Quotation Bank on Macbeth

hes not just some murderer tyrant hes my babygirl

“For brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name”

The soldier refers to Macbeth directly as brave, because he fought well in battle, and it is our first introduction to him. This shows how he is viewed, even in passing by a side character who only really knows him in battle, sees him as brave and noble. Since it’s our first introduction to him, he is immediately imprinted as brave.

“Oh valiant cousin worthy champion”

Even the king, Duncan, considers him valiant (another word for brave) and worthy. If he’s able to be seen as brave by the king, it shows that he must be very courageous and truly deserves his title.

“noble Macbeth”

This calls him noble, and is accompanied by his reward as Thane of Cawdor. This shows how he is brave enough and noble enough to be rewarded and be honoured.

“Bellona’s bridegroom”

Bellona is the Roman goddess of war, and that makes him seem more like a brave warrior, married to the cause (showing how he is loyal to his country, and therefore his king, which is foreshadowing). The Romans were also related to themes of war, conquering, glory, bravery and honour, so using a Roman goddess could represent how Macbeth could represent those ideals.

“And Fortune on his damned quarrel smiling, Showed like a rebel’s whore. But all’s too weak, For brave Macbeth…Disdaining Fortune…Like Valour’s minion carved out his passage”

Macdonald is represented as fortune, Macbeth as valour. While fortune may seem good, it is capricious, fickle, and less honourable than hard won valour, which Macbeth is seen as. Even the language used shows how Macbeth is seen highly, with Fortune being described as a ‘rebels whore’ (shows how capricious and disgusting luck and fortune can be seen in war settings when it favours the opposing side) and Macbeth being described as ‘valours minion, therefore a servant of bravery. Macbeth disdains fortune, fighting back against luck and carves out his passage to beat Macdonald using bravery and hard work (foreshadowing) showing how he is viewed highly and seen as an honourable person.

“This even-handed justice Commends th’ingredience of our poisoned chalice to our own lips”

He thinks that if they do it, it would come back to them like some kind of cosmic karma, the consequences coming back to kill them or damn them to hell. This could represent cowardice, as he is worried about what could happen to him, not just going and doing it

“Stars, hide your fires, Let not light see my black and deep desires”

The stars could represent heaven/light/goodness, and he wants them to be hidden from him and his evil desires. This could represent guilt or worry about what the stars could do if they saw.

“my dearest partner of greatness”

The word partner is strange for this era, as it shows how Macbeth sees Lady Macbeth as an equal, unusual for men of this time. They share his wins

“that thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee”

The word “thee” means you, and he is promising her greatness. This shows how he respects her and doesn’t just see this as a win for him. They’re a team, not just a second class citizen to him

“my dearest love”

He loves her, which is something that sometimes doesn’t come up in these old fashioned or royal marriages. A lot of the time these marriages are arranged or loveless, but he really loves her

“Bring forth men-children only, For thy undaunted mettle shall bring forth nothing but males”

He calls her brave, and that she's so brave that she will only bring forth male children. So he sees her as brave, ‘like a man’, which is a high compliment from him at the time. 

“but only Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself”

In this scene, Macbeth is talking about how he doesn’t have any motivation but ambition, which must be very strong motivation if it leads him to kill the king. He considers himself to be ambitious, maybe even too ambitious as it ‘o’erleaps itself’.

“Art not without ambition”/ “It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness”

Even Lady Macbeth, who considers Macbeth to be too sweet and kind as shown by the second quote, thinks he’s ambitious. This shows how his ambition is clear, and it is big enough for it to be recognised by someone who constantly finds faults in him.

“I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares do more is none”

He thinks that killing the king will make him less of a man, and that if he killed the king he wouldn’t be a man. ‘Man’ in this is less of a concrete role and more of something you have to live up to, and he thinks that killing the king will make him less of a man

“We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honoured me of late”

Since the king has honoured him, it seems dishonourable to kill him back. It comes back to the idea of being a good person/man, he wants to be kind to the king and not evil towards him.

“He’s here in double trust…Strong both against the deed…Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself”

This whole monologue (pg 31) shows how he feels conflicted with the roles that he inhabits and how they contradict with his actions. He’s a kinsman and a subject and a host, all good things, and should not do the unholy act of murder especially towards his cousin and his king and his guest. He feels like he’s betraying in many different ways, which doesn’t make him a good person at all. It betrays his religion, due to the divine right of kings, and his personal moral values.