Term	Definition	Example from Macbeth
Equivocation	The use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or mislead.	The witches say, “None of woman born shall harm Macbeth,” misleading him with half-truths.
Catharsis	Emotional release felt by the audience, especially at the end of a tragedy.	The audience feels relief when Macbeth is defeated and order is restored.
Hamartia	A tragic flaw or error in judgment that leads to the hero’s downfall.	Macbeth’s ambition drives him to murder and ruin.
Dramatic Irony	When the audience knows something the characters do not.	Duncan calls Macbeth “worthy,” while the audience knows Macbeth plans to kill him.
Motif	A recurring image, idea, or symbol that supports a theme.	Blood, sleep, and clothing recur throughout to emphasize guilt, death, and identity.
Soliloquy	A speech by a character alone on stage revealing inner thoughts.	Macbeth’s “Is this a dagger which I see before me” shows his mental conflict before killing Duncan.
Weird/Wyrd	Old English for fate or destiny.	The “Weird Sisters” are linked to fate and prophecy, shaping Macbeth’s future.

Quote	Speaker
“When shall we three meet again?”	The witches
“If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.”	Macbeth
“The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements.”	Lady Macbeth
“Your face, my thane, is as a book where men may read strange matters.”	Lady Macbeth
“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.”	Lady Macbeth
“But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we'll not fail.”	Lady Macbeth
“Bring forth men-children only; for thy undaunted mettle should compose nothing but males.”	Macbeth
“If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly.”	Macbeth
“Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done ‘t.”	Lady Macbeth
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine...”	Macbeth
“My hands are of your colour; but I shame to wear a heart so white.”	Lady Macbeth
“Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, as the weird women promised, and I fear thou play'dst most foully for't.”	Banquo
“Fly, good Fleance! Fly, fly, fly!”	Banquo
“It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood.”	Macbeth
“Something wicked this way comes.”	Second Witch
“Out, damned spot…”	Lady Macbeth
“She should have died hereafter.”	Macbeth
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow…”	Macbeth
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.”	Macbeth
“Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped!”	Macduff
“I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet…”	Macbeth
“Lay on, Macduff, and damned be him who first cries ‘Hold enough!’”	Macbeth

Macbeth unit pt 1