Macbeth Quotes

• "Instruments of darkness tell us truths to betray's in deepest consequence" - Banquo

  Foreshadows Macbeth's downfall after committing regicide

  Notices witches' deception + equivocation - dramatic foil for Macbeth

  Traditional Jacobean view of supernatural
• "I fear thou play'dst most foully for it" - Banquo

  superlative - treason worst possible crime to commit (divine right of kings)

  admits suspicions but doesn't want to believe it

  echoes witches' use of "foul" - aware of influence on Macbeth
• "My bosom franchised and my allegiance clear" - Banquo

  epitome of righteous Jacobean man

  loyal to Duncan + Scotland

  Won't help Macbeth as his conscience stays clear - idea of morality
• "I dreamt last night of the 3 weird sisters" - Banquo

  Alternate perspective - feels some weakness against witches

  Emphasises supernatural control - witch trials context
• "New honours come upon him, like our strange garments" - Banquo

  Links back to "borrowed robes" - title doesn't suit him as he has disobeyed divine right of kings

  Simile - new attitude of Macbeth worries Banquo
• "There's husbandry in heaven; their candles are all out" - Banquo

  Biblical allusion + ideas of afterlife

  Simile - everything starting to unravel
• "O treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!" - Banquo

  Shows compassion unlike the Macbeths

  Repetition - shock of betrayal + prophecy starting to be fulfilled
• "Or have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?" - Banquo

  Personification - Macbeth trapped by prophecies

  Foreshadows Macbeth's spiral into insanity
• "Valiant cousin, worthy gentleman" - Duncan

  Hyperbolises Macbeth's chivalry - juxtaposes with his later tyranny

  Lots of benevolence for Macbeth evoking pity

  Presents his strengths as king - gives credit where credit is due
• "This castle hath a pleasant seat" - Duncan

  Sensory language - calm before storm

  Dramatic irony - will soon die at hands of Macbeth yet currently so happy

  Ever-changing atmosphere appeals to audience

  Presents Duncan as naive
• "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face" - Duncan

  Trusts too much - presents enigma of whether he is a good king

  Juxtaposes Macbeth as king who is overly paranoid

  Foreshadows Macbeth's betrayal

  Ironic - couldn't read former Thane of Cawdor's desires nor Macbeth's

  Metaphor - can't judge book by cover
• "Signs of nobleness, like stars, shall sine on all deservers" - Duncan

  Contrasts with "Stars hide your fires" where Macbeth shows true intentions

  Foreshadows downfall
• "I have begun to plant thee, and will labour to make thee full of growing" - Duncan

  Symbolism - the harvest of life

  Metaphor - budding wealth + titles in Scotland

  Dramatic irony - the person he thought had potential will kill him
• "Silver skin lac'd with his golden blood" - Macbeth

  Rich in goodness as well literal meaning

  Emphasises divinity + divine right of kings altogether

  Speaking very metaphorically - unnatural to do when shocked
• "Borne his facilities so meek" - Macbeth

  Newborn imagery - purity, innocence of Duncan but also naivety

  Highlights seriousness of regicide - king presented as wholly good
• "Will all great neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" - Macbeth

  Roman god of water + sea - not even water of powerful God can rid him of what he's done

  Intense guilt hyperbolised

  Juxtaposes Lady Macbeth's attitude

  Foreshadows Lady Macbeth sleepwalking scene
• "Is this a dagger which I see before me, handle toward my hand?" - Macbeth

  hallucination - start of mental downward spiral, unveils true desires

  Moral man plagued by hubris of excessive ambition - epitome of tragic hero

  Motif for guilt + deceit

  Shows control of supernatural + chaos they can cause
• "So foul and fair a day I have seen" - Macbeth

  Echoes witches - fatal flaw present before Witches catalyse his downfall

  Fricative - foreshadows evil
• "Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs" - Macbeth

  Excitement - reveals Hubris + already under Witches' control

  Shocked at thought of becoming king
• "Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires" - Macbeth

  Importance of afterlife in Jacobean era - doesn't want God to find out true desires + send him to Hell

  Rhyme - influence of witches, idea already planted in mind before Lady Macbeth

  Symbolism - knows his thoughts are evil but welcomes them
• "no spur to prick sides of intent, only vaulting ambition" - Macbeth

  horse imagery - ambition has no bounds + desire have become out of control with Witches + LM's interference

  Aware of Hubris but morals are detached from true self leading to downfall
• "Upon my head they placed fruitless crown and put barren sceptre in my gripe" - Macbeth

  Biblical allusion of Jesus' crown - victimising himself despite being at fault, failure to recognise fault

  No gain out of throne due to having no heirs

  Jealousy + fear of Banquo grows
• "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck" - Macbeth

  ironic - Lady Macbeth isn't innocent and is reckless

  Using endearment to belittle LM

  Regaining traditional gender roles in Jacobean marriages
• "we have scorched the snake not killed it" - Macbeth

  Snake imagery - symbolises evil, ironic when he is the one who has killed people

  Paranoid + trapped in endless cycle of violence
• "Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps forth in this petty pace from day to day" - Macbeth

  Repetition - monotony of life + Macbeth's existential crisis as a result of actions

  Experience of anagnorosis after realising his downfall that is too late to salvage resulting in nihilism
• "They have tied me to a stake: I cannot fly, but bear-like I must fight the course" - Macbeth

  Will fight until the end - slight return of original chivalrous characteristics

  Feels trapped by consequences - victimising himself

  Relates to witches being burnt at stake - realises his downfall was partly due to witches
• "It will have blood they say: Blood will have blood" - Macbeth

  Motif for having to maintain violence due to enemies being created by actions

  Catharsis - realising consequences of actions
• "Approach thou like the Rugged Russian bear, the arm'd rhinoceros or th'Hycran tiger" - Macbeth

  Animalistic imagery to describe Banquo - ironic as Macbeth is the tyrant

  Weaker, more fearful side of Macbeth depicted
• "Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil" - Lady Macbeth

  Metaphor for cowardice + childishness - particularly insulting since emphasis was put on Jacobean men being courageous

  Able to freely criticise Macbeth - subverts gender roles

  Devil - acts on importance of good afterlife
• "What beast was't then, that made you break this enterprise to me?" - Lady Macbeth

  Euphemism for murder - no morals + sees it as simply a job

  Beast - shows unpredictability of both characters

  Wants more power yet too cowardly to commit heinous acts herself

  Calling Macbeth unmanly to manipulate him + gaslighting him

  First sign of shift in relationship - "you" is more distant than "thou"
• "Come you spirits, who tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here" - Lady Macbeth

  Shocking - wants to be rid of femininity so she can commit horrible things

  Calls on spirit like witches - theory she is 4th witch

  Rejection of stereotypical role of women

  Not naturally violent AP - must seek spirits to be truly evil
• "Look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under't" - Lady Macbeth

  Juxtaposition - hiding evil behind facade of chivalry, appearance vs. reality

  Biblical allusion - Devil disguised as serpent tempting Adam + Eve

  Refers to medal King James VI struck after Gunpowder plot - head is flower + tail is serpent
• "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" - LM

  Hyperbole - just like Macbeth her Hubris of lust for power leads to immense guilt

  Nothing can fix what she has done

  Proves she has some moral conscience

  Juxtaposes "A little water will clear us of this deed"
• "Pour spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valour of my tongue" - LM

  Spirits - echoes themes of supernatural

  Metaphor - will manipulate Macbeth into committing deed just like witches

  First signs of power imbalance in relationship
• "Pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell...nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark" - LM

  Controlling weather - themes of supernatural

  Personification - doesn't want God to see true desires, linking to "stars hide your fires"
• "The Thane of Fife had a wife...will these hands ne'er be clean?" - LM

  Return of motherly instincts - worries about another mother + her children

  Remorse for killing of Lady Macduff despite having no part - some compassion

  Mind stained with guilt she can't be rid of
• "Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope, The Lord's anointed temple and stole thence" - Macduff

  Biblical reference - Divine right of kings; Macbeth has committed a crime against God

  New kings traditionally anointed with oil

  Analog - Duncan's body a church + life stolen from it
• "Let us rather hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men" - Macduff

  Loyalty + patriotism for country unlike Macbeth - will defend country

  Portrays Macduff as ideal king - chivalrous + avenges population in battle

  Symbolic battle of good vs. evil against Macbeth
• "I have no words: my voice is my sword" - Macduff

  Epitome of heroism - killing Macbeth due to his danger to the population

  Reflects Macbeth before meeting the witches
• "But I must also feel it as a man" - Macduff

  Men should be able to grieve + show emotion - opposing Jacobean ideals of men to be stoic

  Juxtaposes the Macbeth's abilities to commit horrible deeds with no remorse

  Compassion for those he is close with unlike Macbeth