Lady Macbeth quotes

• Humorous + unsettling, LM fears his kindness.

'What thou art promised; and yet do I fear thy nature'

- 'milk' ---> hints to how milk can change/expire, hinting that Lady M believes she can corrupt him.

It also has connotations to femininity, presenting compassion as a weakness, something that emasculates M.

- 'too full' - four humours.

'It is too full o'th'milk of human kindness'

- Summoning Macbeth as the Witches summoned their familiars. = Lady M's alignment with Witches.

'Hie thee hither'

' Imagery evokes demonic possession.

- Lady M's subversion of gender stereotypes, highlights the hold she has over M.
---> Femme Fatale.

'That I may pour my spirits in thine ear'

• Femme fatale.

'chastise with the valour of my tongue'

• LM’s ambition.

'All that impedes thee from the golden round'

- Foreshadows herself being drawn to her insanity.

- Lady M fully summons + wants to align with Witches in order to gain queen.

'Come, you spirits'

- believes her femininity is her weakness + what is stopping her from being queen.

'That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here'

- anatomic references makes her speech feels invasive.

'And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty; make thick my blood'

- four humours in medieval medicine.

- 'blood' and 'gall' give reference to Jesus' crucifixion as he was pierced to ensure that he was dead and blood came gushing out + before he died, Roman soldiers offered him a wine laced with gall/poison.

'Come to my woman's breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers'

- A vs R
- Serpent reference to Adam + Eve.

'look like th'innocent flower, But be the serpent under't'

• A reflection on unfulfilled ambition and the futility of their actions.

'Nought's had, all's spent, where our desire is got without content...'