Friday, December 7, 2018

Which murder is worse: Banquo or Duncan?

Two men betrayed, two men murdered, and one culprit. Banquo and Duncan were Macbeth's allies in the beginning, with Duncan being the king that Macbeth did everything for, and Banquo being his ally and friend. And yet, all because of the witches and their dumb prophecy, both were doomed to be killed by Macbeth himself. However, I have a question. Which one is arguably a worse death? Is it Duncan, the king of Scotland and a person everyone respects and adores, or Banquo, Macbeth's own friend who simply saw too much? I feel like in a general sense, through the eyes of the people of Scotland, the king's death would have hit them harder. After all, everyone knew Duncan and loved him, and the reactions from the people who saw his corpse were less than pleasant. However, despite this, I feel like Banquo's death hit Macbeth himself way harder than Duncan's. Yes, Macbeth was horribly guilty after murdering Duncan - but after he murdered Banquo, the guy literally haunted his mind, manifesting as a ghost to Macbeth and making him have a breakdown in front of everyone at his dinner party. I feel like that's a pointer to Macbeth thinking, "Oh God, I killed my friend." I mean, how would you feel if you killed your own friend just because you were scared of what they would do? Would you react how Macbeth did, being haunted and afraid? I feel like I would... Banquo's got to be the worst death in Macbeth's opinion!

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