MACBETH QUOTES Flashcards
(17 cards)
Act 1 ```
“When shall we three meet, in thunder lightening or rain” - Witches
The use of pathetic fallacey shows the metaphysical ability of the witches to control the weather creating a powerful tone.
This creates an ominous and chaotic setting suggesting the witches bring disorder and darkness.
The use of rhetorical question suggests witches are planning something secretive and sinister which build suspense and mystery for the audience, who sense that evil is about to unfold.
In Jacobean times, unnatural weather was often linked to the presence of witches or the devil. This line would signal supernatural disturbance to the audience.
“The instruments of darkness tell us truths” – Banquo (Act 1, Scene 3)
The use of metaphor suggests that they are creatures of the devil that spread deception which are similar to instruments that make abhorrent sounds..
The use of juxtapostion highlights the danger in believing things that seem honest but comes from evil sources which adds to the theme of deception and corrupted ambition.
The Jacobean audience would feel petrified that Banquoe and Macbeth are talking to transcendant creatures since they belived that witches could use the truth to lure victims into sin and spread doom in the land.
“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! / Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! / Hail to thee, that shalt be king hereafter!” – Witches (Act 1, Scene 3)
Technique: Anaphora / Repetition (“Hail to thee”)
Repeating “hail” three times mimics a ritualistic chant, making the prophecy feel powerful and fated cauisng Macbeth to hea more from the witches.
Effect: Gives the witches an authoritative, hypnotic presence—almost like casting a spell on Macbeth.
The Jacobean audience would feel shocked as this prophecy challenges the divine right of king which displays the disobedience of God and causes corrupt in the land
“unseamed him from the nave to the chaps. - Act 1 Scene 2 The Captain
The violent imagery shows how ruthless and uncanny Macbeth fights in a battlefield like a warrior who enjoys the sports of killing. In addition this displays his loyalty to King Duncan as he killed the rebels without fear.
The sewing metaphor suggests Macbeth is ripping a garment apart.This suggests a sense of control and precision in Macbeth’s violence, making him seem both skilled and deadly. This also suggets that he will later unseam the natural order by murdering King Duncan.
Jacobean audience would admire his bravery and loyalty to the king which is one of the act of following to the chivalary codes and he would be seen as a national hero.
“with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution”- Act 1 Scene 2- The Captain
The use of personification portrays that he moved his sword with so much speed and skill that heat came from it. Personification
“Smoked” gives a human-like quality to the scene, suggesting that the very environment is tainted by the violence.
Effect: It intensifies the sense of chaos, where violence is so pervasive it affects the atmosphere itself, not just the bodies involved in the conflict.
Also the metaphor displays the bloodbath involved in that battle and implies the horror and savagery of the battle, showing his involvement in the act.
“Stas, hide you fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires” - Macbeth. Act 1, Scene 4
Personification: The stars are given the human ability to “hide”.Macbeth appeals to the stars as though they can actively conceal his desires from the world and his own conciousness.
Symbolism: The stars symbolise the divine order and morality by asking them to hide, suggets that Macbeth is rejecting divine influence and the natural order.
The noun “black” portrys Macbeth is filled with evil and sinful thoughts. It also signfies the death and the murderous intent to kill Duncan.
Theme: Appearance vs Reality
: Macbeth is struggling with his outward appearance of loyalty to King Duncan while secretly harboring treacherous desires. The light symbolizes the truth of his intentions, while the darkness represents his hidden, evil ambitions.
Theme: Ambition and Corrpution
This emphazizes how unchecked ambitioun corrupts Macbeth. He wishes for the light of God to hide, because he knows that this would lead him to moral drestruction.
“Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts unsex me here” - Act 1 Scene 5 Lady Macbeth
The writer utilises imperative sentence to show that Lady Macbeth is conjuring evil spirits. This causes the Jacobean[A01] audience to feel astonished because they believed in a strict hierarchy of the universe with God at the top and witches are agents of the devil outside this order.
The verb “unsex” shows that she is asking for male’s strength and change her feminine nature into a fierceness to have the capacity to be cruel and unfeelings to commit the devious act.
Lady Macbeth desire for power is so strong that she is willing to sacrafice her own identity and moral compass to acheive it. She beilives that to suceed she must become more masculine and ruthless.
“I dreamed last night of the three weird sisters; To you they have showed some truth”. - Act 2 Scene 1 Banquo. Analyse this quote.
The use of declartive descriptive phrase show that Banquo publicly acknowledges the witches prophecies which shows that he dismisses their power over him which contrasts with Macbeth as he does not choose obsess over it privately or allows it to dictate his actions.
As a result, the witches have spoken some truth but does not let his influence him in the same way.
In contrast, Macbeth is already trying to control his situation, when he states “stars, hide your fires let not light see my dark and deep desires” which shows that he is already thinking of sinster actions like murdering King Duncan to fulfill the prophecy.
Themes: Fate vs. Free will
Will: Banquo wonders whether the witches are telling the future (fate) or if people, like Macbeth, are making their futures come true by acting on those prophecies .
“Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all”-
Act 3 Scene 5 Banquo
Banquo is pious and morally grounded. Even though he has also been given prophecies by the witches — that his descendants will be kings — he refuses to act on them.
This shows a clear contrast between Banquo and Macbeth. While Macbeth allows ambition and supernatural temptation to drive him to murder, Banquo remains loyal to God’s natural order
His belief in the Great Chain of Being (the idea that God has placed everyone in a specific position in society) means he won’t interfere with fate or attempt to change his status through unnatural means like Macbeth does.
Theme:
Banquo also pities Macbeth suggesting he may suspect has done something wrong (“I fear thou played’st most foully for’t”) but doesn’t confront him. His pity could come from a place of emphathy - or even regret that Macbeth has been conusmed by ambition.
Theme: Apperance vs Reality
On the surface, Macbeth seems to have achieved greatness, but Banquo suspects something darker beneath the appearance of success. It hints that not everything is as it seems
“Of full of scorpions in my mind, dear wife”-
“We have scorched the snake, not killed it”.
Macbeth Act 3 Scene 2
Macbeth uses violent imagery (“scorpions”) to describe his thoughts — they’re painful, poisonous, and uncontrollable.
This shows his mental instability and growing paranoia after killing Duncan. He is not at peace.
His mind is infested with fear, showing how guilt is taking over his thoughts.
Macbeth’s ambition disrupts the Great Chain of Being when he murders King Duncan - the rightful, God-appointed king. His ambtion drives him to challenge divine order, believing he can choose hhis own fate and climb the chain unnaturallly.
Theme: Ambition/The Great Chain of Being
The Jacobean audeince will feel shocked and disrubted as this may be warning the audience of the dangers of overreaching ambition.
It reinforces the belief that those who defy God’s plan will suffer personal destruction and bring chaos to the world around them.
“On my head they placed a fruitless crown” Act 3 Scene 2 Macbeth
Shakespeare utilises metaphor to suggests that this power is empty or will not yield any benefit. Macbeth is aware that the crown, even if he attains it will not bring him sataisfication. The adjective “fruitless” suggests that the acheivement of the crown may lead to nothing but sorrow which foreshadows Macbeth’s tragic fate.
The audience may feel symphathy for Macbeth because he has been honored for his bravery and heroism in the battle but now he is faced with the troubling consequences of ambition. The line suggests his inner conflict and regonition of that crown which was his long desire and it may not bring the hapiness he imagines.
“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”
She is advising him to mask his true intentions and present a facade of kindness while secretly plotting murder. The metaphor of the “serpent” alludes deception, danger and evil drawing on a biblical symbol of the serpent in the garden of Eden, representing temptation and treachery.
The symbolism of serpent implies taht he should be like a serpent harmless but capable of great evil.
Her cold and caluclating attitude contrasts with Macbeth’s hesitation highlighting her greater ambition and upcomprising character.
Theme:
This reflects Jacobean belief about ambition, deception and moral corruption resonating with audience familiar with religious and social expections.
“I fear thy nature, it is too full o’th’milk of human kindness”
Lady Macbeth says this ironically - not bracuse she is scared of his “black and deep desires” but because she fears he doesn’t have the guts to make them reality.
Her metapor to the breast milk highlights the maternal love and care which are feminnie traits she is applying to her husband.
Lady Macbeth uses the symbol of breast milk to subtly question Macbeth’s manliness. It is Lady Macbeth who gains the courage to do what necessary - no matter how violent - to put her husband on the throne.
It seems the witches prophecy spurs her ambition more so than Macbeth’s.
Theme:
The Jacobean audience potrayed men as dominant and agressive while women were fragile and passive meaning Lady Macbeth is unconvential character.
Shakespeare seems to be saying that ambition cannot coexist with morality something which Lady Macbeth has already regonized,
Lady Macbeth deriding tone seems to condemn human kindness as a merely a womnaly weakness, but it is viewd as a noble characterstic.
. ‘All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand’ O, O, O’. In Act 5, Scene 1 his line is spoken by Lady Macbeth during the famous “Sleepwalking Scene.” She is overwhelmed by guilt over the murders she and Macbeth have committed, especially King Duncan’s murder.
As she sleepwalks, she imagines trying to wash the blood off her hands but realizes that no amount of perfume or washing can cleanse her conscience.
In her somnambulant state, Lady Macbeth acknowledges in her madness the extent of her guilt as she tries to cover the imaginary ‘smell of blood’ emanating from her hands. Arabia was known for having the strong exotic scents, mirroring Macbeth’s Neptune allusion, the image shows how nothing can eradicate her guilt. The disjointed dialogue of ‘O, O, O’ reflects the lack of control she has over her mind; this starkly contrast with Act 1 when she summoned evil spirits to her with cold expertise.
In this scene, she uses prose, rather than the blank verse she used in earlier acts, showing her descent into insanity.
Theme:
Shakespeare shows that guilt stays within the mind and heart, affecting a person’s conscience deeply. No matter how much one tries to hide or wash away the consequences of wrongdoing, guilt remains and can lead to mental anguish and destruction.
“To me you speak not. If you can look into the seeds of time”. - Banquo. [ In Act 1 Scene 3. Banquo is meeting the witches with Macbeth for the first time]
The writer utilises metaphor to imply that he is intrigued by their power of fortunate- telling. The seed symbolise possible outcome of fate implying that just as the seeds grow into plants, events grow and develop over time - but only some will take root and thrive.
Banquo is asking the witches whether they can see the potential outcome of life and determine which seeds [future] will grow[come true].
Theme: Free will vs Fate
It raises the questions if the future is already planted and destined to grow or can we change them through our own actions?. The metaphor also refelcts Banquo’s thoughtful and catious nature - unlike Macbeth he doesn’t jump to conclusions fully trust the witches.
“Brave Macbeth, he deserves that name” - Ross. [ Act 1 Scene 2] .[ This is when the lords meet up after the war and praise Macbeth for his courage.
“Brave Macbeth” immediately presents Macbeth as a noble and valiant warrior, admired for his loyalty and fearlessness in battle.
The adjective “brave” aligns Macbeth with Jacobean ideals of masculinity, honour, and loyalty, important values in Shakespeare’s time.
This description is part of dramatic irony, as the audience knows Macbeth will later become a tyrant, creating tension and foreshadowing.
Positioned early in the play, it helps construct Macbeth’s heroic image, which is later deconstructed as he descends into evil.
The phrase contributes to Macbeth’s tragic arc, showing his transformation from honourable hero to corrupted murderer.
It reflects King James I’s values—Macbeth begins as a loyal subject, but his later betrayal warns of the dangers of ambition and treason.
The adjective “brave” becomes ironically loaded as Macbeth’s bravery turns into ruthlessness and moral decay.
Shakespeare challenges the audience to think about what true bravery means—is it physical strength or moral integrity?
‘Art not without ambition, but without the
illness that should attend it’. In Act 1, Scene 5 Lady Macbeth is reflecting on Macbeth’s character after reading his letter about the witches’ prophecy. She acknowledges that Macbeth has ambition but worries he is too kind or lacks the ruthless “illness”.
Lady Macbeth shows the ruthlessness of her ambition. The ‘illness’ is a metaphor for a ‘killer instinct’ – a Machiavellian ability to pursue ambition ruthlessly without moral scruples.
She has developed intimate knowledge of Macbeth’s
inner psyche and fears his inherent kindness, rather
than being a strength, is an obstacle that will prevent
them from achieving their shared goal. To
compensate, she wilfully invites the forces of evil into
the marriage when she makes a deliberate decision to catch this ‘illness’ herself by ‘unsexing’ herself -
revealing the extent of her desire to exceed the
limitations placed on Jacobean women.
Theme:
Shakespeare’s purpose for linking ambition with illness early in the play is to foreshadow Lady Macbeth’s descent into mental illness later in the play to warn against the poisoning effects of unchecked ambition.
