Visions in Macbeth
To me, there were two scenes in acts II and III that really stuck out: the "is this a dagger which I see before me" scene, and Banquo's ghost scene.
The first is the beginning of Macbeth's visible decline in mental stability. Before he has even killed Duncan, he sees a bloody dagger floating in air, foreshadowing Macbeth's pending actions. After his murder episode, we see continually through acts II and III that Macbeth is losing his sanity (seen especially at the banquet scene), and this is where it starts.
That being said, the biggest "oh shit" moment of the play so far for me was the simple stage direction "Enter the Ghost of Banquo, and sits in Macbeth's place." I totally forgot this happened, and really struck something in me. The ghost enters the banquet twice, both times immediately following a comment from Macbeth noting how Banquo wasn't there (I don't think this is a coincidence). I won't go into that, since what I'm interested in is the idea of how Macbeth has gone so insane from guilt that even though he didn't kill Banquo directly, like he did with Duncan, he still feels ashamed of the murder of his old friend. I interpreted the fact that Banquo sat in Macbeth's seat as being related to the prophecy that Banquo's sons would become king, the reason that Macbeth ordered Banquo's murder in the first place. This vision shows how crazy Macbeth has become, and symbolizes his uncontrollable insanity, isolation from his friends (he couldn't sit at the table because it was full), and overall remorse for what he believes needs to be done.
The first is the beginning of Macbeth's visible decline in mental stability. Before he has even killed Duncan, he sees a bloody dagger floating in air, foreshadowing Macbeth's pending actions. After his murder episode, we see continually through acts II and III that Macbeth is losing his sanity (seen especially at the banquet scene), and this is where it starts.
That being said, the biggest "oh shit" moment of the play so far for me was the simple stage direction "Enter the Ghost of Banquo, and sits in Macbeth's place." I totally forgot this happened, and really struck something in me. The ghost enters the banquet twice, both times immediately following a comment from Macbeth noting how Banquo wasn't there (I don't think this is a coincidence). I won't go into that, since what I'm interested in is the idea of how Macbeth has gone so insane from guilt that even though he didn't kill Banquo directly, like he did with Duncan, he still feels ashamed of the murder of his old friend. I interpreted the fact that Banquo sat in Macbeth's seat as being related to the prophecy that Banquo's sons would become king, the reason that Macbeth ordered Banquo's murder in the first place. This vision shows how crazy Macbeth has become, and symbolizes his uncontrollable insanity, isolation from his friends (he couldn't sit at the table because it was full), and overall remorse for what he believes needs to be done.
I agree that the scene at the banquet shows a significant drop in Macbeth's mental stability. He even killed Duncan, his well-loved king, with his own bare hands, and still didn't have a reaction as bad as the one associated with Banquo's death. It's almost as if Macbeth's insanity is increasing exponentially with each friend that is murdered. He and Lady Macbeth played off Duncan's death fairly well, their acting was sufficient to shift the blame away for the most part. However, Macbeth can't even keep that up for a day. His actions are so strange that everyone is definitely more suspicious after the banquet.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your analysis of the banquet scene. To me, it also seemed like Macbeth has two personalities in this scene. One moment he's talking to Banquo's ghost about blood and murder, the next moment he immediately goes back to normal and pretends that nothing has happened and says to his friends "Do not muse at me". (line 87). However, as the ghost reappears, Macbeth becomes insane again and starts rambling crazy words. This shows that Macbeth's slowly spirals into insanity with his crazy mind and personality taking over his sane one.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if being the one to kill Duncan somehow gave Macbeth more comfort than using assassins. When he is the killer, he holds the option to back out, but if he decided that murdering Banquo would be wrong after he sent the assassins, there is nothing he can do about it. Duncan doesn't come back to haunt Macbeth, but then again they had a different relationship. Maybe Macbeth could rationalize killing Duncan for the purpose of becoming king, but he is more aware that killing Banquo will only come back to hurt him later.
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