Banquo's Assassination Of Macbeth

In preparation for Banquo’s orchestrated murder, Shakespeare elaborates on Macbeth’s current state of guilt and desperation for reassurance to vindicate his heinous actions. In the midst of experiencing overwhelming compunction for killing Duncan, Macbeth fears that the outcome only “scotch’d the snake, not kill’d it” and fails to eliminate all threats to his supremacy (line 15). Duncan’s assassination provides a mere momentary and fleeting solution to complications as Banquo’s children’s possible preconceived heir remains a significant danger. With efforts to satisfy his ambitions, Macbeth justifies Duncan’s death by claiming that a grave fairs better than his own situation of being eternally tortured in “restless ecstasy” (line 24). Banquo’s