macbeth quotes

• "brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name" - ross

  • shows how he was originally brave and loyal- his rutheless nature made him kill Duncan though
  • shows how the royals did not have a good judge of character as they only care about patriachy and bravery
  • foreshadows his brave nature to kill lots of people
• "unsex me here, fill me from the crown to the toes of the direst cruelty"- L Macbeth

  • not wanted to be a man, but wanted the male power
  • she wants to give up her jacobean feminime ways in order to fuel her ambitions
  • Shows the impact of gender and the supernatural
• "the instruments of darkness tell us truths.... only to betray" - Banquo

  • instruments are meant to be played, Banquo knows that the witches are lying to him
  • foreshadows the evil that will eventually happen to Macbeth, he chooses not to believe it in- The ID
  • Foreshadowing - Banquo is telling the audience that these witches are not to be trusted. They tell truths to win him over and betray him
  • shows how the witches had fun toying with people, but they did have limited control as they only told Mac some truths.
• "let not light me my dark and deep desires"

  • proof that it was not just L Macbeth who wanted to kill Duncan
  • These desires are deep inside of him, he will not forget them and they are part of his id
  • shows the power of the witches, turns a brave and loyal soldier into an evil mman
• "when thou dirst to do it then you were a man" - L Mac

  • shows the danger of patriachy- it oppresses people
  • Macbeth gets tipped over the edge when his manhood is questioned, this shows the importance of Gender
• "Will all of Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand" Mac


  • shows how guilty he feels after killing Duncan
  • irony- L Macbeth tells him to get over it but she eventually inhibits this guilt as Macbeth loses it overtime
• "out out brief candle, life is but a walking shadow" Mac

  • shadow shows how he is always chasing something, whether it is greed or his ambition but will never reach it
  • Macbeth starts to question himself, he knows that he has fucked up-
• "look like the innocent flower, but be the serpend under't"

  • Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan
  • shows how she is trying to be two faces to reach her desires
  • shows Lady Macbeth's desire to worship power (ID)
• Fair is foul and foul is Fair - Witches 


  • summarizes the entire play- morality is flipped and nobody can expect anything that happens throughout the play
• "full of scorpions is my mind" - mac


  • Scorpions are eating his mind, this foreshadows Macbeth losing his mind later on in the play
  • shows the unfortunate power of greed, these are the consequences of letting the ID take control over you
• "My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white,"- L Mac

  • Shows how Lady Macbeth does not care about Mac's feelings and thinks that he is weak
  • Irony - L Mac eventually kills herself
• "is this a dagger that I see before me, the handle pointed to my hand"


  • Shows Macbeth's mind being killed by the guilt that he feels- foreshadows his downfall
  • Supernatural- it shows the witches controlling his mind and implementing fear into him, this makes scared and kill people. Shows the power of the supernatural
• heat oppressed brain - Mac - act 2

  • soliloquy- we see Macbeth admit what his desires are
  • Heat is the witches and Lady Macbeth putting pressure on him and taking control over him
  • ID - Mac knows that his brain is being controlled yet he still kills the King and what not
  • Oxymoron- the brain is meant to have control,
• something wicked this way comes - Witches


  • the witches are describing Macbeth here
  • Juxtaposition - shows how evil Macbeth has come, the witches are calling him wicked.
  • chremamorphism- (opposite of personification) - "something" they talk about Mac as an object, dehumanizes him. Shows how evil he has become, they do not even recognize him.
  • witches believe that they were harmless, highlights how the supernatural are not that strong, they just started this.
• "Unseamed him from the nave to the chops" - act 1 


  • Symbolism- The way he kills presents him as a god of war, he is like a one man army.
  • shows how vicious Macbeth is, and how much he enjoys it.
  • Patriarchy - early Macbeth fit the patriarchal man perfectly,
  • unseamed - He is fighting like a savage,
  • shows the control L mac and witches have, they were able to influence a man like Mac