Macbeth Passage Analysis unit test
Act I (7 passages)
1. Fair is foul, and foul is fair,
Hover through the fog and filthy air (1.1. 12-13)
Speaker: The Three Witches.
Listener: Each other / The audience.
Devices:
Alliteration: Fair, foul, fog, filthy.
Paradox: A statement that contradicts itself (Fair is foul).
What: They are chanting about how the natural order is turning upside down.
When: The very start of the play (Scene 1) before they meet Macbeth.
Why: To set the "creepy" mood and show that good and evil are going to get blurred.
Where: An open field/heath in Scotland during a storm.
2. Not so happy, yet much happier.
Thou shalt get kings, though be none.
So all hail Macbeth and Banquo.
Banquo and Macbeth, all hail (1.3. 64-67)
Speaker: The Three Witches.
Listener: Banquo (and Macbeth is standing there).
Devices:
Paradox: "Not so happy, yet much happier."
Prophecy: They are predicting the future of his bloodline.
What: The witches tell Banquo he won't be king, but his sons will be.
When: Right after Macbeth is told he’ll be Thane of Cawdor.
Why: To create tension between Macbeth and Banquo’s future.
Where: The heath near Forres.
3. The prince of cumberland; that is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’er leap,
For in my way it lies, stars, hide your fires.
Let not light see my black and deep desires, the
Eye wink at the hand. Yet let that be,
Which the eye fears when it is done to see (1.4. 48-53)
4. Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promis’d; yet do I fear thy nature,
It is too o’th milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without (1.5. 14-18)
Speaker: Lady Macbeth.
Listener: Herself (she’s reading a letter from Macbeth).
Devices:
Metaphor: Comparing Macbeth’s kindness to "milk."
Soliloquy: She is speaking her inner thoughts alone.
What: She worries Macbeth is too nice to actually kill the king and take the crown.
When: Right after she gets the letter about the witches' prophecies.
Why: To show she is the more ambitious/ruthless one in the relationship.
Where: Macbeth’s castle (Inverness).
5. Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time, bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue; look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't (1. 5. 61-65)
Speaker: Lady Macbeth.
Listener: Macbeth.
Devices:
Simile: Comparing his face to a "book."
Metaphor/Imagery: "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t."
What: She’s telling him he’s too easy to read and needs to act fake.
When: When Macbeth first gets home and they start planning the murder.
Why: To coach him on how to hide his "deep desires" from the King.
Where: Macbeth’s castle.
6. To our own lips. He's here in double trust:
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host.
Who should against his murder shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself (1.7. 12-16)
Speaker: Macbeth.
Listener: Himself (Aside/Soliloquy).
Devices:
Imagery: The "knife" and the "door."
Hyperbole: He’s exaggerating the "double trust" to show his guilt.
What: He’s listing all the reasons why he shouldn't kill Duncan (he’s the host, a subject, and a cousin).
When: Just before the big dinner with the King.
Why: He’s having a crisis of conscience and is scared of the consequences.
Where: A room in Macbeth’s castle.
7. Bring me forth men children only,
For thy undaunted mettle should compose
Nothing but males. Will it not be received
When we have marked with blood those (1.7. 72-77)
Speaker: Macbeth.
Listener: Lady Macbeth.
Devices:
Hyperbole: Saying she should only have boys because she's so tough.
Metaphor: "Undaunted mettle" refers to her bold spirit/temperament.
What: Macbeth is impressed by how cold-blooded his wife is being about the murder plan.
When: Right after Lady Macbeth convinces him to go through with the killing.
Why: It shows he’s finally "all in" on the plan and admires her strength.
Where: Macbeth’s castle.
ACT 2 p1
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would sleep; merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Give way to in repose (2.1. 6-9)
Speaker: Banquo
Listener: Fleance (his son)
Where: The courtyard of Macbeth’s castle (Inverness)
When: Just after midnight, right before the murder.
Why : Banquo can’t sleep because he’s dreaming about the witches. He’s trying to stay "good" while Macbeth is about to do the opposite.
Literary devices : Simile, Personification
She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed.
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee (2.1. 32-34)
Speaker: Macbeth
Listener: Himself Soliloquy
Where: A hallway in his castle.
When: Moments before he walks into Duncan’s room to kill him.
Why : He’s hallucinating. The "]bell Lady Macbeth rings is the signal that the guards are passed out and it’s time to commit the crime.
Shaksphereian term : Soliloquy
Give me the dagger. The sleeping and the dead
Are but as pictures; ‘tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,
I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal,
For it must see their guilt (2.2. 56-60)
Speaker: Lady Macbeth
Listener: Macbeth
Where: Just outside Duncan’s bedroom.
When: Right after the murder.
Why : Macbeth brought the bloody daggers out by accident because he was so shaken. She calls him a coward and goes back to frame the guards herself.
Literary devices : Metaphor, Simile
Whence is that knocking?
How is't with me, when every noise appalls me?
What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes.
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas in incarnadine,
Making the green one red (2.2. 61-66)
Speaker: Macbeth
Listener: Himself / Lady Macbeth (she’s there, but he’s in his own head)
Where: The castle courtyard.
When: Right after Lady Macbeth leaves to smear the blood.
Why : There’s a loud knocking at the gate. Macbeth is spiraling, thinking all the water in the world won’t clean the blood/guilt off his hands.
Literary devices : Allusion , Hyperbole
Knock, Knock Knock! Who’s there, in the name of Belzebub? Here’s
A farmer that hanged himself on the expectation of plenty [...]
Knock, Knock! Never at quiet. What are
You? But this place is too cold for hell. I’ll
Devil-porter it no further. I had thought to
have let in some of all professions that go
The primrose way to the everlasting bonfire.
Anon, anon! I pray you remember the porter (2.3. 2-18)
Speaker: The Porter
Listener: Himself / The audience (and eventually Macduff)
Where: The castle gate.
When: Early morning, right after the murder.
Why : He’s super hungover and pretending to be the gatekeeper of hell. It’s dark because a murder just happened inside.
Literary divices : Allusion, Irony
Outran the pauser, reason here lay Duncan,
His silver skin laced with his golden blood
And his gashed stabs looked like a branch in nature,
For his ruin’s wasteful entrance. There the murderers,
Steep’d in the colours of their trade, their daggers
Unmannerly breached with gore. Who could refrain (2.3. 107-112)
Speaker: Macbeth
Listener: Macduff, Lennox, and the others.
Where: Inside the castle.
When: Just after Duncan’s body is discovered.
Why : Macbeth is trying to explain why he killed the guards (the only witnesses). He uses really fancy language to make himself look like a loyal, grieving subject.
Literary divices : Metaphor
Tis unnatural,
Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last
A falcon tow’ring in her pride place
Was by a mousing owl haw’d at and kill’d (2.4. 11-13)
Speaker: Old Man
Listener: Ross
Where: Outside the castle.
When: A few days after the murder.
Why : They are talking about how weird the weather and animals have been. It shows that killing the King has messed up the natural order of the world.
Act 3
Thou hast it now, king, Cawdor, Glamis, all
As the weird women promised, and I fear
Thou played’st most foully fort; yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be that root and father
Of many kings. If there came truth and from them-
As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine-
Why by the verities on thee good,
May they not be my oracles as well
And set me up in hope? But hush, no more (3.1. 1-10)
Speaker: Banquo
Listener: Himself (Soliloquy)
Where: The palace at Forres.
When: Just before a big state banquet.
Why : Banquo realizes Macbeth has everything the witches promised, but he suspects Macbeth killed for it. He’s wondering if his own kids will actually become kings too.
Speaker: Macbeth
Listener: Himself (Soliloquy)
Where: The palace.
When: Just before he talks to the murderers.
Why : Macbeth is King, but he’s miserable. He’s realize he has no kids to pass the crown to, so he feels like he killed Duncan just to make Banquo’s kids kings. He decides he has to kill Banquo and Fleance.
To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be fear’d. Tis much he dares,
And to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear: and under him
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Anthonys was by Caesar. He child the sisters When first they put the name of king upon me
And bade them speak to him. Then prophet- like,
They hailed him father to a line of kings.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
And put a barren scepter in my gripe,
No son of mine succeeding, If it be so (3.1. 49-65)
Speaker: Macbeth
Listener: Lady Macbeth
Where: A private room in the palace.
When: Before the banquet.
Why : Macbeth is telling his wife that they aren't safe yet. They’ve wounded their enemies, but they haven't finished the job. He’s becoming more ruthless than her now.
We have scorched the snake, not killed it.
She’ll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth (3.2.13-15)
Speaker: Lady Macbeth
Listener: Macbeth
Where: The banquet hall.
When: During the feast.
Why : Macbeth is losing it because he sees Banquo’s ghost. She’s trying to snap him out of it by telling him it’s just another hallucination like the dagger.
This is the very painting of your fear;
This is the air-drawn dagger which you said
Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts,
Impostors to true fear, would well become
A woman's story at winter’s fire
Authorized by her grandam, shame itself!
Why do you make such faces? When all’s done
You look but on a stool (3.4. 61-68)
Speaker: Hecate the Head Witch
Listener: The three Witches.
Where: A heath / stormy place.
When: After the banquet.
Why : Hecate is mad at the witches for messing with Macbeth without her. She says they’re going to give him a false sense of security to lead him to his "disaster."
I’ll catch it ere it come to ground;
And that distilled by magic sleights,
Shall raise such artificial sprites
As by the strength of their illusion
Shall draw him to his confession and bear
His hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace, and fear.
And you all know, security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy (3.5. 25-33)
Speaker: Hecate the head witch
Listener: The Three Witches.
Where: the witches layer
When: right after the disastrous banquet where Macbeth saw Banquo’s ghost.
What: Hecate is explaining her plan to produce a magical vapor that will be used to create the apparitions Macbeth sees later. She wants to make him feel so safe and powerful that he lets his guard down and destroys himself.
Why : To show that the Witches aren't just predicting the future—they are actively trying to destroy Macbeth by using his own overconfidence against him.
Literary devices : Metaphor, Alliteration