DUNCAN True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant, And in his commendations I am fed; It is a banquet to me. Let's after him, Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome: It is a peerless kinsman. Flourish. Exeunt
Having listened to Macbeth's compelling aside, our attention is drawn back to Duncan and Banquo's conversation, which is now laced with heavy dramatic irony. Macbeth is, Duncan says, "so valiant" and a "peerless kinsman" who will "bid us welcome" as host to the King's visit. Duncan employs the metaphor of food: he is "fed" in the "banquet" of Macbeth's "full" virtues. There will be two literal banquets in this play - one preceding Duncan's murder; one of Banquo's ghost - but the metaphor here helps to establish its symbolic significance. It is a sign of excess (both quality and quantity), a symbol of prosperity and status. It is celebratory (here, of Macbeth's success), but also serves a social purpose of consolidating ties and promoting union. It requires hospitality, Macbeth's "care", and binds him to Duncan. Just as food sustains and nourishes, the idea of being "fed" in "commendations" suggests that nobility and reputation are necessary for sustaining the social order of the play's court setting. Yet despite the language of excess, food is something which can be taken away (particularly in a period where famine and hunger were not uncommon), and the metaphor allows for the potential for hunger: it is ambition and desire which will feed Macbeth.
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