Analysed quotes

• "Thunder and lightning"

  Pathetic fallacy, links with evil spirits, witches thought to cause bad weather
• "Fair is foul and foul is fair"

  Good is bad, bad is good, cant tell who is good and bad in the play, suggests you have to be bad to get what you want
• "O valiant cousin"


  Macbeth origianlly described as a noble person, valiant, described by King Duncan
• "Rapt withal"

  Macbeth is drawn into what the witches say, under a witches spell
• "Instruments of darkness"


  Banquo thinks the witches will cause harm, turn Macbeth evil
• "Let not light see my black and deep desires"

  Macbeth is going to kill Duncan, suggests Macbeth has that evil side to him
• "Full o'th'milk"


  Lady Macbeth thinks Macbeth is too innocent and kind to kill the king
• "Unsex me here"


  She should be a man, nothing like the stereotypical woman of the time, powerful
• "Take my milk for gall"

  Remove everything pure about lady Macbeth, replace it with poison or evil
• "Serpent under't"

  Lady Macbeth is evil, links to original sin
• "Green and pale"

  Macbeth being called a coward by lady Macbeth, pressuring Macbeth to kill the king
• "let not light see my black and deep desires"

  Macbeth considering to kill Malcolm, willing to do anything to be king, shows his ambition
• "is this a dagger which I see before me?"

  hallucinating, shows he is under a witches spell, witches forcing him to kill king
• "bell rings"

  command of witches, time for Macbeth to kill Duncan, further suggests Macbeth is under the influence of the witches
• "I could not say amen"

  suggests Macbeth has gone against God, evil, not pure anymore
• "making the green one red"

  Macbeth gone from a coward to a murderer
• "a little water clears us of this sin"

  ironic, Lady Macbeth can't wash blood off her hands, eventually kills herself, water doesn't clear them from this sin
• "too cold for hell"

  suggests Macbeth's castle is more evil than hell
• "for them... Duncan I have murdered"

  Macbeth working for the witches, under their spell
• "we have scorch'd the snake not killed it"

  Macbeth only done half of evil task, needs to kill Banquo to complete takeover
• "appal the devil"


  again suggesting Macbeth is worse than the devil
• "black Macbeth"


  again suggests Macbeth is evil, dark vs light, evil vs good
• "sword"


  foreshadowing Macbeth's death
• ""washing her hands"


  links to Lady Macbeth saying to use water to clear them of killing Duncan, ironic she can't stop washing her hands, guilt, change of character
• "light by her"


  suggests Lady Macbeth was good, perhaps being overridden by witches, under a spell
• "this disease is beyond my practice"

  suggests supernatural, Lady Macbeth is out of the control of witches and can't bare the guilt of what she did
• "Birnam Wood"


  witches prophecy coming true, foreshadowing Macbeth's death
• "Seyton"


  Macbeth's servant, everything around Macbeth is evil
• "yield thee coward"

  Gone back to Macbeth being called a coward, coward to arrogant back to coward, Macduff challenging Macbeth
• "fiend like queen"


  People recognised Lady Macbeth's evil
• "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me"

  Macbeth wants to be king, using fate, doesn't want responsibility
• " I put up that womanly defence"


  Implies a woman's defence is weaker