| “I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself And falls on the other” | This shows that Macbeth’s fatal flaw is ambition and how dangerous his unchecked ambition is |
| “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand” | This reveals Macbeth’s great guilt for murdering King Duncan. It also repeats the theme of blood in the play |
| “Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle towards my hand?” | This shows Macbeth’s insanity and the start of his hallucinations. The dagger could also represent the throne. Once he grasps the dagger the throne is grasped too |
| “And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life is but a walking shadow” | This shows Macbeth’s pessimism after becoming a murderer, his wife dying and being under attack by an army. It could also signify that Macbeth’s life is coming to an end. |
| “O, full of scorpions is my mind dear wife” | This shows that Macbeth has ‘poisoned’ his mind by committing murder. It also implies his guilt and insanity. |
| “False face must hide what the heart doth know” | This shows the start of Macbeth’s deceit in the play. It also shows that Macbeth is fully aware of the crimes he has/will commit. |
| “Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me crown to toe top-filled of direst cruelty” | In this quote Lady Macbeth reveals that she wants to be stripped of her feminine weaknesses in order to murder the King. |
| “Out damned spot; out I say” | This reveals Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness. The theme of blood here symbolises the guilt she feels. |
| “Screw your courage to the sticking place” | Lady Macbeth is trying to persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan by challenging his maniless and courage. This reveals how manipulative she is. |
| “Too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” | This reveals that Lady Macbeth thinks that Macbethwill not go through with her plan of murder, so she is prepared to take matters into her own hands. |
| “I would, while it was smiling in my face, have picked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out” | This shows Lady Macbeth’s cruelty and makes her appear monstrous. |
| “What’s done cannot be undone” | This shows that Lady Macbeth is haunted by her crimes and feels guilty. It is also repetition from earlier in the play where Lady Macbeth is trying to comfort Macbeth. This implies that she is trying to comfort herself. |
| “What, can the devil speak true?” | Banquo does not believe that Macbeth has become King. It shows that he did not believe the witches prophecies and he is not as naive as Macbeth. |
| “That look not th’inhabitants o’ th’ Earth and yet are on’t?” | This shows that Banquo is more rational than Macbeth because he doesn’t accept the witches unquestionably. |
| “Speak, then, to me,who neither bed nor fear your favours nor your hate” | This shows that Banquo is cautious of the witches but not afraid of them. |
| “Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, as the weird women promised and I fear thou play’dst most foully for’t” | This shows that Banquo is smart and can see through Macbeth’s facade. |
| “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” | This is spoken by the witches and shows that Banquo will father a line of Kings but not be one himself |
| “He has no children. All my pretty ones?Did you say all? O Hell-Kite!All?” | This shows that Macduff feels grief for his children who were murdered by Macbeth |
| “I shall do so, But I must also feel it as a man” | This shows that Macduff is going to avenge his family |
| “Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped” | This reveals that Macduff was not technically born of a women. So, Macbeth now fears him. |
| “O gentle lady, ‘Tis not for you to hear what I can speak. The repetition in a women’s ear would murder as it fell” | This shows that Macduff would never suspect Lady Macbeth of having anything to do with the murder because he is tied to the notion of female kindness |
| “Beware Macduff. Beware thane of Fife” | This is spoken by the witches apparition and gives Macduff power in the play because the King needs to fear him |
| “Will you to Scone?” “No cousin I’ll to Fife” | This shows that Macduff doesn’t like Macbeth to begin with in the play because he does not attend Macbeth’s crowning |
| “Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so dear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angles, trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his taking off” | This shows that everyone (even his murderer) thought that Duncan was a great King |
| “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face. He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust” | Duncan expresses humility here and showing that he is a trusting man |
| “His silver skin laced with golden blood” | This shows how important DUncan was because of his divine right and royal blood |
| “Thy royal father was a most sainted king” | This shows that Duncan was a strong and respected ruler |
| “That look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ Earth” | This shows that the witches appearance is questionable and no one knows who they really are. |
| “Fair is foul and foul is fair” | This sets up the theme of mistrust and deception and implies that the witches are deceiving. |
| “Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble” | This reveals the witches supernatural powers as they make a spell round a cauldron. |
| “they have more in them than mortal knowledge” | This shows that others in the play can recognise that the witches have some sort a supernatural power. |
| “The spirits that know all mortal consequences have pronounced me thus: ‘Fear not, Macbeth; no man born of women shall e’er have power upon thee” | This shows that the witches have complete control and influence over Macbeth because he believes everything they say |
| “My plenteous joys” | This shows that Duncan is happy and content |
| “So well thy words have become thy wounds; they smack of honour both” | This reveals that Duncan values his warriors |
| “Myself should be the root and father of many kings” | This reveals that Banquo might possess some ambition like Macbeth. This may have kept him from sharing his suspicions about the regicide |
| “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” | This reveals that the witches are linked to fate and prophecies |
Macbeth important quotes
November 27, 2019