1) ‘What are these, so withered ..live you?’ Banquo’s direct questions to the witches, first as objects and then as supernatural creatures, contrasts his character with Macbeth’s furtive behaviour and also with his evident enchantment. Banquo acts as a strong foil to Macbeth’s character in terms of the contrast between their responses to the influence of the witches. Banquo’s recognition of the moral ambivalence of the ‘fantastical’ women underlines his perceptive intelligence, tellingly revealed in his recognition of Macbeth’s singularly ‘rapt’ reaction to the witches’ cryptic and seductive predictions.
2) ‘Speak to me.’ Here Banquo demands that the witches offer him some foretelling of the future. We may ask whether the witches deliberately provoke such a demand via their tactic of ignoring him, thus ensuring his demise. The witches clearly regard Banquo as far less susceptible to their dubious charms, hence they conspire to destroy the comradeship between the fellow officers through their divisive predictions. His demand ironically leads to his death- murdered by his friend and comrade because of the prediction. Ironically his intimacy with Macbeth proves ruinous once the witches have contaminated Macbeth’s mind. Banquo knows too much of Macbeth’s erratic behaviour emanating from his encounter with the weird sisters.
3) Banquo notices the witches have the ability to vanish like ‘bubbles’ and this serves to establish that the witches are not human and have supernatural powers. This supernatural quality needs to be verified by someone the audience trusts and ultimately serves to explain Macbeth’s terrible betrayal as being the direct result of supernatural interference.
4) When Macbeth is offered the title of the Thane of Cawdor, the astounded Banquo says, ‘Can the Devil speak true?’ Again reinforcing the witches’ malevolence and link to Satan. This heightens the audience’s trust in Banquo and encourages us to doubt the rational and moral judgement of Macbeth. When Banquo interprets the supposed truths of the witches, he offers Macbeth sound advice: ‘’ …oftentimes to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths.’ Here, Banquo’s powers of perception again give the audience a trustworthy measure of the witches’ intentions and their palpable connivance where his friend is concerned. The fact that Macbeth resists Banquo’s advice emphasises just how tempted Macbeth is by their promise of power.
5) Duncan appears to hold Banquo in affection as he hugs him and says: ‘ hold thee to my heart.’ This personal affection appears different to the King’s evident military dependency upon Macbeth and differentiates the two warriors clearly. Perhaps this dependence explains why the King is keen to promote Macbeth and even bestow a traitor’s title on him, despite the evident risks involved. Again we notice how Banquo is a foil to Macbeth in his care of the King.
6) Despite agreeing with the King that the castle is special: ‘the air is delicate’ Banquo cannot sleep the night when Macbeth murders Duncan. Perhaps this uneasiness is linked to his intuitive understanding that something malign is about to take place. Yet his night encounter with Macbeth fails to alert his suspicions regarding his friend’s dreadful intention. Maybe their friendship is too developed and long-standing for any doubts to occur. If so, this underlines what Macbeth is throwing away when he kills his King. He is abandoning Banquo’s life-preserving, loyal friendship in pursuit of an ultimately illusory gift of power.
7) When Duncan is discovered murdered by Macduff, the reaction of Lady Macbeth troubles Banquo perhaps because he instinctively recognises her reaction as insincere and theatrical, ’ too cruel anywhere.’ And this probably alerts him to the histrionic behaviours of both the Macbeths as they try to establish their innocence through their ‘outraged’ behaviour.
After Lady Macbeth faints, Banquo’s instinctive alliance with Macduff is shown by the repetition of his fellow nobleman’s declaration: ‘look to the lady’ which might be delivered with an edge of irony or doubt, depending upon the actor’s interpretation of Banquo’s inner concerns and turmoil, at this moment.
8) Banquo’s soliloquy at the beginning of Act Three establishes his concerns about Macbeth: ‘thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all…and I fear thou play ‘dst most foully for’t.’ Here the audience is privileged to hear Banquo’s doubts about his friend. His knowledge of the witches provides Banquo with an understanding that exceeds all other characters at this point. Yet he does not act to punish Macbeth. Instead, he focuses on his own ‘Hope’ for his family’s future ascension to the throne. Thus, this silence communicates some degree of ambition in Banquo and also makes him to a degree complicit in Macbeth’s corruption. We may wonder at his silence as evidence of his ambition. Yet, the irony remains that his trust in Macbeth damns him: he foolishly even informs Macbeth of his movements with Fleance on a fateful night… This seems naive and perhaps underlines why Macbeth will be so haunted by his friend’s murder that he ‘sees’ his ghost because Banquo’s loyalty was so callously betrayed. Indeed Banquo’s realisation of ‘treachery!’ reveals his recognition of Macbeth’s culpability before he dies and makes their connection a truly bloody intimacy.
The silent apparition(or hallucination ) of Banquo, ironically occupying Macbeth’s chair at the coronation feast, destabilises Macbeth as a punishment for his treachery. This destabilisation of the celebration signifies the beginning of the end for the Macbeths’ marriage and their mental equilibrium. Lady Macbeth has not been informed of her husband’s intentions concerning Banquo’s murder and Macbeth’s seemingly insane behaviour in front of the other nobles makes demands on Lady Macbeth’s skills of improvisation that are eventually mocked and mirrored in her loss of sanity.
