Macbeth Act 1 quotes

GCSE English Lit

fair is foul and foul is fair

Witches: start = confusion, chaos, disorder. supernatural

Like valour’s minion

Captain: M is brave. Admired.

What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won

Duncan: Juxtapos, foreshad, echo witches

why do you start and seem to fear things that do sound so fair?

Banquo: witches echo, B is questioning/more cautious

why do you dress me in borrowed robes?

Macbeth: clothing imagery = deception.

there’s no art to find the minds construction in the face

Duncan: appearance vs reality. dramatic irony because he gets betrayed multiple times.

but signs of nobleness shall shine on all deservers

Duncan: celestial imagery - CONTEXT, great chain of being

stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires

Macbeth: aside. divine consequence. dark = violence/evil stars = light/morality. about to do something bad. against the moral path

too full o’th milk of human kindness

Lady M: milk = innocence/childhood. attacking Macbeths’ masculinity

look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it'

Lady M: snake = devil in bible(context) = deception

vaulting ambition

Macbeth: reason for killing king = only ambition

false face must hide what the false heart doth know

Macbeth: deception - hiding true self with mask

return to plague th’inventor

Macbeth: concerned about consequences - disease/sin = divine conseq.

when you durst do it then you were a man

Lady M: manipulation, manliness