Macbeth quotes+analysis

Guilt

"Art thou…"

"… but a dagger of the mind?" - Could be supernatural or madness links guilt and the supernatural

"But wherefore…"

"… could I not say amen?" - Religious consequences of regicide Shakespeare dissuades regicide (James I)

"Sleep no more…"

"… Macbeth doth murder sleep. The innocent sleep." - Mental/supernatural punishment

"Will all great…"

"… Neptune's ocean wash this blood from my hand?" - Mental turmoil, enormity of regicide, stain cannot be removed

"A little water…"

"… will clear us of this deed." - Lady Macbeth's dismissive reaction vs Macbeth's guilt

"Better be…"

"… with the dead." - Mental suffering after Duncan's murder

"O full of…"

"… scorpions is my mind, dear wife." - Paranoia, fate and Banquo as a threat

"I am cabined…"

"… crippled, confined, bound to saucy doubts and fears." - Trapped by guilt and paranoia

"Thou can'st say…"

"… I did it, never shake thy gory locks at me!" - Banquo's ghost,madness or supernatural

"I am in blood…"

"… stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er." - Too deep in violence to turn back

Supernatural

"There to meet…"

"… with Macbeth." - Links Macbeth to witches foreshadows evil

"[Macbeth] seems…"

"… rapt withal." - Banquo links Macbeth to supernatural influence

"Art thou…"

"… but a dagger of the mind?" - Supernatural/guilt

"Methought I…"

"… heard a voice cry 'sleep no more..'" - Supernatural manifestation of guilt

"Duncan's horses…"

"… turned wild in nature… 'tis said they ate each other." - Nature disrupted by regicide

"Come seeling…"

"… night." - Macbeth calls upon night to cover his evil deeds, before Banquo's murder

"Thou can'st say…"

"… I did it, never shake thy gory locks at me!" - Banquo's apparition as madness/supernatural

"Answer me…"

"… to what I ask you." - Exercising control over witches during the second visit

"I will be…"

"… satisfied. Deny me this and an eternal curse fall on you." - Macbeth's demand from the witches, reinforcing his connection to evil

Fate

"Why chance…"

"… will crown me without my stir." - Belief in fate over free will

"For Banquo's…"

"… issue have I filed my mind." - Obsession with fate and legacy

"The gracious…"

"… Duncan have I murdered, put rancours in the vessel of my peace." - Guilt destroying inner peace

"O full of…"

"… scorpions is my mind, dear wife." - Macbeth feels trapped by fate

Ambition

"Stars, hide…"

"… your fires. Let not light see my dark and deep desires." - Awareness of ambition's evil

"[Macbeth] seems…"

"… rapt withal." - Banquo observes Macbeth's fixation on the idea of murder and ambition

"I have no…"

"… spur to prick the sides of my intent." - Ambition is his only motivation

"Whose murder…"

"… is yet but fantastical." - Regicide as imagined temptation

“life’s but a walking shadow…”

“… signifying nothing”-Deeply nihilistic outlook on life after LMB’s suicide, realising that his vaulting ambition was meaningless.

"We have scorched…"

"… the snake, not killed it." - Power is insecure

Appearance vs Reality

"False face…"

"… must hide what false heart doth know." - Appearance vs reality

"Look like…"

"… the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't." - Deception

"Daggers in…"

"… men's smiles." - Hidden danger

"Our bloody cousins…"

"… are bestowed in England and Ireland, not confessing their cruel patricide." - Blaming Duncan's sons

Masculinity

"What man dare…"

"… I dare!" - Masculinity as courage and violence

Power

"It will have…"

"… blood. Blood will have blood." - Cycle of violence and inevitable punishment

"The very firstlings…"

"… of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand." - Acting without moral restraint

Regicide (and effects)/Kingship

"Whose horrid…"

"… image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at the ribs." - Horror at regicide

"[Duncan's] silver…"

"… skin laced with golden blood." - Sacred imagery, kingship

"Gashed stabs…"

"… looked like a breach in nature." - Regicide disrupts natural order

"Bleed, bleed…"

"… poor country." - Scotland under Macbeth's rule

Order

"For each new morn…"

"… new widows howl, new orphans cry." - Tyranny causes suffering

"Unnatural deeds…"

"… do breed unnatural troubles." - Consequences of disrupting order

Banquo

"In the great hand…"

"… of God, I stand against treasonous malice." - Banquo's loyalty vs Macbeth's evil

"[Witches as]…"

"… instruments of darkness." - Banquo's skepticism

"I fear thou…"

"… play'dst most foully for't." - Banquo suspects Macbeth FLAW? Banquo showed loyalty to a false king (by not outing him) and got punished OR did it out of personal protection, PUNISHED for not restoring natural order

Gender

"When you durst…"

"… do it, then you were a man." - Lady Macbeth emasculates Macbeth

“I would’ve plucked my n..from its boneless gums…”

“.. and dashed its brains out”- LMB subverting typical motherly love and instead replacing it with furious ruthlessness, breaking natural order, shocking imagery

"Unsex me…"

"… here." - Lady Macbeth asks to be stripped of her femininity to gain power

"You should…"

"… be women, but your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so." - Witches blur gender to gain influence have to be masculine-like to have influence over the plot (like LMB)

lady macbeth fainting after Duncan’s death

weaponizing ‘innocent’ femininity to subvert attention from macbeth’s lie, shows her cunning

"But I must feel…"

"… as a man." - Macduff redefines masculinity

Macbeth's Effect on Scotland

"Scotland bleeds…"

"… in every corner." - National suffering

"Dark night…"

"… strangles the travelling lamp." - Light vs darkness imagery

"Out, damned…"

"… spot, out, I say!" - Lady Macbeth's guilt consuming her