidence of shakespeare's fascination with complex characters contrasts and opposites if you found this video useful please subscribe to the channel and give the video a thumbs up