Macbeth QUote analysis Techniques

‘Out, damned spot, out, I say!’  ‘Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.’ (Aesthetic Features)

·       Olfactory(嗅覚) and Visual Imagery: “smell of the blood”, “damned spot”. Guilt is left in her heart.

·       Hyperbole(誇張表現): “All the perfumes of Arabia”. She cannot forget about the regicide and feel guilty. Link to “all great Neptune’s ocean” (Act 2, scene 2). Juxtapose with previous Lady Macbeth. “a little water clears us of this deed” (Act 2, scene 2).

‘Out, damned spot, out, I say!’  ‘Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.’ (Author’s Word Choice)

·       “Damned Spot”:  evokes eternal damnation and cannot ever forget about her sin and must live with it.

·       “Little hand”: as a woman, fragile. Diminutive(小柄な) adjective "little" highlights her vulnerability, weakness, and loss of her former ruthless power.

Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Come to my woman’s breasts And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark(Aesthetic Features)

·       Imperative (命令形)/ Apostrophe: Direct invocation to demonic forces ("Come, you spirits," "Come, thick night").

·       Visceral(内臓) & Morbid(病的) Imagery: "Make thick my blood," "take my milk for gall," "dashed the brains out".

·       Personification / Darkness Motif: "Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark" personifies heaven as a helpless onlooker blocked by sinister darkness.

Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Come to my woman’s breasts And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark(Author’s Word Choice)

·       "Unsex me here": Demands the complete removal of her feminine traits (nurturing, softness), which Jacobeans tied to moral constraint.

·       "Milk for gall": Replaces life-giving, maternal milk with poison/bile, signifying the total corruption of nature.

·       "Dunnest smoke of hell": Uses superlatives ("dunnest" = darkest) to invoke hellish concealment and obscure moral conscience.

The Queen, my lord, is dead.(Aesthetic features)

• Offstage Action / Anti-Climax: Lady Macbeth—once the driving force of the tragedy—dies offstage in isolation, stripped of her previous power and presence.

• Irony: The abruptness(唐突さ) mirrors how quickly and quietly her life ends, despite her monumental efforts to gain the crown.

The Queen, my lord, is dead.(Wording)

• Flat, Unadorned(飾り気のない) Tone: The absence of emotional language or elaboration evokes(喚起する) a cold, stark(陰鬱) mood, emphasizing the loneliness and futility(無益さ) of her ending.

Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this. (Aesthetic Features)

·       Extended Clothing Metaphor: "Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?" portrays his previous courage as a garment worn carelessly and then slept off like drunkenness.

·       Visceral(内臓) & Violent Imagery: "Plucked my nipple from his boneless gums / And dashed the brains out," contrasting maternal tenderness with brutal, shocking violence.

Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely? Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this. (Author’s Word Choice)

·       "Green and pale": Connotes(含意する) sickness, anemia(貧血), and cowardice, weaponizing physical vulnerability(脆弱性) against Macbeth.

·        "So much more the man": Redefines masculinity from honorable protection to ruthless action, implying manhood is tied solely to violence and ambition.

·       "Dashed": A sharp, violent verb that emphasizes cold, deliberate execution over natural maternal impulse.

My hands are of your color (red), but I shame To wear a heart so white.(Aesthetic Features)

• Color Symbolism / Visual Imagery: Contrasts the physical red of blood ("color") with the symbolic white of cowardice ("heart so white").

• Juxtaposition: Pairs identical shared guilt ("hands are of your color") against opposing emotional reactions (her calm pragmatism versus his pale terror).

• Irony: Lady Macbeth claims to feel "shame" only toward Macbeth's fear, completely blind to the actual moral shame of murder—an irony that returns to haunt her in Act 5.

My hands are of your color (red), but I shame To wear a heart so white.(Author’s Word Choice)

• "Hands are of your color": Acknowledges physical involvement in the crime, yet treats blood merely as paint or a surface detail rather than a mark of sin.

• "Wear": Framing emotion as something you "wear" implies that fear is just a superficial garment one can simply take off at will.

• "White": Evokes images of paleness, weakness, and lack of blood (courage), turning a symbol of purity into an insult of cowardice.

A little water clears us of this deed.(Aesthetic Features)

• Understatement: "A little water" drastically understates the physical and moral effort required to wash away the gravity of murder.

• Dramatic Irony: Her calm belief that water can clear them directly contrasts her future sleepwalking breakdown in Act 5, Scene 1, where "all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten" her hands.

• Euphemism(婉曲表現): She refers to regicide simply as "this deed," avoiding explicit words like "murder" or "killing" to distance herself from the reality of the crime.

A little water clears us of this deed.(Author’s Word Choice)

• "Little": Highlights her naive belief that sin is purely physical and easily erased with minimal effort.

• "Clears": Implies total absolution and erasing of guilt, treating a grave moral sin as a simple cosmetic stain.