| the illness should attend it | Thou wouldst be great. Art not without ambition, but without …Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5Suggests that Macbeth is not ruthless/evil (illness) enough to achieve greatness. Is it the influence of the supernatural that makes him do evil?Theme: AMBITION |
| vaulting ambition | I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only … which o’erleaps itself / And falls on the other.Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 7Famous image of ambition as a spur to a horse – foreshadowing the eventual ‘fall’ or nemesis that Macbeth’s fatal flaw will lead to. Echoes Macbeth’s use of the word ‘o’erleap’ in Act 1 Scene 4, when he says he must o’erleap the Prince of Cumberland to become king. Ambition overreaches itself.Theme: AMBITION |
| All causes shall give way | For mine own good…Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 4By the end of the scene with Banquo’s ghost, ambition and horror have so overlaid Macbeth’s conscience that he will overcome anything to retain power. The word ‘good’ is ironic: he means ‘success’, but it underlines the central antithesis of good and evil.Theme: AMBITION |
| sound so fair? | Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear / Things that do…Banquo, Act 1 Scene 3As soon as Macbeth hears the prophesies, Banquo comments on his startled, fearful reaction, suggesting that he is immediately having treasonous thoughts of ambition. The word ‘fair’ echoes the witches’ paradoxical ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’, linking ambition immediately with evil.Theme: AMBITION |
| tedious as go o’er | I am in blood / Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more / Returning were as…Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 4The murder of Banquo, Macbeth’s friend, creates a turning point for Macbeth, where he realises that he can no longer turn from his path of violence. He has done so much evil now that it is easier to follow it to its dreadful conclusion than to try to go back and undo or repent his terrible deeds.Imagery: BLOOD |
| blood will have blood | It will have blood; they say, …Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 4Macbeth realises that evil deeds will lead to more evil deeds. Religious allusion to Genesis: ‘Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.’ Foreshadows Macbeth’s eventual bloody death.Imagery: BLOOD |
| noble Macbeth | What he hath lost, … hath wonDuncan, Act 1 Scene 2Theme: SUPERNATURAL |
| foul and fair | So … a day I have not seenMacbeth, Act 1 Scene 3Theme: SUPERNATURAL |
| black and deep desires | Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my …Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 4Theme: AMBITION |
| milk of human kindness | It is too full o’ the … To catch the nearest wayLady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5Theme: AMBITION |
| False | … face must hide what the … heart doth knowMacbeth, Act 1 Scene 7Theme: DECEIT |
| great Neptune’s ocean | Will all … wash this blood Clean from my hand?Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 2Theme: GUILT |
| most foully | I fear, Thou play’dst …. for’tBanquo, Act 3 Scene 1Theme: DECEIT |
| Nought’s had, all’s spent | …. Where our desire is got without content:Lady Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 2Theme: AMBITION |
| Something wicked | By the pricking of my thumbs, …. this way comesWitch, Act 4 Scene 1Theme: SUPERNATURAL |
| taint with fear | Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane, I cannot …Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 3Theme: DECEIT |
| dead butcher | This … and his fiend-like queenMalcolm, Act 5 Scene 8Imagery: BLOOD |
| damned spot! | Out, …. Out, I say!Lady Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 1Imagery: BLOOD |
| horror, horror, horror | O … ! Tongue nor heart Cannot conceive nor name thee!Macduff, Act 2 Scene 3Theme: UNNATURAL |
| chance | If … will have me king, why, … may crown me.Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 3Theme: KINGSHIP |
| my spirits | That I may pour … in thine earLady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5Theme: SUPERNATURAL |
| murder | My thought, whose … is yet fantasticalMacbeth, Act 1 Scene 3Theme: CONFLICT |
| innocent flower | Look like th’ … , But be the serpent under’tLady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5Theme: DECEIT |
| innocent of the knowledge | Be … , dearest chuckMacbeth, Act 3 Scene 2Theme: GENDER and DECEIT |
| Unsex | … me here Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5Theme: GENDER |
| Sleep no more | Methought I heard a voice cry, …. Macbeth does murder sleepMacbeth, Act 2 Scene 2Theme: SLEEP |
Macbeth Quotes by Theme and Imagery
August 1, 2019