| “In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” | Supernatural First Witch 1:1 Shows that they control the weather. |
| “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” | Supernatural and Deceit The Three Witches 1:1 Example of Trochaic Tetrameter and shows how the witches view the world. Main quote for deception. |
| “For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name” | Fatal Flaw Captain 1:2 One of the defining character traits of Macbeth. Shows how far he falls in the pursuit of power. |
| “Disdaining Fortune” | Bravery and Fatal Flaw Captain 1:2 It was Macbeth’s want to change his fate that sealed it, this is ironic. |
| “Memorise another Golgotha” | Fatal Flaw Captain 1:2 Comparison to the scene at the Passion shows how violent, and how evil, Macbeth could be. It’s a “Damning” comparison! |
| “So fair and foul a day I have not seen” | Supernatural Macbeth 1:3 Aligns Macbeth with witches before he even meets them. |
| “Look not like th’inhabitants o’th’earth” | Supernatural Macbeth 1:3 An excellent description of the witches. |
| “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” | Supernatural, Murder Macbeth 1:3 The prophecy that sets the plot into motion, and starts Macbeth’s descent into depravity. |
| “Can the devil speak true?” | Supernatural, Deceit Banquo 1:3 Makes Macbeth believe the witches and their utterings. |
| “Why do you dress me in borrowed robes” | Deceit Macbeth 1:3 Shows Macbeth is honourable, and not willing to believe the witches prophecies, shows how far he falls. |
| “If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me” | Honour Macbeth 1:3 Shows that even though Macbeth is tempted by his ambition, he does not want to do the deed. |
| “He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust” | Deceit Duncan 1:4 Ironic, because Duncan is about to be murdered by Macbeth. |
| “Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires.” | Deceit, Treachery, Murder, Ambition. Macbeth 1:4 Macbeth is greatly tempted by the prospect of king, and does not want the divine to see his evil ambition. |
| It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness.” | Corruption. Lady Macbeth 1:5 Lady Macbeth thinks Macbeth is too good, and she needs to corrupt him. |
| “That I may pour my spirits in thine ear” | Supernatural and Manipulation Lady Macbeth 1:5 She is going to manipulate her husband into murder. She is an agent of fate like the witches. |
| “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan” | Supernatural, Murder Lady Macbeth 1:5 Omen of death shows that Duncan will be murdered, foreshadowing. |
| “Come you spirits” | Supernatural Lady Macbeth 1:5 Inciting witches and supernatural to help her. |
| “Come to my woman’s breasts and take my milk for gall” | Supernatural, Murder Lady Macbeth 1:5 Discarding her ability to give life for power. |
| Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell.” | Supernatural, Murder, Evil Lady Macbeth 1:5 Witches control weather, direct incitement of them again, as well as the ultimate evil of Hell. |
| “Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor, Greater than both by the all-hail hereafter,” | Supernatural, Manipulation Lady Macbeth 1:5 Lulling into a false sense of security plus speaking with words taken from witches shows how evil she is. |
| “Look like th’innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t.” | Manipulation, Deceit Lady Macbeth 1:5 Simile, very good quote for deceit, highlights the manipulative nature of Lady Macbeth very well. |
| “Leave all the rest to me” | Power dynamics, Manipulation Lady Macbeth 1:5 Shows who is control of the situation – Lady Macbeth is the strong of the two. |
| “All our service, in every point twice done and then done double” | Deceit Lady Macbeth 1:6 Quote has double meaning, again showing deceit of LM. She is living her motto. |
| “His virtues will plead like angels” | Guilt, Tragedy. Macbeth 1:7 Duncan is the foil of Macbeth, and he is very aware that this is wrong. Highlights how good Duncan is. Regicide is wrong! DRoK and all that jazz. |
| “But vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself.” | Resolution, Murder, Ambition Macbeth 1:7 Macbeth essentially makes up his mind to murder Duncan. |
| “False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” | Deception, Duplicity, Secrecy Macbeth 1:7 Another great quote for deception. You must hide your guilt which is known by your fake heart behind a mask. |
| “Merciful powers, restrain in me the cursed thoughts” | Honour, Moral strength. Banquo 2:1 Banquo remains a fighter against temptation, in contrast to Macbeth. |
| “I think not of them” | Deceit Macbeth 2:1 First major example of Macbeth lying, also an example of dramatic irony. |
| “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?” | Madness, Murder, Supernatural Macbeth 2:1 Very famous soliloquy showcasing Macbeth’s descent into madness, pushed on by the witches into something that will eventually destroy him. Shows how dark Macbeth’s thoughts are. |
| Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation,” | Madness Macbeth 2:1 Hallucinations showcase how confused Macbeth is. |
| “Witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate’s off’rings, and withered murder” | Supernatural, Evil Macbeth 2:1 Shows how Macbeth is most definitely acting on behalf of evil. |
| “Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell.” | Murder, Supernatural, finality. Macbeth 2:1 Sense of finality about this paragraph makes Macbeth seem so determined that it is almost as if he has had a shift in personality. He is a different person from what he was at the beginning of this soliloquy. |
| “List’ning their fear, I could not say ‘Amen’ when they did say ‘God bless us,’ | Guilt, Madness, Macbeth 2:2 Shows how Macbeth has descended from good and Christ, and is now incredibly guilty. |
| “Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep,” | Guilt Macbeth 2:2 Sleep is a metaphor for peace, innocence, and Duncan, and through his actions, he has broken both. |
| “The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures; ’tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.” | Power dynamics, Murder. Lady Macbeth 2:2 Lady Macbeth showcases her control over the relationship by calling Macbeth a coward, as well as showing how callous she is about the murders, |
| “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” | Guilt, Murder Macbeth 2:2 Water is a metaphor for forgiveness, the healing waters of baptism, etc. Macbeth has lost his faith in forgiveness for his actions, and thus in one of the central messages of Christianity. Essentially heresy. |
| “My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white.” | Guilt, Murder, Power Dynamics. Lady Macbeth 2:2 Callousness of belittlement again shows who is in control here. |
| “A little water clears us of this deed.” | Forgiveness, Guilt. Lady Macbeth 2:2 Opposite opinion to Macbeth, she hasn’t lost the idea of forgiveness. |
| “Wake Duncan with thy knocking: I would thou couldst.” | Guilt Macbeth 2:2 A great quote showing how guilty Macbeth is, in contrast with later. |
| “Lamentings heard i’th’air, strange screams of death and prophesying with accents terrible.” | Chaos, Supernatural. Lennox 2:3 Good quote for chaos in Natural world. Regicide has disturbed the natural order of things and has let evil into the world. |
| “Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope the Lord’s appointed temple.” | Murder, DRoK Macduff 2:3 Good quote to show the attitude which was held about the king. Regicide was the worst crime one could commit. |
| “There’s daggers in men’s smiles.” | Deceit Donaldbain 2:3 If they do not leave, they will be killed by deceitful powermongers. |
| By th’clock ’tis day and yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp.” | Chaos, Supernatural Ross 2:4 Pathetic fallacy, as well as an example of chaos in the natural world due to the murder of Duncan. |
| “What’s done is done.” | Murder Lady Macbeth 3:2 Showcases Lady Macbeth’s lack of sympathy for Macbeth. |
| “O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!” | Guilt, Madness Macbeth 3:2 Thoughts scuttling all over the place, poisonous thoughts all the time. |
| “Come, seeling night” | Deceit, Supernatural Macbeth 3:2 Come thick night was Lady Macbeth’s quote. Rehash of that quote showcases the reversal of roles. |
| “There the grown serpent lies; the worm that’s fled” | Paranoia, Madness, Murder Macbeth 3:4 Reference to Lady Macbeth’s snake quote as well as showing the paranoia Macbeth has about everybody. He is going mad! |
| “I am in blood stepped in so far” | Madness, Guilt, Murder Macbeth 3:4 Great quote describing Macbeth at this point in the play. |
| “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” | Supernatural The Three Witches 4:1 Good quote for witch’s powers and their evilness. |
| “By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.” | Supernatural, Evil, Fear Second Witch 4:1 The fact that even the witches are scared of Macbeth shows how evil he is. |
| “For none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” | Supernatural Second Apparition 4:1 Makes Macbeth confident and arrogant, although this prophecy does not cover caesareans. |
| “Will these hands ne’er be clean?” | Madness, Guilt Lady Macbeth 5:1 Roles have completely reversed. Lady Macbeth is very guilty, with quote linking back to Macbeth’s guilt. |
| “I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked.” | Bravery, Violence Macbeth 5:3 Shows that even though Macbeth is evil, he is still brave and willing to fight until the end. |
Macbeth Quotes
January 5, 2020