Certain Nezv Elucidations of Shakespeare 23 



His daring and effectiveness have clearly not been equal with 

 MacbetR's. Why has Duncan tried to make them so? Macbeth 

 feels no jealousy, and conceives no fear till after the assassina- 

 tion. But Duncan's praise has put warrant under the witches' 

 prophecy (iii. 65-68) that greatness shall come at least to Ban- 

 quo's descendants. That makes him Macbeth's rival, if the vic- 

 tory does not. 



Macbeth knows that his thanes are not wholehearted in their 

 acceptance of his rule. Macduff has declined to witness his 

 coronation. What is Banquo's state of mind? Macbeth does 

 not need to recall the vision of consequences that filled his soul 

 when Lady Macbeth (I. vii) came out to him from the banquet. 

 He has taught Banquo bloody instructions. Shakespeare needs 

 but to have Banquo betray to us a little of his jealousy, at the 

 opening. of Act HI,^^ and behave mysteriously. The intimation 

 that he may possibly meddle with Macbeth puts him on the wrong 

 side of our sympathies. We are willing that Macbeth shall make 

 his throne secure. 



Professor Quiller-Couch is at variance, it would seem, with the 

 evidence here summarized. He holds that Banquo furnishes the 

 Point of Rest for the whole play, standing beside the hero, like 

 Horatio beside Hamlet, as the Ordinary Man. " To Banquo as 

 to Macbeth the witches' predictions are offered. Macbeth shall 

 be King of Scotland : Banquo shall beget kings. But whereas 

 Macbeth, taking evil for good and under persuasion of his wife 

 as well as of the supernatural, grasps at the immediate means to 

 the end, Banquo, like an ordinary, well-meaning, sensible fellow, 

 doesn't do it, and therefore on the fatal night can go like an 

 honest man to his dreams. . . . from the moment Macbeth yields 

 and apparently succeeds, Banquo, who has not yielded, becomes a 



15 Shakespeare's clear dramatic vision admits, as we have seen, but two 

 obstructions ' to involve the plot.' Other playwrights allow a greater 

 number, sometimes as many as four, thus dividing the attention and in- 

 terest of the audience or reader. The Second Act finishes with the major 

 involvement, and adjusts the plot to the situation thus inaugurated. Shake- 

 speare's third acts introduce new forces and new action. Here these forces 

 are Banquo's ambition and jealousy, and Macbeth's suspicion, which last 

 furnishes the motive for a fresh assassination. 



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