| “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”. | -who said it: the witches -significance:though events, things and people may seem good or bad; however, after careful examination, they turn out to be opposite.-circumstance:the witches are eerie, chanting tones, they make plans to meet again upon the heath, after the battle, to confront Macbeth. As quickly as they arrive, they disappear. |
| “Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o’ moly of the human kindness.” | -who said it: Lady Macbeth-significance:she fears that due to Macbeth’s nature, he is “too full o’ th” human kindness” and cannot “catch the nearest way” in order to rise to power and accomplish what is necessary to do so-circumstance:she says it in a soliloquy after reading a letter sent from Macbeth, talking about his encounter with the witches |
| “When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won”. | -who said it:first witch -significance:The first witch asks her sisters when and under what conditions their next meeting will take place. She suggests that the sisters meet again in what appears to be a number of possible weather conditions that could be hospitable to witchcraft. -circumstance:the witches are eerie, chanting tones, they make plans to meet again upon the heath, after the battle, to confront Macbeth. As quickly as they arrive, they disappear. |
| “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me”. | -who said it:Macbeth-significance:Macbeth is saying that if fate wants him to be king, perhaps fate will just make it happen and he won’t have to do anything.-circumstance:Ross tells Macbeth that the king has made him thane of Cawdor, as the former thane is to be executed for treason. Macbeth, amazed that the witches’ prophecy has come true, asks Banquo if he hopes his children will be kings. |
| “Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it; he died as one bag had been studied in his death to throw away the dearest thing he owed, as ‘t were a careless trifle”. | -who said it:Malcolm-significance:-circumstance: |
| “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” | -who said it:Lady Macbeth -significance:lady Macbeth is basically telling Macbeth to appear innocent, but be deadly-circumstance: lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth that in order to succeed in killing Duncan he has to be sneaky |
| “I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none” | -who said it: Macbeth-significance: Macbeth says he’s not a coward; he does everything a proper gentleman would do in his situation. -circumstance:Macbeth paces by himself, pondering his idea of assassinating Duncan. He says that the deed would be easy if he could be certain that it would not set in motion a series of terrible consequences. He declares his willingness to risk eternal damnation |
| “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself, and falls on the other.” | -who said it: macbeth-significance:trying to rationalize his impending murder of King Duncan. Unfortunately, as Macbeth has just explained to himself, there’s no real justification for the crime. Duncan is his relative, a meek and pious man, a good king, and, furthermore, a guest at his castle-circumstance: he’s trying to rationalize his impending murder of King Duncan. |
| “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” | -who said it: Macbeth -significance: Macbeth is envisioning a dagger floating in the air before him, its handle pointing toward his hand and its tip aiming him toward Duncan. -circumstance: Macbeth and Banquo agree to discuss the witches’ prophecies at a later time. Banquo and Fleance leave, and suddenly, in the darkened hall, Macbeth has a vision |
| “There’s daggers in men’s smile.” | -who said it: Donalbain-significance:Donalbain said this to Malcolm in an aside to inform him that they are in the midst of a traitor-circumstance: after their father was killed Malcolm and Donalbain whisper to each other that they are not safe, since whoever killed their father will probably try to kill them next. |
| “What’s done is done”. | -who said it: lady Macbeth -significance: she is saying that there is no use worrying about something you can’t control -circumstance:Macbeth enters and tells his wife that he too is discontented so she tells him how there is no use worrying over something that he already did |
| “With all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” | -who said it: Macbeth-significance: he is going crazy and he’s asking if all the water in the world can clean his hands of the blood -circumstance: conscience is disturbed by what he’s done |
| “Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” | -who said it: all witches-significance: it’s apart of their spell-circumstance:In a dark cavern, a bubbling cauldron hisses and spits, and the three witches suddenly appear onstage. They circle the cauldron, chanting spells and adding bizarre ingredients |
| “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” | -who said it: Lady Macbeth-significance: she is hallucinating blood on her hands and trying to get it off-circumstance:she is hallucinating and rubbing her hands together as if she is washing them |
| “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” | -who said it: lady Macbeth-significance: she still has blood on her hands and all the perfume can’t make her hands smell better-circumstance: lady Macbeth is sleep walking and enters in a trance with a candle in her hand. Bemoaning the murders of Lady Macduff and Banquo, she seems to see blood on her hands and claims that nothing will ever wash it off. |
| “I hear a charmed life”. | -who said it: macbeth-significance: he’s telling macduff he can’t die because he can only be killed my someone who was born by a women but macduff was a csection-circumstance:macduff and Macbeth are about to battle |
| “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that strides and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of spun and fury, signifying nothing.” | -who said it: macbeth-significance: can be read as a dark and somewhat subversive commentary on the relationship between the audience and the play. After all, Macbeth is just a player on an English stage, and his statement undercuts the suspension of disbelief that the audience must maintain in order to enter the action of the play-circumstance: he has just heard his wife has died |
| Soliloquy | an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play. |
| Aside | a remark or passage by a character in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play. |
| Metaphor | a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. |
| Dramatic irony | the audience’s or reader’s understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its characters. |
| Allusion | an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. |
| Symbolism | language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. |
| Pathetic fallacy | the attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals, especially in art and literature. |
| Tragic hero | a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. |
| Tragic flaw | a literary device that can be defined as a trait in a character leading to his downfall and the character is often the hero of the literary piece. |
| Pathos | a quality that evokes pity or sadness. |
Macbeth test
August 26, 2019