Banquo like Macbeth was ambitious, but of a lesser degree. Explain.Contrast between Macbeth's and Banquo's personality in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Banquo was a great soldier, just like Macbeth. They fought
side by side. They were both fierce warriors. They were both ambitious. On the
battlefield, their swords steamed from the enemy's blood. In Act One, Scene Two, the
sergeant highly praises them in his comments to King
Duncan:

So
they doubly re-doubled strokes upon the enemy.
Whether they meant to bathe in
fresh, bleeding wounds,
Or create another Crucifixion scene,
I
cannot tell.

Clearly, Banquo
and Macbeth are good friends and good soldiers. We see ambition from Banquo when when
the weird sisters give Macbeth his prophecy. In Act one, Scene Three, he comments to the
witches that they have said great things about Macbeth, but what about me, he
questions:

You
greet my noble partner
With current grace and great predictions
Of
having nobility and of the hope to be king,
that he seems carried away as
well. Only you don’t speak to
me.

Clearly, we can see the
respect Banquo has for Macbeth. He addresses him as his "noble partner." Clearly, the
two are great friends. No doubt, Banquo greatly respects his "noble partner," but he is
ambitious and desires a prophecy of his own:

readability="10">

If you can look into the future,
And
say what will happen, and what will not,
Then speak to me, who doesn’t beg or
is afraid of
Your favors or your hateful
spells.

In this, we can see
that Banquo is ambitious. Still, all is well between Banquo and Macbeth until Macbeth
murders King Duncan. Then Macbeth begins to fear that Banquo will suspect him as the
murderer. Indeed, in Act Three, Scene One, Banquo does begin suspecting that Macbeth has
murdered King Duncan:

readability="13">

You have it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis,
all,
As the weird women promised; and, I’m afraid,
You played most
foully for it.

Then Banquo
begins to think about his prophecy with hope:

readability="14">

Still it was said
It would not be
passed to your children,
Only that myself should be the root and
father
Of many kings. If they told the truth,
As their speeches
shine on you, Macbeth,
Why, by the truths made good on you,
Might
they not be my prophecies as well,
And set up my
hopes?

Here we see that
Banquo is ambitious even after hearing of Duncan's
death.

Now, Macbeth has fear of Banquo's knowledge and with
good reason. Banquo states that he will not keep
quiet:

But
I’ll be quiet; no
more.

Banquo is thinking
about his own prophecy. He is thinking that if Macbeth were out of the way, his children
could become king.

We do know that Banquo is deeply
troubled by King Duncan's death. In Act Three, Scene One, when Banquo hears of the
murder, he prays that it isn't so:

readability="8">

Too cruel any where.
Dear Duff, I beg
you, contradict yourself,
And say it is not
so.

In this, we can infer
that Banquo cared about King Duncan and would not have ever attempted what Macbeth has
done. For this reason, Macbeth is more ambitious than Banquo. Banquo was ambitious but
of a lesser degree. He would never have committed murder to ensure his son was
king.