Was Macbeth Responsible For Banquo's Downfall

Not all sins are created equally; the amount of havoc they wreak upon one’s conscience can determine a person’s future. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth commits a string of murders, none of which weighs as heavily on him or carries the severity of consequences as the murder of his friend, Banquo. If Macbeth did not kill Banquo, he could have left his destiny to fate, enjoyed his kingship, and allowed the witches’ prophesies to unfold naturally. However, the consequences of Banquo’s homicide left too much at risk for Macbeth to do so, leaving him no other option than to continue on his path of immorality. The remorse and anguish this bore upon him was so strong that it drove him to mental instability and ensured his downfall.

Macbeth’s greatest mistake is murdering Banquo because it brings out his overwhelming sense of fear and paranoia, which leads to his psychological instability and ultimate demise.
Macbeth decides to kill Banquo to avoid the three sisters’ prophecy which states Banquo’s descendants would soon become kings. “To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings./Rather than so, come fate into the list,/And champion me to th’ utterance!” (William Shakespeare 85). He is comfortable with the idea of controlling destiny, however dirty his hands may get. He tries to ease his nervousness by convincing the murderers, as well as himself, that they “Know Banquo was your enemy,” (89). However, after Macbeth hears the grisly details of his once dear friend’s demise and of the unfortunate escape of Fleance, it unnerves him and he starts to question the deed altogether. Banquo is lying in his grave, but Fleance is still alive and threatening. “Then comes my fit again. I had else been perfect,/whole as the marble, founded as the rock,/As broad and general as the casing air./But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in/ to saucy doubts and fears,” (99). With this new knowledge, he feels restricted by his fear and questions the soundness of the murder. In Macbeth’s mind, Fleance is “The worm that’s fled/Hath nature that in time will venom breed,/No teeth for th’ present,” (101). Even though the worm has only teeth now, it merely takes time for it to grow venomous and bite back more aggressive than its master. Macbeth realizes that killing Banquo only adds to his problems, and further jeopardizes his fate. This builds his mental stress and pushes him further into madness, which leaves him vulnerable to committing more acts which eventually lead him to his gruesome end.
After Banquo’s death, Macbeth’s mental instability was accompanied by vivid hallucinations.

When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost sitting at the dinner table, his guilty conscience leads him to practically confess to the murder in front of the Lords. Macbeth’s diminished state of mind can’t withstand the vision of Banquo’s ghost, and he cracks under the pressure. He starts to deny a murder that, at this point, he had yet to be suspected of, “Thou canst not say I did it, never shake/Thy gory locks at me,” (103). His words leave two of his dinner guests, Ross and Lennox, with the impression that what he was speaking of concerned Duncan’s assassination, and these ramblings later lead them to have a suspicion that Macbeth was involved. His diminished state of mind caused him to act irrationally, which raised people’s concerns about his

wellbeing.
The hallucination of Banquo’s ghost further convinces Macbeth to continue, rather than to retreat in his wrongdoing.

Upon seeing the ghost of Banquo sitting in his spot at the table, he takes it as an omen of his own death: If a dead man is sitting at one’s spot, then maybe the next death will be their own. Macbeth’s paranoia is too intense after killing Banquo to leave anything to chance. He resolves himself to take action to prevent any bad omen for coming true, “All causes shall give way. I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more./ Returning were as tedious as go o’er,” (William Shakespeare 109). Macbeth realizes that he is buried too deep to reverse course, allow chance to happen, and live with the results. It would be harder for him to go back to being a good person with a clean conscience, than it would be to continue on with his homicidal wrongdoings. At the point of no return, Macbeth can no longer connect with the personal attributes he once shared with Banquo: honesty, character, valor, and righteousness. By killing off Banquo, he also buried that part of himself. The tether to his conscience cut, he becomes unbalanced, leaving him susceptible to paranoia and irrational

thoughts.
When examining Macbeth’s downfall, many might think that his first crime, murdering Duncan, is what caused his narcissistic, delusional behavior. Banquo’s death, per contra, is responsible for Macbeth’s ultimate ruination because it causes psychological damage which is beyond repair. This corruption of the mind causes intense emotions that lead to irrational, violent decisions which significantl contribute the most to Macbeth’s downfall. Numerous elements push someone into such absurdity, but feelings of fear, guilt, and paranoia suffered post-Banquo’s murder contribute the most when dealing with an egotistical maniac, such as Macbeth.