Macbeth Act 2 Key Quotes

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?" (2.1. 44-45)

Macbeth going to kill Duncan - Macbeth sees or hallucinates a dagger.

"Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell/That summons thee to heaven or to hell" (2.1. 76-77).

Macbeth going to kill Duncan - Don't hear the bell, because it means your death.

"I have done the deed" (2.2. 19).

Macbeth to Lady Macbeth - I killed Duncan.

"Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep'" - the innocent sleep (2.2. 47-48).

Macbeth - I can't sleep anymore, I'm not innocent. And/or I killed Duncan, who was innocent in his sleep.

"Will all the great Neptune's ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous sees incarnadine/ Making the green one red" (2.2. 78-81).

Macbeth - Not even an ocean of water can wash away the blood. The blood would turn the ocean red.

"A little water clears us of this deed" (2.2. 86).

Lady Macbeth - We will wash our hands (metaphorically also wash away quiet).

"I pray you, remember the porter" (2.3. 21).

Porter - Asks for a tip.

"There's daggers in men's smiles. The near in blood, The nearer bloody" (2.3. 165-166).

Donalbain (Duncan's son) - People pretend to be nice but could be killers. You can't even trust a blood relative.