| “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.Hover through the fog and filthy air.” | ~ witches said it- foreshadowing, setting the mood of the supernatural |
| “Let not light see my black and deep desires.” | ~ Macbeth- After Duncan announces that he will name his son Malcolm the next king, Macbeth hopes his disappointment doesn’t show. He must find a way to prevent Malcolm from becoming king. |
| “Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full of the milk of human kindness.” | ~ Lady Macbeth (referring to Macbeth)- She fears that Macbeth is too kind to go through with killing Duncan. |
| “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” | ~ Lady Macbeth (speaking to Macbeth)- This is just before King Duncan’s arrival at their castle. Macbeth’s wife wants him to act nice to Duncan’s face, and hide his evil intentions. |
| “Come, you spiritsThat tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,And fill me from the crown to the toe top-fullOf direst cruelty!” | ~ Lady Macbeth- calling on the spirits to take away her feminine, weakness and fill her with evil because she wants Duncan dead. |
| “But screw your courage to the sticking-place,And we’ll not fail.” | ~ Lady Macbeth- before they kill Duncan, she is reassuring Macbeth that everything will work out if he fixes his courage firmly in place. |
| “False face must hide what false heart doth know.” | ~ Macbeth- He has decided he will go along with Lady Macbeth’s plan to kill Duncan. Telling himself that he must put on a false pleasant face to hide his false, evil heart. |
| “Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done’t.” (referring to Duncan) | ~ Lady Macbeth- She would’ve killed Duncan herself but as he was sleeping he looked like her father. |
| “What hands are here? Ha: they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” | ~ Macbeth- looking at his hands after he has just killed Duncan. He wonders if all of the water in the ocean could wash the blood off his hands. |
| “Is this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand?” | ~ Macbeth- Hallucinating that he sees a dagger before he kills Duncan. |
| “Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,As the weird women promised, and I fearThou play’dst most foully for’t.” | ~ Banquo (referring to Macbeth)- meaning: well now you have everything that you were promised by the witches. I just fear that you did something bad to get it. |
| “He’s here in double trust. First, as I am his kinsman and his subject… then, as his host.” | ~ Macbeth (referring to King Duncan)- Listing reasons why he shouldn’t kill Duncan. Duncan trusts Macbeth for two reasons: he is his kinsman/subject, and his host. |
| “A little water clears us of this deed.” | ~ Lady Macbeth- After killing Duncan, she tells Macbeth that all they have to do is wash their hands and they will be cleared of their sin. |
| “O valiant cousin. Worthy gentleman!” | Duncan about Macbeth. His importance is shown as he is being hailed by the king as a hero.. |
| “Lesser than Macbeth and greater” | Witch 1 to Banquo Perhaps hints that despite that Macbeth will become King, he would be traitorous and evil where banquo would be loyal and good. |
| “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me” | Macbeth Ironic as at first he believes that luck will make him King but later in the play he takes the matter into his own hands. |
| “He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust.” | Duncan to Malcolm (talking about the previous Thane of Cawdor) Ironic as he then builds trust on Macbeth who betrays him as well |
| “The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step on which I must fall down or else oer’leap.” | Macbeth –Already Macbeth’s devious nature is beginning to show as he decides he must deal with both Duncan and his son. |
| “Yet I do fear thy nature: It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness.” | Lady Macbeth — Lady Macbeth recognises her husbands weakness and considers him unable to complete the task. |
| “look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” | Lady Macbeth to Macbeth She is telling her husband to pretend to be nice and trustworthy and hide his dark ambitions. |
| “Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’other” | – Macbeth — Macbeth compares his ambition to a racing horse which jumps over a hurdle and falls on the other side. Shows that Macbeth is aware of the consequences. |
| “Or art thou but a dagger of the mind” | Macbeth — Macbeth imagines a dagger in front of him and realises it could be a visual representation of his guilt. |
| “A little water clears us of this deed” | Lady Macbeth — She believes that by washing the blood off their hands they are clear of the murder. |
| “Thou hast it now… king, Cawdow, Glamis, all. As the weird women promsied, and I fear thou played’st most foully for’t” | Banquo. Banquo realises that the prophecy has come true and worries that Macbeth has committed horrible deeds to make it this way. |
| “I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er” | Macbeth– Macbeth realises that he has killed so many that it would be easier to keep going than to stop and give up. Shows him giving in to his grim intentions |
Macbeth Quotes, Macbeth – General use quotes and explanations.
August 12, 2019