Essay On Banquo's Ghost In Macbeth

In the third act of The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth arranges for Banquo to be killed. In the following scene after he is killed, Macbeth begins to see the ghost of Banquo. In some versions of the play, Banquo’s ghost appears on stage, portrayed by an actor that the audience can see, and in other versions the audience cannot see the ghost. Having an actor on stage to play the character of Banquo’s ghost is a more effective way to develop theme and characters in The Tragedy of Macbeth. Including an actor in the play to play the role of Banquo’s ghost would help the audience connect to Macbeth’s mental state. Once Macbeth is informed Fleance has escaped, he states, “But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound …show more content…
An example of this is during the banquet, when the Ghost of Banquo sits in Macbeth’s seat. “Enter the Ghost of Banquo, and sits in/ Macbeth’s place.”(3.4.) The Ghost of Banquo had a specific time to enter the stage and a specific place to be, in Macbeth’s seat, on the stage during the production of The Tragedy of Macbeth, showing that Shakespeare intended to have him there for the audience to see. Macbeth also addresses the ghost specifically throughout the scene. When Macbeth sees the Ghost and commands it to disappear he declares, “Avaunt! and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!” (3. 4.93). The ghost is on stage and Macbeth is speaking directly to the ghost in this line. If there were no actor, the audience would not understand that in the middle of his conversation with Lady Macbeth and the Lords, he all of the sudden started talking to the Ghost. This is why Shakespeare included the role in the play. The audience is aware of the fact that ghosts are not real and that might cause controversy opinion for producers who have done versions of The Tragedy of …show more content…
The audience would see Macbeth in the same way everyone at the banquet did if they did not see the ghost on stage in the way that Macbeth does. Lady Macbeth is embarrassed by Macbeth’s foolish behavior at the dinner. Macbeth doesn’t understand why the Ghost of Banquo is haunting him, and he explains that to Lady Macbeth by saying, “But now they rise again with/ Twenty moral murders on their crowns/ And push us from our stools. This is more strange/ Than such a murder is.” (3.4.84-86) Macbeth speaks of how when people die that should be the end, but Banquo has come back with all his wounds from his murder to haunt Macbeth. The people at the banquet think he is psycho and Lady Macbeth tries to revert their attention away from