| “Is this a dagger, which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” | Macbeth contemplates killing Duncan, and weighs the gravity of the situation. He begins to be dragged into the desire to fill the prophecy the witches foretold to him, beginning his decline. |
| “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter.” | Macbeth hears the witches prophecy. He is called king hereafter, and is therefore drawn into this prophecy that will eventually consume him. |
| “Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires” | Macbeth will soon become king. He commands the stars to hide their light so he will not be judged by god, in fear of upsetting the GCB. |
| “I’ll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on’t again I dare not.” | Macbeth and Lady Macbeth discuss Duncan’s murder. Macbeth regrets his actions, and refuses to look upon it again, for fear of confronting it. |
| “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under battlements. Come, you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” | Lady Macbeth asks to be seen and judged regardless of her identity as a woman, and instead for her actions. |
| “screw your courage to the sticking place, and we’ll not fail.” | Lady Macbeth demands that Macbeth embrace what he has to do, and urges him to gain a sense of self-confidence, claiming that they will succeed if they stay true to their mission. |
| “Let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; thou hast no speculation in those eyes, which thou dost glare with.” | Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, and is horrified by his former actions. He is nearly driven mad with the possibility of what could happen to him, and is immediately regretful. |
| “Upon my head they plac’d a fruitless crown, and put a barren scepter in my gripe, thence to be wrench’d with an unlineal hand, no son of min succeeding.” | Macbeth contemplates the fact that he will have no heir. He is troubled by his own “barren scepter” even more due to the witches’ prophecy that he will be succeeded by a son. |
| “These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us go mad.” | Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he must not dwell on what has happened. She tells Macbeth that he must focus on achieving his goal, and there is no way of erasing the past. |
| “We will proceed no further in this business: he hath honour’d me of late; and I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people” | Macbeth tells his wife that he no longer wishes to continue to attempt and fulfill the witches prophecy. Macbeth cannot imagine continuing, but Lady Macbeth scolds him, and tells him he must. |
| “Why should I play the Roman fool, and die on mine own sword?” | Macbeth refuses to be made a fool of, and decides not to back down in the face of impending violence. |
| “I should pour the sweet milk on concord into Hell, uproar the universal peace, confound all unity on earth.” | Malcolm is talking to Macduff, hoping to plot the downfall of Macbeth. |
| “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” | Lady Macbeth is seen attempting to wash imaginary blood from her hands, proving that the guilt has nearly consumed her. |
| “Was your hands, put on your night gown; I look not so pale” | Lady Macbeth’s subconscious is soothing her, trying to erase her guilt, highlighting her extreme guilt. |
| And then is heard no more: it is a tale told by and idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” | Macbeth’s final words signify how his life is finally coming to an end, fulfilling the witches prophecy, and making Macbeth’s life meaningless. |
Macbeth Quotes
August 18, 2019