The ghost of Banquo
The scene where Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost is clearly significant. The most obvious idea about the ghost is that it represents Macbeth's guilt from killing his friend. Another thing I noticed is that Banquo's ghost sits in Macbeth's seat which seems to show Macbeth that he has failed and that Banquo's heirs will one day take over the throne. This also appears to be the point where the rebellion against Macbeth starts. Before this point no one seemed to be outright questioning Macbeth or going against his leadership, but 2 scenes after Macbeth's crazy rant Lennox and another lord question Macbeth's account of the murder of Duncan. Banquo's ghost seems to be the start of the downfall of Macbeth.
It does seem that after Banquo's death is when people really start to catch on to Macbeth's plot, and I think you are correct in that the scene with the ghost at dinner is when people begin to notice things going wrong. Since none of them can see the ghost, it just seems like Macbeth is insane, and that is likely going to tip off some people that he is indeed a suspect.
ReplyDeleteI think it's because it is the first "public" appearance, if you will, of Macbeth behind the visage. He has been careful about hiding his tracks (framing the servants, hiring assassins in secret), but he drops his crafted persona in front of the entire cast of thanes.
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