Macbeth
Prompt #28 · Macbeth
Prompt Type: Relationship/Contrast
Analyze the contrast between Macbeth and Banquo's responses to the witches' prophecies. How does Shakespeare use their diverging choices to explore the theme of fate versus free will and the role of moral character in determining destiny? Explain how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Quote 1
“And oftentimes to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths; / Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s / In deepest consequence.—”
Act I, Scene 3
Argument
This quote represents Banquo's side of the contrast, showing his immediate moral skepticism toward the prophecies through the metaphor of 'instruments of darkness,' warning that supernatural truths may be deceptive traps—a cautious response that contrasts sharply with Macbeth's eager embrace of fate.
Quote 2
“If you can look into the seeds of time, / And say which grain will grow, and which will not, / Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear / Your favours nor your hate.”
Act I, Scene 3
Argument
This quote further establishes Banquo's side of the contrast, demonstrating his passive, morally neutral stance toward fate through the phrase 'neither beg nor fear,' suggesting he will not actively pursue the prophecies—a position of free will restraint opposite to Macbeth's active manipulation of destiny.
Quote 3
“For Banquo’s issue have I fil’d my mind; / For them the gracious Duncan have I murder’d; / Put rancours in the vessel of my peace / Only for them; and mine eternal jewel / Given to the common enemy of man, / To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!”
Act III, Scene 1
Argument
This quote represents Macbeth's side of the contrast, revealing how his choice to actively pursue the prophecies has corrupted him; the anaphora and metaphors ('fil'd my mind,' 'vessel of my peace,' 'eternal jewel') show he has sacrificed his moral character and soul to control fate, ultimately serving Banquo's destined line anyway—demonstrating that immoral action cannot override destiny.
Quote 4
“He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear / His hopes ’bove wisdom, grace, and fear. / And you all know, security / Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.”
Act III, Scene 5
Argument
This quote represents Macbeth's side of the contrast, showing how his active choice to manipulate fate through violence has led to moral and psychological consequences; the metaphor of being 'in blood / Stepp'd in so far' reveals he has crossed a moral threshold where free will has trapped him in a cycle of evil, contrasting with Banquo's refusal to wade into such waters.
Quote 5
“And be these juggling fiends no more believ’d, / That palter with us in a double sense; / That keep the word of promise to our ear, / And break it to our hope!—”
Act V, Scene 8
Argument
This quote represents Macbeth's final recognition that his active pursuit of the prophecies was based on deceptive manipulation; the phrase 'juggling fiends' and 'palter with us in a double sense' shows he belatedly understands what Banquo warned of early on—that the witches' truths were designed to betray—demonstrating how moral character determines whether one sees through or succumbs to fate's temptations.