Macbeth Quotations

What do the witches say at the beginning of the play?

'Fair is foul and foul is fair.'

How does the captain refer to Macbeth at the start?

'Brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name.'

How does King Duncan refer to Macbeth at the start?

'O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!'

Macbeth refers to what the witches said at the start of the novel

'So foul and fair a day I have not seen.'

Banquo immediately doesn't like the witches

What are these/So withered and so wild in their attire/That look not like th'inhabitants o'th' earth'

Banquo's description of the witches shows their confusing appearance

'You should be women,/And yet your beards forbid me to interpret /That you are so.'

Witches prophecise Macbeth will be King

'All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!'

What do the witches say to Banquo after saying Macbeth will be king?

'Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.'

Banquo doesn't believe the witches prophecy for a second

'Oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/The instruments of darkness tell us truths.'

Macbeth is confused on what to believe after hearing the witches prophecy

'This supernatural soliciting/Cannot be ill, cannot be good.'

Duncan's tragic flaw is revealed when he talks about the traitor - previous Thane of Cawdor

'He was a gentleman on whom I built/An absolute trust.'

Macbeth's evil intentions are seen in this quote

Stars hide your fires/Let not light see my black and deep desires.'

Duncan uses this phrase to describe Macbeth after a battle, acknowledging his valor and loyalty. He sees Macbeth as an exceptional relative, worthy of honor and trust.

'It is a peerless kinsman.'

Lady Macbeth expresses her concerns that Macbeth doesn't have enough evil within him to become King without interfering

'I do fear thy nature/It is too full o'th'milk of human kindness/To catch the nearest way.'

The quote highlights the theme of ambition and its potential to corrupt individuals. It also foreshadows Macbeth's eventual moral decline and tragic fate, as he succumbs to the ambition and ultimately loses his humanity. Lady Macbeth highlights Macbeth's weakness and emasculates him

Thou wouldst be great,/Art not without ambition, but without/The illness should attend it.'

Lady Macbeth is eager for Macbeth to return so she can persuade him to take action and claim the throne through violence.

'Hie thee hither,/That I may pour my spirits in thine ear.'

Suggests Lady Macbeth feels confined in Jacobean society and would rather be male

'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.'

Highlights the theme of appearance vs reality. Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to deceive others

'Look like th'innocent flower/But be the serpent under't.'

Androboulon - Lady Macbeth takes control which contrasts the general social norms of Jacobean society which is a patriarchy

'Leave all the rest to me.'

Reveals Macbeth's internal conflict and reveals his character flaws. It shows his ambivalence about murdering Duncan and his desire for a swift, decisive action to avoid the consequences of prolonged thought and hesitation.

'If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well/It were done quickly.'

Macbeth shows it is his ambition which has caused him to consider the act of regicide

'I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition.'

Lady Macbeth is further portrayed as controlling after Macbeth suggests he will not proceed any further in this business of regicide

'Screw your courage to the sticking-place, /And we'll not fail.'

Reveals his admiration for Lady Macbeth's strength and determination. It suggests that her courage and ambition, qualities typically associated with masculinity, are so powerful that she will only bear male children. This quote also highlights the play's themes of gender roles and the relationship between masculinity and power. Lady Macbeth's ambition, usually seen as a masculine trait, is so strong that Macbeth believes it will only be passed on to male offspring

'Bring forth men-children only,/For thy undaunted mettle should compose/Nothing but males.'

Macbeth sees a vision of a dagger seeing the extent of chaos which the idea of regicide has caused

'Is this a dagger which I see before me,/The handle toward my hand?'

first instance in play of Lady Macbeth showing a little emotion

'Had he not resembled /My father as he slept, I had done't.'

Macbeth is portrayed as being in disarray after murdering Duncan - showing the extent of the sin he has committed - cannot sleep in peace

'Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more!/Macbeth does murder sleep' - the innocent sleep.'

Hyperbolic language linking to Greek mythology shows Macbeth is deeply disturbed after committing regicide

'Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood/Clean from my hand?'

Shows Lady Macbeth's naivety as she is unaware of how later she will be unable to wash her hand to rid herself of these deeds.

'A little water clears us of this deed./ How easy is it then!'

Donalbain's remark shows the Hobbesian viewpoint of how man is intrinsically evil

'There's daggers in men's smiles.'

Macduff says this to show the audience the depths of Macbeth's evilness

'Not in the legions/Of horrid hell can come a devil more damned/In evils, to top Macbeth.'

Macduff's statement symbolises a redefinition of masculinity. It signifies that true manhood involves not only strength and action, but also the capacity to acknowledge and experience grief and other emotions, rather than suppressing them.

'I must feel it as a man.'

At the end of the play Macduff says this to signify the end of Macbeth's tyrannical reign and the restoration of freedom and order to Scotland.

'The time is free.'

Malcolm says this quote show the degradation of Macbeth's reputation and the intense hatred he inspires due to his tyrannical rule.

'This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues,/Was once thought honest.'

Symbolises the suffering and oppression that Scotland is experiencing under Macbeth's tyrannical rule.

'I think our country sinks beneath the yoke;/It weeps, it bleeds.'

Symbolises the complete moral decay and destructive nature of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It signifies their descent into tyranny and the chaos they inflicted upon Scotland through their ambition and violence

'The dead butcher and his fiend-like Queen.'

Lennox says this which signifies a disruption of natural order and a foreshadowing of evil events.

'The night has been unruly'

Macbeth is referred to this after he becomes a dictator

'tyrant'

By Lennox saying this it symbolises a nation under the tyrannical and destructive rule of a wicked leader

'Suffering country/Under a hand accursed.'

Banquo says this to the witches to show how Macbeth believes what the witches have prophecised

'he seems rapt withal'

symbolises Banquo's suspicion and growing distrust of Macbeth's rapid rise to power. He acknowledges the fulfillment of the witches' prophecy for Macbeth, but also suspects foul play, implying Macbeth may have murdered Duncan to achieve the throne.

'Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all…/And I fear/Thou play'dst most foully for't.'

This stage direction symbolises Macbeth's guilt and consequences of his actions

Banquo's ghost enters, and sits in Macbeth's seat

The witches say this to Banquo to signify that while Banquo will not achieve the same high social status as Macbeth (becoming king), his lineage will be more significant and enduring because his descendants will be kings.

'Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.'

Signifies the witches' supernatural ability to sense evil and impending doom and signifies Macbeth's arrival and further descent into wickedness.

'By the pricking of my thumbs,/Something wicked this way comes.'

symbolises Lady Macbeth's manipulation of her husband's masculinity to persuade him to commit regicide.

'When you durst do it, then you were a man.'

symbolises Lady Macbeth's contrasting reaction to the murder of King Duncan compared to her husband, Macbeth

'My hands are of your colour; but I shame/To wear a heart so white.'

symbolises the duplicity and deception required to maintain a public facade of normalcy while harbouring dark, guilty thoughts. Lady Macbeth to Macbeth

'Sleek o'er your rugged looks,/Be bright and jovial among your guests tonight.'

Lady Macbeth says this to emasculate Macbeth and challenge his courage

'Are you a man?'

symbolises Lady Macbeth's overwhelming guilt and the psychological torment she experiences after the murder of King Duncan.

'Out damned spot.'

Macbeth says this quote - symbolises his initial contemplation of fate versus free will. He considers whether he needs to actively pursue kingship (through murder, for example) or if it is already destined to happen without his intervention.

(Aside) 'If chance will have me King, why chance/may crown me/Without my stir.'

Symbolises the deception and hypocrisy that Macbeth uses to conceal his treacherous intentions. It highlights the conflict between outward appearances and inner reality, particularly the disparity between Macbeth's false, friendly demeanor and his dark, murderous ambition.

'False face must hide what the false heart doth/know.'

Symbolises the disruption of natural order and the psychological torment resulting from Macbeth's actions

'Now o'er the one half-world/Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse/The curtained sleep.'

symbolises the inevitability of King Duncan's death and the moral crossroads Macbeth faces. The bell, which Lady Macbeth has rung as a signal for Macbeth to murder Duncan, is not just a call to action but a harbinger of death, a "knell".

'The bell invites me. Hear it not Duncan, for it is a knell/That summons thee to heaven or to hell.'

symbolises the completion of a significant act, specifically Macbeth's murder of King Duncan. It signifies the fulfillment of a dark ambition and the crossing of a point of no return, marking a transition into a new, morally compromised state for Macbeth.

'I have done the deed.'

symbolises guilt, remorse, and the irreversible nature of his actions. The blood on his hands serves as a physical manifestation of his crime and the moral stain it has left on him.

'This is a sorry sight.' [Looks on his hands]

symbolises Macbeth's overwhelming guilt and his inability to seek forgiveness or redemption after murdering King Duncan. The phrase highlights the barrier his sin has created between him and God, preventing him from uttering the word of prayer and implying a spiritual blockage.

'Amen'/Stuck in my throat.'

signifies that while Macbeth has taken action against a perceived threat (killing King Duncan, and later Banquo), the underlying danger still remains. It highlights his paranoia and fear that the consequences of his actions, like a wounded snake, will return to bite him.

'We have scorched the snake, not killed it.'

symbolises Macbeth's guilt, paranoia, and the torment of his conscience after ordering Banquo's murder. The "scorpions" represent the painful and poisonous thoughts that plague his mind, a direct result of his actions and the psychological toll of ambition and violence.

'O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife.'

symbolises Macbeth's growing ambition, his desire for control, and the deteriorating relationship between him and Lady Macbeth. It signifies Macbeth taking charge of the murderous plot, excluding his wife from the decision-making process, and potentially viewing her as a disposable tool to achieve his goals.

'Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck/Till thou applaud the deed.'

symbolises Macbeth's loss of freedom, feelings of claustrophobia, and entrapment due to his guilt and paranoia after murdering King Duncan.

'Now I am cabined, cribbed, confined.'

symbolises Macbeth's overwhelming guilt and fear regarding Banquo's murder. It reveals his mental unravelling and inability to escape the consequences of his ambition and violent actions.

'Never shake/Thy gory locks at me.'

signifies that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are relatively new to the ways of crime and treachery, despite having just committed the murder of King Duncan. It implies they are still learning how to navigate the darkness of their actions and the consequences of wielding power through violence.

'We are yet but young in deed.'

symbolises Macbeth's desperate attempt to reclaim his lost masculinity and control through violent action, even in the face of inevitable defeat.

'I'll fight, till from my bones my flesh be hacked./Give me my armour.'

symbolises Macbeth's misplaced confidence and his tragic misinterpretation of a prophecy. He believes he is invincible until Birnam Wood physically moves to Dunsinane Hill, an event he considers impossible.

'I will not be afraid of death and bane,/Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane.'

symbolizes Macbeth's desensitization to violence and evil. It signifies that he has become so accustomed to acts of cruelty and bloodshed that he no longer feels fear or remorse.

'I have supped full with horrors.'

symbolises the fleeting and ultimately meaningless nature of human life. Macbeth utters these words upon hearing of Lady Macbeth's death, reflecting on the brevity and insignificance of their existence, comparing it to a flickering candle that is easily extinguished.

'Out, out, brief candle!'