Year: 2013

Macbeth was written by Shakespeare between 1603 and 1606, during James I’s reign. It is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. The story begins as one of a loyal and honourable hero of Scotland. However, Macbeth's character changes gradually during the play. A powerful ambition for power causes him to make sinister decisions that bring him only despair, guilt and madness. One of these decisions is to kill his friend Banquo because the witches that appeared at the beginning of the story said in their prophesy: “Thou shalt get kings, tough thou be none” (I, iii, line 67). They mean to say that even though Banquo will not be a king himself, he will be the father of future kings. By taking this into account, I am going to analyse how Banquo serves as a foil to Macbeth in terms of honour. Foil, in literature, is a character that is compared or contrasted to a second character so as to highlight the characteristics of the other. I consider honour in terms of loyalty, allegiance to moral principles and the ability o...

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