Misc

• Quote: "Fair is foul, and foul is fair"

  Who: The Witches

  When: Act 1, Scene 1

  Idea: The phrase employs a paradox, as it foreshadows the deception of Macbeth, in that the prophecies of witches might lead him to greatness, but they would destroy him instead. The witches are symbolic of foul, but give fair advice. Macbeth outwardly appears to be a hero, but inwardly he is a coward and twists the witches' words. Shakespeare establishes the disruption of the natural order and the corruption of nature through the use of paradoxical language and parellism.
• Quote: The dead butcher and his fiend-like queen

  Who: Malcolm

  When: Act 5, Scene 9

  Idea: Final soliloquy of the play. A butcher is someone who kills without feeling or remorse. Shakespeare is suggesting that, because of his ambition, Macbeth turned from noble general to common murder. Lady Macbeth is described as a demon. She is being compared to the evil forces present in the play. Malcolm sees Macbeth's hamartia as his wife's ambition and his blood-lust
• Quote: "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes"

  Who: The Witches

  When: Act 4, Scene 1

  Idea: The rhyming couplets and use of trochaic tetrameter for the witches' speech suggests their supernatural difference. The use of assonance and superstitious references in this couplet also reinforces their supernatural wickedness.
• "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" - Lady Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 1

  "Out, out, brief candle" Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5
• "A little water clears us of this deed" Lady Macbeth Act 2, Scene 2

  "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" Lady Macbeth Act 5, Scene 1
• "The instruments of darkness tells us truths" Banquo Act 1 Scene 3
• "Come, thick night" Lady Macbeth Act 1, Scene 5
• "None of woman born shall harm Macbeth;"


  The witches prophesize that Macbeth cannot be harmed by anyone born of a woman.
• "Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, beware Macduff;"


  The witches warn Macbeth to beware of Macduff, who will be the one to ultimately kill him.
• "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:"

  The witches predict that Banquo will have sons who will become kings.
• "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king!"


  The witches prophesize that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and eventually the King of Scotland.
• Shakespeare's Intention with Macbeth


  To explore the destructive nature of unchecked ambition and its consequences