Macbeth

• “Lay on Macduff. And damn’d be him that first cries, Hold enough” [Macbeth] - Shows his refusal to surrender
• “Be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck” [Macbeth]
• “She should’ve died hereafter” [Macbeth]
• “I will not yield” [Macbeth]
• “Before my body, throw my warlike shield” [Macbeth]
• “Wisdom that doth guide his valour” [Macbeth] - Macbeth fears Banquos goodness
• Respected - “O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman”
• Dismissive towards Lasy Macbeth after he becomes king
• “Stay you imperfect speaker tell me more” said to the witches because he was curious and ambitious
• commits regicide
• brutal - “He unseemed him from the naves to the chop” , this quote shows macbeth killed a traitor in war and sliced him from the stomach to the jaw
• “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow“ - Shows Macbeths sense of futility of life and the inevitability of death
• “is this a dagger which i see before me” - macbeth was hallucinating
• encounters the witches in act 1 who tell him about his prophecy - Hell become thane of glamis, thane of cawdor and king of scotland
• in act 2 he is driven by ambition and lady macbeth to kill king duncan in his sleep, he then hears voices and feels haunted by his actions because he feels guilty
• in act 3 he is king and he’s paranoid of losing his power as king so he orders the death of Banquo and Fleance but Fleance escapes which shows the witches were right and banquos descendants will become kings
• in act 4 Macbeth goes to the witches to seek more prophecies and he learns to beware of macduff and that no man born of a woman will harm him and he’ll br sage until birnam wood comes to dusinane hill (malcolm’s army he’s branches from the trees in birnam wood to camouflage themselves as they march towards macbeths castle- makes it look like the forest is moving which fulfills the witches prophecies) He also ordered the killing of macduff family
• in act 5 macbeth faces the consequences of his actions and malcolm’s army approach him (camouflaged in the branches fulfilling the prophecies) macbeth encounters macduff and he was born by Caesarean section so he isn’t technically born of a woman and he kills macbeth
• starts the play as a man who is well respected by others
• macbeth is a brave soldier at the start of the play
• macbeth descends into a path of destruction
• macbeth is ruthless and gullible
• macbeth begins to have an aversion to things that symbollise things like light which shows he’s blocking out positivity
• “stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires”- macbeth, this quote serves as evidence for the fact he dislikes things that symbolise light
• macbeth is consumed by his desire for power
• “if good, why do i yield to that suggestion whos horrid image doth unfix my hair”- macbeth, suggests macbeth have already fantasized being the king of scotland, he says this in a soliloquy
• “is this a dagger which i see before me”- macbeth says this as he is hallucinating
• macbeth is admired- “ brave macbeth, he deserves that name”
• “lay on macduff and damnd be him that first cries”- macbeth says this in the final act, suggests his defiance and determination to fight to his death
• macbeth is dismissive - “be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck“, he says this when plotting and he dismisses lady macbeth
• macbeth is curious, he tells the witches : “stay you imperfect speaker, tell me more”
• sergeant describes macbeth how “brave macbeth” killed macdonward in battle and “unseemed him from the nave to the chops”
• macbeth refuses to surrender “i will not yield” - shows he’s defiant
• ambition is macbeths fatal flaw which leads to his ultimate downfall
• macbeth is arrogant
• madness is the embodiment of macbeth
• macbeth has a guilty conscience, a sense of right or wrong and constantly worries about the consequences of his actions as hes reluctant to killing duncan, his guilty conscience makes him imagine people and things
• macbeths last words were “hold, enough” , reflecting on his defiance and determination to fight to the end
• witches gave macbeth voice to his inner ambitions of becoming king, banquo asks him “why do you start” when they receive the prophecies
• macbeth takes the witches very seriously