Macbeth Quotes Flashcards
(22 cards)
‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’
The Witches
Supernatural - boundaries between good and evil are unclear, witches see no difference between good and evil, alliteration of ‘f’ brings softness to words as if whispered, opening the play with the witches introduce the key themes of good and evil.
‘Brave Macbeth’
Macbeths success in the battle - seen as a brave and noble soldier who is prepared to risk his life for his king and country,
‘Let not light see my black and deep desires’
Light imagery - black and deep desires are his thoughts of murdering Duncan, black is synonymous with evil and ‘black’ and ‘deep’ desires suggest the evil nature of his ambition is growing. The ‘light’ shows the purity and that Macbeth feels ashamed to think about murderingDuncan
‘My dearest partner of greatness’
‘My dearest’ shows that they enjoy their time together and are in a loving marriage and ‘partner of greatness’ suggests they are of equal superiority - this is unusual considering the patriarchal context. Later on when Macbeth doesn’t include his wife he audience reflects on the changing nature of their relationship.
‘That I may pour my spirits in thine ear’
Pouring poison into an ear is a recurring theme in Shakespeares plays. LM desires to transfer her ruthlessness and strength by metaphorically pouring these characteristics into his ear - manipulation by showing how she is strong and M is weak at this point in time. Change in power.
‘Unsex me here’
Audience see a frustrated women by her limitations based on her gender and wants to be male - ‘unsex’ shows how she wants to free herself from the shackles of female oppression and have power over her life
‘Take my milk for gall’
Looks for supernatural support by asking for her ‘milk’ which is a nurturing, life giving feminine substance into ‘gall’ which is life-threatening and dangerous - this would have shocked the audience as she is rejecting her prescribed role as to reproduce and raise children
‘Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’
LM drives the plan for murdering Duncan and instructs her husband to appear, gentle and good - symbolised by the flower. And to hide his deceit - symbolised with the serpent.
‘Was the hope drunk’
LM learning her husband is unwilling to proceed with the plan and so she challenges his masculinity and humiliate him - personifies ‘hope’ as being ‘drunk’ and out of control.
‘Dash’d the brains out’
Harsh words adding to the presentation of LM of being ruthless and disturbed. Brutally killing someone shows how LM is different to a typical Jacobean women as she is more violent and independent
‘Is this a dagger which I see before me’
Hallucination - builds tension as it gets closer to Duncan’s death - it could be a supernatural vision or a ‘false creation’. Brought up upon extreme anxiety and this loss of control allows the audience to sympathise with him as he prepares to murder the king.
‘Will all great Neptunes Ocean wash this blood’
Macbeth is known for being a brave killer
Neptune is a god - Macbeth calling upon gods help for his sins
Hyperbole - the ruler of the oceans cannot supply enough water to clean his hands/wash away his sins
‘A little water clears us of this deed’
LM being dismissive of her husbands fears and speaks in an assertive tone - power has changed from M and back to LM
Gains significance later on when LM imagines her hands are stained with Duncan’s blood
‘Upon my head they plac’d a fruitless crown’
Fruitless - it is undeserved and it is not within the divine right of kings as he is the one who killed Duncan
Macbeth shows greed as he wants more
‘We have scorch’d the snake, not kill’d it’
‘Snake’ could relate to a biblical image from Adam and even and their passage with evil
‘Scorch’d’ rather than ‘kill’d’ suggests that the journey of becoming in power is not finished - still needs to commit other crimes.
‘O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife’
Scorpions are dangerous and can poison animals and being capable of inducing cardiac arrest. Being full of his mind shows that he has got lots of evil thoughts lingering in his mind - has the capacity to bring death to others.
‘Dear wife’ - care towards his wife
‘I am cabin’d, cribb’d, confin’d’
Three consecutive ‘c’ sounds are harshly alliterated snd enhances the feelings M has about fleance escaping. Entrapment symbolises Ms state of mind.
‘Infected be the air wherein they ride’
M has returned to the witches showing his curiosity is high as he wants to know more prophesies about him.
‘Infected’ - witches have diseases and capable of contaminating others with their illness.
‘Out damned spot’
‘Spot’ - Duncan’s blood, while with the doctor the gentlewomen describes the worrying behaviour of LM.
Compared to ‘a little blood should clean us of this deed’ - LM is heightened with anxiety and no longer is presented as powerful.
‘I have almost forgot the taste of fears’
‘Almost’ suggests that deep inside of him there remains a small capacity to recall emotion and not all hope is lost.
The metaphor imaging fear - reminds us that he was once a man who felt emotions deeply.
‘Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player’
Shows Ms nihilistic thoughts and explores a range of images that conveys his state of mind.
‘Walking shadow’ shows how life is meaningless and that death will catch up to you eventually.
‘Dead butcher and his fiend like queen’
For a butcher, killing things is an occupation and it describes it as the slaughtering has no emotion. Lady Macduff and her children are as butchers meat.
LM being a ‘fiend like’ connects her to supernatural suggesting a wicked and inhuman creature.
