I drink to the general joy o’ the whole table,
And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss;
Would he were here!

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 4. After Banquo’s ghost departs, Macbeth proposes a toast not only to his banquet guests but also the absent Banquo. He tells the gathering of nobles how he misses Banquo. Macbeth reaches new heights of hypocrisy here, as the audience knows that he had Banquo brutally murdered. The passage is a good example of dramatic irony and shows Macbeth’s capacity for deception.