MACBETH QUOTES SORTED INTO THEMES

NATURE

"This castle hath a pleasant seat"	Duncan	Act 1, Scene 6	Nature seems welcoming — deceptive.
"Dark night strangles the travelling lamp"	Ross	Act 2, Scene 4	Darkness symbolises unnatural deeds.
"A falcon towering in her pride of place was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed"	Old Man	Act 2, Scene 4	Nature reflects reversal of natural order.
"The earth was feverous and did shake"	Lennox	Act 2, Scene 3	Nature physically reacts to Duncan’s murder

SUPERNATURAL

Fair is foul, and foul is fair"

Witches

Act 1, Scene 1

Distortion of morality and nature.

"All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!"

Witches

Act 1, Scene 3

Prophecy tempts Macbeth.

"Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts"

Lady Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 5

She summons dark forces to strip her of humanity.

"Is this a dagger which I see before me?"

Macbeth

Act 2, Scene 1

Hallucination driven by supernatural tension.

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes"

Second Witch

Act 4, Scene 1

Macbeth now viewed as evil by supernatural beings.

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble"

Witches

Act 4, Scene 1

Spell creating chaos and disorder.

GENDER

"Unsex me here"

Lady Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 5

Rejects traditional femininity.

"When you durst do it, then you were a man"

Lady Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 7

Equates masculinity with ruthlessness.

"Bring forth men-children only"

Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 7

Praises Lady Macbeth’s masculine spirit.

"Are you a man?"

Lady Macbeth

Act 3, Scene 4

Mocks Macbeth's fear when he sees Banquo’s ghost.

TEMPTATION

"If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me"

Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 3

Hesitant temptation; lets fate act.

"Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself"

Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 7

Macbeth acknowledges dangerous temptation.

"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't"

Lady Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 5

Encourages Macbeth to deceive others.

MADNESS

"Is this a dagger which I see before me?"	Macbeth	Act 2, Scene 1	Hallucinations reveal fractured mind.
"Methought I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more!'"	Macbeth	Act 2, Scene 2	Guilt-induced madness begins.
"O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife"	Macbeth	Act 3, Scene 2	Macbeth plagued by paranoia.
"Out, damned spot! Out, I say!"	Lady Macbeth	Act 5, Scene 1	Madness consumes Lady Macbeth (sleepwalking scene).
"A mind diseased"	Macbeth (Doctor observing Lady Macbeth)	Act 5, Scene 3	Illness and madness linked.

KINGSHIP

"There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face"

Duncan

Act 1, Scene 4

Duncan recognises deception — irony.

"O worthiest cousin!"

Duncan

Act 1, Scene 4

Duncan trusting Macbeth blindly.

"The service and loyalty I owe, in doing it, pays itself"

Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 4

Ironic — Macbeth already plotting murder.

"Bleed, bleed, poor country!"

Macduff

Act 4, Scene 3

Scotland suffers under Macbeth’s tyranny.

"The king-becoming graces"

Malcolm

Act 4, Scene 3

Lists true qualities of kingship.

"Dead butcher and his fiend-like queen"

Malcolm

Act 5, Scene 9

Final judgement — Macbeth as bad king

LOYALTY

"The service and the loyalty I owe"

Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 4

Lies about his loyalty.

"Let me enfold thee and hold thee to my heart"

Duncan

Act 1, Scene 4

Duncan welcomes Macbeth lovingly — tragic irony.

"There's daggers in men's smiles"

Donalbain

Act 2, Scene 3

Betrayal everywhere after Duncan's death.

APPEARANCE VERSUS REALITY

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"

Witches

Act 1, Scene 1

Sets theme of deceptive appearances.

"Look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under't"

Lady Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 5

Hide true evil behind a good appearance.

"False face must hide what the false heart doth know"

Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 7

Must conceal treacherous intentions.

"There's daggers in men's smiles"

Donalbain

Act 2, Scene 3

Hiding treachery behind polite faces.

ORDER (natural and social order)

"Most sacrilegious murder"

Macduff

Act 2, Scene 3

Killing Duncan upsets God's order.

"The night has been unruly"

Lennox

Act 2, Scene 3

Nature in chaos after the crime.

"A falcon towering was by a mousing owl hawked at"

Old Man

Act 2, Scene 4

Symbolic breakdown of hierarchy.

"Turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out"

Ross

Act 2, Scene 4

Animals behave unnaturally — mirror societal breakdown.