Banquo
Play
Summary
Banquo is Macbeth's fellow general and closest companion, who hears the witches' prophecy alongside him — but resists acting on it, suspicious of "the instruments of darkness." Macbeth, fearing that Banquo's heirs will inherit the throne as the witches foretold, has him murdered. Banquo returns as a ghost to haunt the coronation feast, visible only to the horror-stricken Macbeth. Shakespeare likely shaped this character to flatter King James I, whose royal line claimed descent from the historical Banquo.
Notable Quotations
"Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, / As the weird women promised, and I fear / Thou play'dst most foully for't." *(III.1)*
"Often times, to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles, to betray's / In deepest consequence." *(I.3)*