In William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' the protagonist Macbeth becomes
haunted after following the dangerous prophecy foretold to him in an attempt to
gain success and kingship. Macbeth is a noble man: he is a strong, brave
solider; yet, he lacks any degree of independence or moral virtue. His wife and
the three witches that promise him glory push Macbeth into doing acts of
evil. After prophesying to Macbeth that he will become king, the three
witches tell Banquo, Macbeth's great ally, that he will not be king, rather,
the throne will be inherited by one of his children. In a lustful
rage, Macbeth kills Banquo. However, by taking that life, he
makes a haunting mistake he wont soon forget. Haunted by the ghost of Banquo,
Macbeth is stripped of his sanity and is sent on a downward spiral to madness.
Like
the ghost of Beloved in Toni Morrisson's 'Beloved', that shakes the
house and disrupts everything at 124; the ghost of Banquo, raises the tension
faced by Macbeth, making him hear noises and cries that take away his ability
to sleep. Alternately, both ghosts are to blame for the destruction of others.
Just as Beloved drains Sethe of her physical powers, the same is done
by Banquo to Macbeth. Macbeth, the courageous warrior that attacks first
and asks questions later, is deduced to a cowardly man who quakes
at any mere noise. The ghost cries out to the entire house that Macbeth
shall "sleep no more" as a sort of reimbursement for all the evil he
has committed. What happens when you deprive a man of a primary drive, you ask?
He begins to go mad. Furthermore, Banquo can only be seen by
Macbeth, which further drives a wedge into his sanity by isolating him from the
rest of the characters in the play. The same isolation found within Beloved as
the ghost of the baby isolates the residents of 124 from the rest of
town. Both Beloved and Banquo share a similar symbolic meaning; they are both
manifestations of pain and tragedy. Beloved is a physical representation of the
past, -- specifically, she embodies generations of slavery. Beloved forces the
characters within the story to recognize the pain they once faced. Banquo is a
constant haunter over Macbeth that reminds him of the murder and crime he's
committed and foreshadows more death to come.
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| Banquo at dinner |
The
two works share one aspect: they both use the supernatural to act as
manifestations of the past and force other characters to face their truths.
However, in both works, the motive behind this act is labeled as “revenge”. I
believe the real efforts of both ghosts are to provide characters with
self-actualization: Beloved fuctions as an exploration of the consequences for
Sethe’s actions, as does Banquo for Macebeth. In Zane Strumfeld’s article, see here, he posits that the Banquo’s main purpose is to make us look at Macbeth in a
different light. Once introduced to Banquo’s ghost, Macbeth begins to feel a
certain emotion not much portrayed in the play: regret. Throughout the story,
Macbeth is strong for the witches; brave as a solider; and wicked for his wife,
but when he’s faced with a reflection of the past that only he can see, he
shows how scared of the entire situation he truly is.
