Macbeth Quotes

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"

Witches, Act 1 Scene 1

"When the hurly-burly's done/When the battle's lost and won"

Witches, Act 1 Scene 1

"So foul and fair a day I have not seen"

Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 3

"instruments of darkness" "cannot be ill, cannot be good"

About the Witches, Act 1 Scene 3

"Lesser than Macbeth and greater"

Witches (about Banquo) Act 1 Scene 3

"Plant thee" "make thee full of growing"

Duncan, Act 1 Scene 4

"signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine/ On all deservers"

Duncan, Act 1 Scene 4

"unsex me here"

Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5

"The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan"

Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5.

- Raven symbolises death.

The adjective 'fatal' means deadly or dangerous - foreshadows that something bad is going to happen to Duncan

"Come, you spirits" "Come to my woman's breasts" "Come,thick night"

Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5

- Talk of spirits links her to the witches.

- Repetition of "come" is an imperative verb that sounds like she is casting a spell.

- Triadic structure (The Rule of Three) - links her to the three Witches.

"And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty"

Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5

- Metaphor suggests how she want to be full of evil

- Adjective "direst" means the worst, worst kind of cruelty

- Adjective "crown" also metaphor for wanting to be King

"make thick my blood, Stop up th'access and passage to remorse"

Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5

- Metaphor for make her more manly, blood thicker so feeling of pity won't flow to her heart

"Come to my woman's breasts and take my milk for gall"

Lady Macbeth Act 1, Scene 5

- Imagery relate to her child dying, wants her milk to turn into poison out of spite/grief

- suggests she wants to give her "breasts" which symbolise femininity

Macbeth's castle "sweetly recommends itself"

Duncan, Act 1 Scene 6

Irony - Duncan feels safe and comfortable in Macbeth's castle even though we as an audience know that Macbeth is gonna kill him there.

"that we but teach bloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plague th'invenntor"

Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 7

- Macbeth knows that if he kills Duncan's he's likely to end up being killed himself

"vaulting ambition"

Macbeth, act 1 Scene 7

- Macbeth knows his own hamartia (down-fall)

- "Vaulting" suggest his ambition is powerful, over-reaching

"so much more a man"

Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 7

- Lady Macbeth implies Macbeth will be more manly if he kills Duncan

- Dual Meaning : will be more manly but also will be King

- Questions his masculinity to encourage violence

"I have given suck, and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would while it was smiling in my face have plucked my nipple from his boneless games, and dashed the brains out"

Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 7

"Is this a dagger which I see before me"

Macbeth act 2 scene 1

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No"

Macbeth Act 2 Sene 2

Neptune is Roman God of water and sea

Suggests not even the whole sea, ruled by a powerful god could wash the blood off his hands

"blood clean from my hand" symbolises his guilt about killing Duncan

Foreshadows Lady Macbeth hand washing Act 5

"murdered sleep"

Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 2

sleep symbolises peace, emphasises his guilt.

Foreshadows Lady Macbeth sleep walking Act 5

"mad" "brain-sickly"

Lady Macbeth to Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 2

ironic foreshadowing of her own madness later

"[knocking]" repeated 4 times

Stage Direction, Act 2 Scene 2

symbol of Macbeth's guilt, metaphor for his pounding heartbeat

"[the storm]prophesying with accents terrible/Of dire combustion and confused events"

Lennox about storm, Act 2 Scene 3

Storm reflect terrible events of Duncan's murder

use of weather/pathetic fallacy foreshadows more bad things to come

"dark night strangles the travelling lamp"

Act 2, Scene 4

shows how it is dark during the day - Duncan's murder has caused the disruption of the natural order (Divine right of Kings, Chain of Being)

symbolises evil through violent language of "strangles"

"A falcon, towering in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed"

Act 2, Scene 4

shows further disruption of natural older

Falcon symbolic of Duncan (bigger, stronger King) killed by owl (weaker) Macbeth - reversal of the Chain of Being

"full of scorpions in my mind" "the bat has flown"

Act 3, Scene 2 Macbeth

- metaphor represent the evil thoughts and unsettling tone.

- "The bat has flown" also a metaphor, reminds the audience of falcon and the owl creates a sense of paranoia.

"Are you a man?"

Act 3, Scene 4

Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth's masculinity again in response to his fear of Banquo's ghost - she is taking back control

"play the humble host"

Act 3, Scene 4

Use of the verb "play" emphasise that Macbeth is playing the part of host and king, his hospitality his fake

"cabined, cribbed, confined"

Act 3, Scene 4

Macbeth, alliteration emphasise that he is feeling trapped

"I am in blood/Stepped in so far"

Act 3, Scene 4

metaphor of "in blood" suggests Macbeth feels guilty for the murders, "stepped in so far" shows he can't take it back

"Double, Double toil and trouble"

Act 4, Scene 1

Witches cast a spell, imply evil things are going to happen.

double suggest double meanings

"Something wicked this way comes"

Act 4 Scene 1

Macbeth has changed from a brave hero to an evil person, suggested by adjective Wicked

"[Thunder.The First Apparition, a helmeted head, rises into sight]"

Act 4 Scene 1

Thunder - pathetic fallacy, something bad is going to happen.

apparition of armoured head represent 2 things:

- Foreshadow Macbeth's death, he is decapitated

- Foreshadows the violence of the battle

Three Apparitions

represent the three witches, who are responsible for the apparitions that drive Macbeth's ambition

"Thunder. The Second Apparition, a blood-stained child, rises into sight"

Apparition says - "none of woman borne/shall harm Macbeth"

Act 4, Scene 1.

Macbeth takes this at face value at things no one will ever harm him , feels and secure.

However, false sense of safety because Macduff was born by Caesarean section (from the tummy) rather than traditionally born- Macduff later kills him

"Thunder. The Third Apparition, a child crowned, with a tre e in his hand rises into sight"

"Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until Great Birnham Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him"

Act 4 Scene 1

Macbeth feels secure because he thinks its impossible foe Birnham Wood to literally come to Dunsinane

Child represent Malcom, holding branch symbolise growth of Scotland under his rightful rule

"Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs"

Act 4 Scene 1

crown is worn in an apparition by Banquo's descendants

The verb "sear" which means to burn, suggests Macbeth's anger at seeing Banquo's kids in line for the thrown.

"All my pretty ones?/Do you say all? O hell-kite! All?/ What, all my pretty chickens"

Act 4 Scene 3

Macduff hearing about his families' murder.

- Repetition "pretty" suggest his affection and love for his family.

- Use of possessive pronoun "my" shows his closeness towards his family which emphasises his disbelief that they are dead. Repetition of "all" further highlights his disbelief.

- use of rhetorical questions emphasise disbelief.

"Out, damned spot!"

Act 5 Scene 1

Lady Macbeth tries to wash imaginary blood of her hands - she is plagued by guilt. Contrast Act 2 scene 2 when she tells Macbeth "A little water clears us off this dead"

Lady Macbeth Goes Mad- Language Changes

Act 5 Scene 1

Her speech changes from Blank Verse (regular rhythm of iambic pentameter) to broken prose. This represents her broken state of mind and change of behaviour.

Doctor says "unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles"

Act 5 Scene 1

Her evil 'unnatural' actions have caused her to go mad - link to disruption of natural order

"be these juggling fiends no more believed"

Act 5 Scene 8

Macbeth realises that the witches have tricked him

The adjective "juggling" presents the witches at tricksters- like a jester or clown

"fiends" means evil spirits or demons

'Bellona's bridegroom'

Rosse compare Macbeth to Mars, the God of War to emphasise that he thinks he is a brave and powerful warrior

"hell-hound"

Macduff calls Macbeth a "hell hound"

Alliteration (repeated 'h' sounds)

"hound" is a dog, violent, like an animal

The reference to "hell" suggests he's not only like an animal but also an evil demon.