[Kirschbaum challenges the position taken by A. C. Bradley that Banquo, as well as Macbeth, is influenced by the witches' prophecies (see excerpt above). Bradley, the critic charges, misinterprets Banquo as a "psychologically valid being" whose motives contribute to the advancement if the dramatic action if Macbeth rather than as a symbolic contrast to Macbeth's evil. Kirschbaum argues that Banquo represents innocence, and thus he is less a fully developed character than an "instrument" that "must be maintained as contrast" to Macbeth. The critic concludes that Macbeth's murder of Banquo essentially reflects his efforts to "destroy his own better humanity" because he "is jealous of Banquo's virtues, wants them but cannot have them,feels belittled by them,fears them, and hence must destroy them.. " For further commentary on Banquo's character, see the excerpts by Irving Rib.....
