Quote analysis Flashcards
(24 cards)
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”
- Shows that the witches are evil and that disgusting is good for them.
- Shows an alteration in nature
- Extended metaphor that appears throughout the play in different contexts and different ways
“Hail brave friend”
-This sergeant is being respected for his bravery; how a typical man at these times should behave
“merciless Macdonald”
-Shows the use of Epithets (something that is attached to someone’s name)
“for brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name
-Shakespeare is establishing Macbeth as a hero at the start of the play
“fixed his head upon our battlements”
- A typical method for punishing traitors
- Phrase “our battlements” shows that Scotland is now a very unified front, as Duncan treats his followers more liberally and they stay loyal to him
- Foreshadows the loop of tyranny as Macbeth himself is beheaded at the end of the play
“God save the king”
-This is a sign of respect to King James 1
“What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won”
- Things are rhyming which shows that Duncan is under the spell of the witches
- Shows the cycle of people losing their throne and then being taken by other people and them losing their throne again
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen”
- Macbeth is directly linking himself to the witches
- Macbeth is repeating the witches which shows that he is under their spell
“you should be women and yet your beards forbid me”
Shows men dressed as female witches; explores the idea of how women’s’ roles were played by men
“Why do you seen to fear things that do sound so fair”
- Banquo is intrigued by what the witches say
- For the witches, fair is foul and foul is fair. Hence as these things sound fair Macbeth must fear them
- Banquo says why do you need to fear good news; foreshadows Banquo’s death
“Lesser than Macbeth and greater”
- Macbeth is going to be king and Banquo cannot replace him
- Banquo has not committed any sins and is remembered as a well-respected nobleman and will go to heaven
- Macbeth does not become king but his descendants will
“Thou shall get kings but thou be none”
-Reference to King James 1 as he claimed to be a descendant of Banquo
“To be king stands not within the prospect of belief”
-Macbeth makes it clear that he cannot be king and doesn’t believe in the witches predictions
“Thine of Cowdor”
-This title is cursed because anyone who held this title will end up being tyrannical and get killed
“Why do you dress me in borrowed robes”
-These clothes are not his and are not fitting him. So he cannot take up higher position as the Thane of Cowdor
“Glamis and Thane of Cawdor, the greatest is behind”
-Macbeth is happy that almost all his predictions are true. Gives him a glimmer of hope and foreshadows that he will soon be king”
“Cousins a word I pray for you”
-Banquo is warning Macbeth not to be seduced by the witches
“If chance will have my king why chance may crown me without my stir”
-Macbeth is now following his fate and says if it is his destiny to become king, then he shall be king
“Let us speak Our hearts free to each other”
- Macbeth is still promising to stay friends with Banquo and that they can be honest with each other
- But he soon murders him, which shows how quickly he falls under the witches spells
“Let not light see my black and deep desires”
- If God is light then Macbeth is saying not for God to know what he is doing
- Macbeth is hiding his dark self inside him and is acting like his good and kind self. This shows equivocation
- “deep desires” is alliteration
“my dearest partner of greatness”
- Personal pronoun shows Macbeth’s personal connection to his wife.
- Shows that Macbeth holds his wife at high esteem and shows his love for her
- Gives Lady Macbeth an equal status to Macbeth. Unsusal of how women were treated at that time
“It’s too full of the milk of human kindness”
- References to Macbeth as a child and he is too innocent to do what he can to become king
- Shows connotations of evil and darkness
- Lady Macbeth fears that Macbeth might not try and do anything to become king
- Lady Macbeth thinks Macbeth is not many enough to become king and as his wife, it is her responsibility to make sure his prophecies are fulfilled
- Shows how Lady Macbeth is emasculating Macbeth
“I may pour my spirits in thine ear”
-Pouring elates to how that king was killed in Hamlet and immediately presents Lady Macbeth as a villainous character
“Th raven himself is hoarse that signals the death of Duncan”
- Lady Macbeth is foreshadowing the fact that Duncan is going to die
- Iconic symbol of death because at that time ravens would pack the heads of beheaded traitors
- Symbolises the death of Duncan
