Banquo

Question 1

‘Can the Devil speak true?’ - Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 1

The metaphor of ‘devil’, symbolises the Jacobean distrust of supernatural and witchcraft, which creates a contrast to Macbeth who still believes the witches do it in his favour

Question 2

‘The instruments of darkness tell us truths’ - Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 2

• metaphor of ‘instruments of darkness’ and alliteration of ‘tell us truths’ emphasises the theme of reality vs appearances
• B is able to distinguish the evil forces from their equivocal language which relates to common Jacobean superstitions which B demonstrates
• witch hunts - witches can’t be trusted

Question 3

‘In heaven their candles are all out’ - Act 2, Scene 1

Answer 3

• hyperbole to describe the weather - foreshadowing the darkness to come
• God has withdrawn when Divine Right is affected
• Christian language is the antithesis to Macbeth’s pagan attitude and abandonment of God

Question 4

‘In the great hand of God… I fight of treasonous malice’

Answer 4

• outraged and disgusted by the death with the dynamic verb ‘fight’ and adjective ‘great’ - contrasts Macbeth
• echoes the Jacobean horror of the Divine Right being betrayed
• emphasises the corrupting influence of ambition

Question 5

‘I fear thou play’dst most foully for it’

Answer 5

• shocked at ambition and violation of the GCOB - very critical of Macbeth, proxy of the ideal Jacobean
• questions the appearances of Macbeth - however he doesn’t act on this
• ‘foully’ repeats the witches - could show his desire to be part of it

Question 6

Holinshed’s Chronicles/Context

Answer 6

• S borrowed the character of B from ‘Holinshed’s Chronicles’ published in 1587 - they were a history of Britain
• in these chronicles, B is an accomplice of M in the act of regicide
• however to flatter James I, S changes this as one of James I claims to the throne is being a descendant of B
critics see it as creating B for a policymakers alliance

Question 7

How Shakespeare undermines B’s nobility - ‘partner’s rapt’

Answer 7

• motives are ambiguous - he does not accuse M although he has reason to, ‘look how our partner’s rapt’
• ‘rapt’ adjective (repeated in this scene) suggests Banquo is aware of how enticed and ambitious Macbeth is
• this is contrasted by ‘partner’ - suggests he considers them to be a team/tied - embracing the ambition?