Macbeth – Quotes – Act 4

‘Double, double, toil and trouble,/ Fire burn, and cauldron bubble’ Scene 1 – Witches – use of archaic tetrameter and rhyme emphasises evil nature, along with fact that they are concocting a potion
‘answer me to what I ask you’ Scene 1 – Macbeth to witches – use of declarative suggests confidence and conviction; no more doubt
‘none of woman born/ Shall harm Macbeth’ Scene 1 – Apparition 2 to Macbeth – tells him that only a person not of woman may harm him, pulling Macbeth into a false sense of security’
‘Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until/ Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill/ Shall come against him’ Scene 1 – Apparition 3 to Macbeth – gives him a prophecy about the woods
‘the very firstlings of my heart shall be/ The firstlings of my hand’ Scene 1 – Macbeth to himself – decision to do anything it takes to retain his power
‘given th’edge o’ th’sword/ His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls’ Scene 1 – Macbeth to himself – resolves to kill Macduff’s family
‘your husband,/ He is noble, wise, judicious’ Scene 2 – Ross to Lady Macduff – describing Macduff
‘I grant him bloody,/ Luxurious, capricious, false, deceitful,/ Sudden, malicious’ Scene 3 – Malcom to Macduff – about Macbeth’s evil and cruel nature, listing all his bad qualities
‘The king becoming graces,/ As justice, verity, temp’rance, stableness,/ Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness…’ Scene 3 – Malcolm to Macduff’s – lists all the qualities of a good king
‘subtitled tyrant, bloody-sceptred’ Scene 3 – Macduff to Malcolm – after hearing that Macbeth has murdered his family