Editing Banquo

{{Short description|Character in Macbeth}}
{{about|the character in Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''|the small town in the United States|Banquo, Indiana}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Banquo<br />[[Thane (Scotland)|Thane]] of [[Lochaber]]
| series = [[Macbeth]]
| image = [[File:Banquo.jpg|275px]]
| alt = Painting showing Elizabethan era men at a dining table, with a ghost sitting on one of the stools.
| caption = [[Théodore Chassériau]] (1819–1856), ''The Ghost of Banquo'' 1855
| creator = [[William Shakespeare]]
| based_on = 
| portrayer = 
| alias = 
| affiliation = [[Macbeth (character)|Macbeth]]
| family = [[Fleance]]
}}
'''Lord''' '''Banquo''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|æ|ŋ|k|w|oʊ}}, the [[Thane (Scotland)|Thane]] of [[Lochaber]], is a semi-historical character in [[William Shakespeare]]'s 1606 play ''[[Macbeth]]''. In the play, he is at first an ally of [[Macbeth (character)|Macbeth]] (both are generals in the King's army) and they meet the [[Three Witches]] together. After prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his descendants will be. Later, Macbeth in his lust for power sees Banquo as a threat and has him murdered by three hired assassins; Banquo's son, [[Fleance]], escapes. Banquo's ghost returns in a later scene, causing Macbeth to react with alarm in public during a feast.

Shakespeare borrowed the character Banquo from ''[[Holinshed's Chronicles]]'', a history of Britain published by [[Raphael Holinshed]] in 1587. In ''Chronicles'', Banquo is an accomplice to Macbeth in the murder of the king, rather than a loyal subject of the king who is seen as an enemy by Macbeth. Shakespeare may have changed this aspect of his character to please [[James I of England|King James]], who was thought at the time to be a descendant of the real Banquo. Critics often interpret Banquo's role in the play as being a [[Foil (literature)|foil]] to Macbeth, resisting evil whereas Macbeth embraces it. Sometimes, however, his motives are unclear, and some critics question his purity. He does nothing to accuse Macbeth of murdering the king, even though he has reason to believe Macbeth is responsible.

==Sources==
[[File:Macbeth and Banquo encountering the witches - Holinshed Chronicles.gif|alt=Two men on horseback meet three women. All are in Elizabethan dress.|right|thumb|Macbeth and Banquo meeting the witches in a woodcut from ''Holinshed's Chronicles'']] 
Shakespeare often used [[Raphael Holinshed]]'s ''Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland'', commonly known as ''[[Holinshed's Chronicles]]'', as a source for his plays, and in ''[[Macbeth]]'', he borrows from several of the tales in that work.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coursen |first=Herbert |title=Macbeth |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Connecticut |date=1997 |isbn=0-313-30047-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/macbethguidetopl0000cour/page/15 15–21] |url=https://archive.org/details/macbethguidetopl0000cour/page/15}}</ref> Holinshed portrays Banquo as a historical figure, who is an accomplice in the murder by [[Macbeth of Scotland|Mac Bethad mac Findlaích]] (Macbeth) of [[Duncan I of Scotland|Donnchad mac Crínáin]] (King Duncan) and plays an important part in ensuring that Macbeth, not [[Malcolm III of Scotland|Máel Coluim mac Donnchada]] (Malcolm), takes the throne in the coup that follows.<ref name="note">{{cite journal |last=Nagarajan |first=S. |title=A Note on Banquo |journal=[[Shakespeare Quarterly]] |date=October 1956 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=371–376 |publisher=[[Folger Shakespeare Library]] |location=Washington DC|doi=10.2307/2866356|jstor=2866356 }}</ref> Holinshed in turn used an earlier work, the ''Scotorum Historiae'' (1526–7) by [[Hector Boece]], as his source. Boece's work is the first known record of Banquo and his son [[Fleance]] (spelled ''Banquho'' and ''Fleancho'' in the Latin), and scholars such as [[David Bevington]] generally consider them fictional characters invented by Boece. In Shakespeare's day, however, they were considered historical figures of great repute, and the king, [[James I of England|James I]], based his claim to the throne in part on a descent from Banquo.<ref>{{cite book |first=David|last=Bevington|title=Four Tragedies |url=https://archive.org/details/fourtragedies00shak|url-access=limited|publisher=[[Bantam Books]]|location=New York City|date=1988 |isbn=0-553-21283-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/fourtragedies00shak/page/714 714]}}</ref>

Within the literature there exists various claims surrounding Thane Banquo's ancestry. According to the 17th century historian Frederic van Bossen, Thane Banquo (which he wrote as Banqwho and sometimes as Banchou) was the son of Dunclina, the daughter of Albanach ap Crinan, the thane of the Isles, and her husband Kenneth. Kenneth was the son of Fferqwhart, who was the son of son of Murdoch the Thane of "Lochabar", the son of Prince Dorus, who was the son of a King named Erlus, whose kingdom was not identified.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Derek |title=Scotland & Shakespeare's Third Prophecy: King Edition |isbn=979-8784164827 |page=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=van Bossen |first1=Frederic |title=The Royall Cedar |date=1688 |pages=96–99}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Derek |title=The Lost Queens of Scotland: Extracts from Frederic van Bossen's The Royal Cedar |date=2022 |pages=119–121}}</ref> According to Frederic van Bossen, Banquo married his 4th cousin Mauldvina the daughter of Thalus the Thane of Atholl, and together they were the parents of Fleance, a daughter called Castisa who married Frederic the Lord of Cromartie, and a number of other sons who were murdered by King Macbeth.

It is known that the [[House of Stuart]] descends from [[Walter fitz Alan, Steward of Scotland]], and in some studies he is believed to have been the grandson of Fleance and [[Gruffydd ap Llywelyn]]'s daughter, [[Nesta ferch Gruffydd]]. However, in Frederic van Bossen's handwritten notes, which were created from numerous resources he collected in his travels through Europe, Fleance's wife is identified as Nesta's sister, Marjoretta the daughter of "griffin ap Livlein". In reality, Walter fitz Alan was the son of [[Alan fitz Flaad]], a Breton knight.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Palmer |first=J. Foster |title=The Celt in Power: Tudor and Cromwell |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]]|location=London, England|date=1886 |volume=3 |issue=3 |doi=10.2307/3677851|pages=343–370|jstor=3677851 |s2cid=162969426 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449749 }}</ref>

Unlike his sources, Shakespeare gives Banquo no role in the King's murder, making it a deed committed solely by Macbeth and his wife, [[Lady Macbeth]]. Why Shakespeare's Banquo is so different from the character described by Holinshed and Boece is not known, though critics have proposed several possible explanations. First among them is the risk associated with portraying the king's ancestor as a murderer and conspirator in the plot to overthrow a rightful king, as well as the author's desire to flatter a powerful patron. But Shakespeare may also simply have altered Banquo's character because there was no dramatic need for another accomplice to the murder. There was, however, a need to provide a dramatic contrast to Macbeth; a role that many scholars argue is filled by Banquo.<ref name="note"/> Similarly, when [[Jean de Schelandre]] wrote about Banquo in his ''[[Stuartide]]'' in 1611, he also changed the character by portraying him as a noble and honourable man—the critic D.W. Maskell describes him as "...Schelandre's paragon of valour and virtue"—probably for reasons similar to Shakespeare's.<ref>{{cite journal |first=D.W.|last=Maskell |title=The Transformation of History into Epic: The "Stuartide" (1611) of Jean de Schelandre |journal=[[The Modern Language Review]] |publisher=[[Modern Humanities Research Association]]|location=Cambridge, England|date=January 1971 |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=53–65 |doi=10.2307/3722467|jstor=3722467 }}</ref>

Banquo's role in the coup that follows the murder is harder to explain. Banquo's loyalty to Macbeth, rather than [[Malcolm (Macbeth)|Malcolm]], after Duncan's death makes him a passive accomplice in the coup: Malcolm, as Prince of Cumberland, is the rightful heir to the throne and Macbeth a usurper. Daniel Amneus argued that ''Macbeth'' as it survives is a revision of an earlier play, in which Duncan granted Macbeth not only the title of Thane of Cawdor, but the "greater honor"<ref>{{cite web|first=William|last=Shakespeare|author-link=William Shakespeare|url=http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T13.html#104|title=Macbeth Act 1, Scene 3, line 104|website=Shakespeare Navigators|access-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref> of Prince of Cumberland (i.e. heir to the throne of Scotland). Banquo's silence may be a survival from the posited earlier play, in which Macbeth was the legitimate successor to Duncan.<ref>{{cite book  |first=Daniel |last=Amneus|author-link=Daniel Amneus|chapter=Macbeth's "Greater Honor" |editor1-last=Barroll |editor1-first=J. Leeds |title=Shakespeare Studies |location=New York City|publisher=Burt Franklin |date=1978 |isbn=0-89102-084-5 |pages=223–230}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Nicolas|last=Tredell|title=Macbeth|publisher=Macmillan Education UK|location=London, England|date=2006|isbn=978-1403999245}}</ref>

==Role in the play==
[[File:Macbeth and Banquo with the witches JHF.jpg|alt=Dark painting showing two figures encountering witch-like creatures.|thumb|upright|''Macbeth and Banquo with the Witches'' by [[Henry Fuseli]]]]
Banquo is in a third of the play's scenes, as both a human and a ghost. As significant as he is to the plot, he has fewer lines than the relatively insignificant Ross, a Scottish nobleman who survives the play.<ref>{{cite book |last=Braunmuller |first=A. R. |chapter=Introduction |title=Macbeth |editor1-first=A. R. |editor1-last=Braunmuller |series=The New Cambridge Shakespeare |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1997 |isbn=0-521-29455-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/macbeth0000shak_q6u8/page/266 266] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/macbeth0000shak_q6u8/page/266 }}</ref> In the second scene of the play, a wounded soldier describes the manner in which Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, and Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, resisted invading forces, fighting side by side. In the next scene, Banquo and Macbeth, returning from the battle together, encounter the [[Three Witches]], who predict that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, and then king. Banquo, sceptical of the witches, challenges them to predict his own future, and they foretell that Banquo will never himself take the throne, but will beget a line of kings. Banquo remains sceptical after the encounter, wondering aloud if evil can ever speak the truth. He warns Macbeth that evil will offer men a small, hopeful truth only to catch them in a deadly trap.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T13.html| title = ''Macbeth.'' Act 1, Scene 3.}}</ref>

When Macbeth kills the king and takes the throne, Banquo—the only one aware of this encounter with the witches—reserves judgment for God. He is unsure whether Macbeth committed regicide to gain the throne, but muses in a [[soliloquy]] that "I fear / Thou play'dst most foully for 't".<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T31.html#2| title = ''Macbeth'', Act 3, Scene 1, lines 2–3.}}</ref> He offers his respects to the new King Macbeth and pledges loyalty.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T31.html| title = ''Macbeth.'' Act 3, Scene 1.}}</ref> Later, worried that Banquo's descendants and not his own will rule [[Scotland]], Macbeth sends two men, and then a [[Third Murderer]], to kill Banquo and his son [[Fleance]]. During the melee, Banquo holds off the assailants so that Fleance can escape, but is himself killed.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T33.html| title = ''Macbeth.'' Act 3, Scene 3.}}</ref> The [[Ghosts in European culture|ghost]] of Banquo later returns to haunt Macbeth at the banquet in Act Three, Scene Four. A terrified Macbeth sees him, while the apparition is invisible to his guests. He appears again to Macbeth in a vision granted by the Three Witches, wherein Macbeth sees a long line of kings descended from Banquo.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T41.html| title = ''Macbeth.'' Act 4, Scene 1.}}</ref>

==Analysis==

===Foil to Macbeth===
[[File:Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Weird Sisters JW-detail.jpg|alt=Painting showing men meeting three figures emerging from a cave.|thumb|''Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Three Witches'' by [[John Wootton]]]]
Many scholars see Banquo as a [[foil (literature)|foil]] and a contrast to Macbeth. Macbeth, for example, eagerly accepts the Three Witches' prophecy as true and seeks to help it along. Banquo, on the other hand, doubts the prophecies and the intentions of these seemingly evil creatures. Whereas Macbeth places his hope in the prediction that he will be king, Banquo argues that evil only offers gifts that lead to destruction. Banquo steadily resists the temptations of evil within the play, praying to heaven for help, while Macbeth seeks darkness, and prays that evil powers will aid him. This is visible in act two; after Banquo sees Duncan to bed, he says: "There's husbandry in heaven, / Their candles are all out".<ref name="shakespeare-navigators.com">{{cite web| url = http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T21.html#4| title = ''Macbeth'', Act 2, Scene 1, lines 4–5.}}</ref> This premonition of the coming darkness in association with Macbeth's murders is repeated just before Banquo is killed: "it will be rain to-night",<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T33.html#16| title = ''Macbeth'', Act 3, Scene 3, line 16.}}</ref> Banquo tells his son Fleance.<ref>{{cite book |last=Watson |first=Robert N. |chapter="Thriftless Ambition," Foolish Wishes, and the Tragedy of Macbeth |title=William Shakespeare's Macbeth |editor1-first=Harold |editor1-last=Bloom |editor-link=Harold Bloom|series=Modern Critical Interpretations |publisher=Chelsea House Publishers |location=New York City|date=1987 |isbn=0-87754-930-3 |pages=133–168}}</ref>

Banquo's status as a contrast to Macbeth makes for some tense moments in the play. In act two, scene one, Banquo meets his son Fleance and asks him to take both his sword and his dagger ("Hold, take my sword&nbsp;... Take thee that too"<ref name="shakespeare-navigators.com"/>). He also explains that he has been having trouble sleeping due to "cursed thoughts that nature / gives way to in repose!"<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T21.html#8| title = ''Macbeth'', Act 2, Scene 1, lines 8–9.}}</ref> On Macbeth's approach, he demands the sword returned to him quickly. Scholars have interpreted this to mean that Banquo has been dreaming of murdering the king as Macbeth's accomplice to take the throne for his own family, as the Three Witches prophesied to him. In this reading, his good nature is so revolted by these thoughts that he gives his sword and dagger to Fleance to be sure they do not come true, but is so nervous at Macbeth's approach that he demands them back.<ref>{{cite journal |title= A Note on "Macbeth," Act II, Scene 1 |last=Westbrook |first=Perry D. |journal=[[College English]] |date=January 1946 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=219–220 |doi=10.2307/371197 |publisher=[[National Council of Teachers of English]]|location=Urbana, Illinois|jstor=371197 }}</ref> Other scholars have responded that Banquo's dreams have less to do with killing the king and more to do with Macbeth. They argue that Banquo is merely setting aside his sword for the night. Then, when Macbeth approaches, Banquo, having had dreams about Macbeth's deeds, takes back his sword as a precaution in this case.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Banquo, Loyal Subject |last=Henneberger |first=Olive |journal=[[College English]] |date=October 1946 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=18–22 |doi=10.2307/370443 |publisher=[[National Council of Teachers of English]]|location=Urbana, Illinois|jstor=370443 }}</ref>

Macbeth eventually sees that Banquo can no longer be trusted to aid him in his evil, and considers his friend a threat to his newly acquired throne; thus, he has him murdered.<ref name="note"/> Banquo's ability to live on in different ways is another oppositional force, in this case to Macbeth's impending death. His spirit lives on in Fleance, his son, and in his ghostly presence at the banquet.<ref>{{cite book |last=Calderwood |first=James L. |title=If It Were Done: Macbeth and Tragic Action |url=https://archive.org/details/ifitweredonemacb0000cald |url-access=registration |location=Amherst, Massachusetts |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]] |date=1986 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ifitweredonemacb0000cald/page/96 96–97] |isbn=978-0-87023-534-4}}</ref>

===Ghost scenes===
When Macbeth returns to the witches later in the play, they show him an apparition of the murdered Banquo, along with eight of his descendants. The scene carries deep significance: King James, on the throne when ''Macbeth'' was written, was believed to be separated from Banquo by nine generations. What Shakespeare writes here thus amounts to a strong support of James' right to the throne by lineage, and for audiences of Shakespeare's day, a very real fulfilment of the witches' prophecy to Banquo that his sons would take the throne.<ref>{{cite journal |title="Macbeth": King James's Play |last=Williams |first=George Walton |journal=[[South Atlantic Review]] |date=May 1982 |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=12–21 |doi=10.2307/3199207|jstor=3199207 }}</ref> This apparition is also deeply unsettling to Macbeth, who not only wants the throne for himself, but also desires to father a line of kings.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Apparitions in Macbeth, Part II |last=Crawford |first=A. W. |journal=[[Modern Language Notes]]|publisher=[[The Johns Hopkins University Press]]|location=Baltimore, Maryland|date=November 1924 |volume=39 |issue=7 |pages=383–388  |doi=10.2307/2914760|jstor=2914760 }}</ref>

Banquo's other appearance as a ghost during the banquet scene serves as an indicator of Macbeth's conscience returning to plague his thoughts. Banquo's triumph over death appears symbolically, insofar as he literally takes Macbeth's seat during the feast. Shocked, Macbeth uses words appropriate to the metaphor of usurpation, describing Banquo as "crowned" with wounds. The spirit drains Macbeth's manhood along with the blood from his cheeks; as soon as Banquo's form vanishes, Macbeth announces: "Why, so; being gone, / I am a man again."<ref>[http://www.clicknotes.com/macbeth/T34.html#106 ''Macbeth'', Act 3, Scene 4, lines 106–107.]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603033725/http://www.clicknotes.com/macbeth/T34.html |date=3 June 2010 }}</ref><ref name="Calder">{{cite book |last=Calderwood |first=James L. |title=If It Were Done: Macbeth and Tragic Action |url=https://archive.org/details/ifitweredonemacb0000cald |url-access=registration |location=Amherst, Massachusetts|publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]] |date=1986 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ifitweredonemacb0000cald/page/126 126–129] |isbn=978-0-87023-534-4}}</ref>

Like the vision of Banquo's lineage, the banquet scene has also been the subject of criticism. Critics have questioned whether not one, but perhaps two ghosts appear in this scene: Banquo and Duncan. Scholars arguing that Duncan attends the banquet state that Macbeth's lines to the Ghost could apply equally well to the slain king. "Thou canst not say I did it", for example, can mean that Macbeth is not the man who actually killed Banquo, or it can mean that Duncan, who was asleep when Macbeth killed him, cannot claim to have seen his killer. To add to the confusion, some lines Macbeth directs to the ghost, such as "Thy bones are marrowless",<ref>[http://www.clicknotes.com/macbeth/T34.html#94 ''Macbeth'', Act 3, Scene 4, line 91.]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603033725/http://www.clicknotes.com/macbeth/T34.html |date=3 June 2010 }}</ref> cannot rightly be said of Banquo, who has only recently died.<ref name="Furness">{{cite book |title=Macbeth |editor1-last=Furness |editor1-first=Horace Howard |editor1-link=Horace Howard Furness |publisher=Classic Books |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-7426-5283-5 |pages=167–169}}</ref>

Scholars debate whether Macbeth's vision of Banquo is real or a hallucination. Macbeth had already seen a hallucination before murdering Duncan: a knife hovering in the air. Several performances of the play have even ignored the stage direction to have the Ghost of Banquo enter at all, heightening the sense that Macbeth is growing mad, since the audience cannot see what he claims to see. Scholars opposing this view claim that while the dagger is unusual, ghosts of murdered victims are more believable, having a basis in the audience's superstitions. Spirits in other Shakespeare plays—notably ''[[Hamlet]]'' and ''[[Midsummer Night's Dream]]''—exist in ambiguous forms, occasionally even calling into question their own presence.<ref name="Calder"/><ref name="Furness"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Bradley |first=A. C. |author-link=A. C. Bradley |title=Shakespearean Tragedy |location=Boston, Massachusetts |publisher=Adamant Media |date=2003 |isbn=1-4212-0849-0 |pages=492–493}}</ref>

The concept of a character being confronted at a triumphant feast with a reminder of their downfall is not unique to Shakespeare and may originate from [[Belshazzar's feast]], as portrayed in the [[Bible]]. The term 'ghost at the feast' has entered popular culture, and is often used as a metaphor for a subject a person would rather avoid considering, or (considering the general plot of ''Macbeth'') a reminder of a person's unpleasant past or likely future.

==Performances and interpretations==
[[File:Macbeth-07-Lee.jpg|left|300px|thumb|[[Canada Lee]] as Banquo in the [[Federal Theatre Project]] production of ''[[Voodoo Macbeth|Macbeth]]'' (1936)]]
Banquo's role, especially in the banquet ghost scene, has been subject to a variety of mediums and interpretations. Shakespeare's text states: "Enter Ghost of Banquo, and sits in Macbeth's place."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/T34.html#36| title = ''Macbeth'', Act 3, Scene 4.}}</ref> Several television versions have altered this slightly, having Banquo appear suddenly in the chair, rather than walking onstage and into it. Special effects and camera tricks also allow producers to make the ghost disappear and reappear, highlighting the fact that ''only'' Macbeth can see it.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Imperial Theme: "Macbeth" on Television |last=Jones |first=Claude E.|journal=The Quarterly of Film Radio and Television |date=April 1955 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=292–298 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=Berkeley, California|doi=10.1525/fq.1955.9.3.04a00070|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref>

Stage directors, unaided by post-production effects and camera tricks, have used other methods to depict the ghost. In the late 19th century, elaborate productions of the play staged by [[Henry Irving]] employed a wide variety of approaches for this task. In 1877 a green silhouette was used to create a ghostlike image; ten years later a trick chair was used to allow an actor to appear in the middle of the scene, and then again from the midst of the audience. In 1895 a shaft of blue light served to indicate the presence of Banquo's spirit. In 1933 a Russian director Theodore Komisarjevsky staged a modern retelling of the play (Banquo and Macbeth were told of their future through [[palmistry]]); he used Macbeth's shadow as the ghost.<ref name="Barnet">{{cite book |last=Barnet |first=Sylvan |chapter=''Macbeth'' on Stage and Screen |title=Macbeth |editor1-first=Sylvan |editor1-last=Barnet |location=London, England |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=1963 |isbn=0-451-52444-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/tragedyofmacbethshak00shak/page/186 186–200] |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/tragedyofmacbethshak00shak/page/186 }}</ref> In 1936, [[Orson Welles]] directed the [[Federal Theatre Project]] [[Voodoo Macbeth|production of the play]], with an African-American cast that included [[Canada Lee]] in the role of Banquo.<ref name="Barnet"/>

Film adaptations have approached Banquo's character in a variety of ways. [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s 1957 adaptation ''[[Throne of Blood]]'' makes the character into Capitan Miki (played by [[Minoru Chiaki]]), slain by Macbeth's equivalent (Captain Washizu) when his wife explains that she is with child. News of Miki's death does not reach Washizu until after he has seen the ghost in the banquet scene. In [[Roman Polanski]]'s 1971 [[Macbeth (1971 film)|adaptation]], Banquo is played by acclaimed stage actor [[Martin Shaw]], in a style reminiscent of earlier stage performances.<ref>{{cite book |last=Braunmuller |first=A. R. |chapter=Introduction |title=Macbeth |editor1-first=A. R. |editor1-last=Braunmuller |series=The New Cambridge Shakespeare |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1997 |isbn=0-521-29455-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/macbeth0000shak_q6u8/page/85 85–86] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/macbeth0000shak_q6u8/page/85 }}</ref> Polanski's version also emphasises Banquo's objection to Macbeth's ascendency by showing him remaining silent as the other thanes around him hail Macbeth as king.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Halio |editor1-first=Jay L. |editor2-last=Richmond |editor2-first=Hugh |title=Shakespearean illuminations: essays in honor of Marvin Rosenberg |location=Newark, Delaware |publisher=[[University of Delaware Press]] |date=1998 |isbn=0-87413-657-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/shakespeareanill0000unse/page/135 135–136] |chapter=Gleanings: The Residue of Difference in Scripts: The Case of Polanski's ''Macbeth'' |last=Kliman |first=Bernice W. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/shakespeareanill0000unse/page/135 }}</ref> In the 1990 film ''[[Men of Respect]]'', a reimagining of ''Macbeth'' as taking place among a New York Mafia crime family, the character of Banquo is named "Bankie Como" and played by American actor [[Dennis Farina]].

==See also==
*[[List of ghosts]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Macbeth}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1603]]
[[Category:Characters in Macbeth]]
[[Category:Fictional generals]]
[[Category:Fictional ghosts]]
[[Category:Fictional Scottish people]]
[[Category:Fictional swordfighters in literature]]
[[Category:Male Shakespearean characters]]
[[Category:Fictional lords and ladies]]
[[Category:Fictional murdered people]]
[[Category:Fictional war veterans]]