Macbeth
by
William Shakespeare
(Banquet
Scene)
Like other Shakespearean tragedies ‘Macbeth’
sets forth the full career of a hero with a central defect of character which
ultimately leads him to ruin. ‘Macbeth’ is broadly divided into three parts –
exposition, climax and catastrophe.
In
the exposition Macbeth meets the witches, in the development of the plot
Macbeth rushes towards his doom. In the last scene of the first act, we find
Macbeth in a state of mental agony. In the second act Duncan is murdered and
Macbeth murders after murder to make his position safer. Banquet scene has an
important place in the play. The scene is important because the playwright has
used it as a tool to build the character of Macbeth and to deepen the
atmosphere of the play.
Macbeth
had murdered the king Duncan and had become the king himself. After becoming
the king, he has given a great feast in which all the noblemen of the county
are invited. Macbeth has employed two murderers to finish the life of Banquo
and his sons. He believes in the words of the weird sisters and is afraid of losing
throne to Banquo’s issues. He knew, that the witches had prophesied that Banquo
will beget a line of kings. He decides
to stop the source and the spring of that line of kings.
Macbeth,
without any help from lady Macbeth intrigues a plan against Banquo and includes
two murderers in his plan. He makes Banquo responsible for their miseries and
sorrows and excites them to such a limit that they become ready to kill Banquo
not for Macbeth’s sake but for their own sake. The two murderers plant
themselves in such a place, from where they can keep a strict watch on the
coming guests of Macbeth’s banquet. The scene is important because a third
unknown murderer has also joined these two. This new murderer is no one but the
black agent of witches’ power. The story of the play tells that only Banquo is
murdered and his two sons are narrowly escaped.
As
soon as Macbeth comes to know that Fleance has escaped he becomes a victim of
his guilty conscience. A kind of vague fit overcomes him and he starts seeing
hallucinations of Banquo’s ghost. One important thing that is to be noted in
the scene is that as soon as he pronounces Banquo’s name, the ghost of Banquo
appears before him. The ghost, so hideous that it would "appall the
devil," appears to have risen from a grave or a "charnel-house."
Macbeth cannot understand why what is dead should "be alive again,"
when its bones should "be marrowless" and its blood "cold."
Finally, he challenges the apparition to "dare me to the desert with thy
sword." The entire structure of this scene shows a man swinging from one
state of mind to another, recalling the structure of the earlier dagger speech.
Three times Macbeth sees the ghost, and three times he appears to recover his
senses. This alternating structure adds strongly to the impression of Macbeth's
loss of control.
Lady
Macbeth, on the other hand, remains constant in her judgement. Unlike Macbeth,
she cannot see the ghost, and her tone is down-to-earth: "When all's done,
/ You look but on a stool." She wants to calm his rages, but anger simmers
beneath her conciliatory words. Once more she upbraids her husband for his
apparent lack of manhood. A specific parallel with the murder scene occurs when
Macbeth accuses his wife of being able to "keep the natural ruby of your
cheeks, / When mine is blanched with fear"
Shakespeare
shows his master-craftsmanship here in building the second character of
Macbeth. We come to know, that the noble elements in Macbeth are still
struggling with evil one. He is still afraid of facing his guilty conscience.
When he committed the murder of Duncan, he felt the same guilty as he is facing
now.
The
third unknown murderer is no one but Macbeth himself. Physically he was not
there at the place of murder but the third murderer was the outward
manifestation of his crime heated feelings. From the very first scene of the
play, he was in the grip of evil forces and this Banquet scene is the climax of
the change in his character. Till this scene Macbeth fears to commit sin or
crime but after the murder of Duncan we see him a changed person who does not
fear committing sin or crime and who does not seek Lady Macbeth’s help. Thus,
we can say that Banquet scene is a turning point in the fate of Macbeth.
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