Macbeth quotes

• “brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name” - captain act 1 scene 2

  Shows how Macbeth is presented at the beginning of the play in contrast to the end. Macbeth is called brave for defeating a traitor but he also becomes a traito.
• “let not light see my dark and deep desires” macbeth act 1 scene 4

  hints to macbeth slowly falling into the trap of evil and becoming a vessel of misconduct for the witches and begins his spiral into good and evil. The witches are the catalyst of this development in macbeth’s character
• "unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty" lady macbeth, A1S5.

  this androboulon emphasises how lady macbeth is aware that she does not hold the power or the authority to commit evil, which is why she defeminises herself and turns to supernatural, commanding evil with desperation to give her masculine qualities so that she becomes the embodiment of evil and gains the strength to kill king duncan.
• "when thou durst do it, then you were a man" lady macbeth, A157. in other words, lady macbeth calls macbeth a coward and emasculates him, which can also show how lady macbeth and macbeth have changed authority and gender roles (lady macbeth asks for masculine traits and macbeth gets emasculated). tipping point for macbeth, he submerges into evil to prove his masculinity to his wife by killing the king (duncan).
• "will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand" macbeth, A2S2. shows macbeths guilt for killing the king. one of the only times macbeth shows remorse for his actions, and as he progresses and continues killing, he sinks deeper into evil and his remorse for his actions decreases as they become normalised and his greed for power and the king's position increases.
• "out, out, brief candle! lifes but a walking shadow" macbeth, A5S2. a shadow doesn't end, no matter how long you chase it, it wont stop, emphasises macbeths greed for power and the crown and how he wanted more and more that it was endless.
• "look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under'" lady macbeth, A1S5. lady macbeth tells macbeth to be deceptive and to fool the king and make it easier to kill him so macbeth can become king. religious imagery, serpent is like the snake in the garden of eden who tempted adam and eve to eat from the tree of knowledge which they weren't supposed to, shows moral evil and how macbeth is being encouraged to become evil.
• "fair is foul and foul is fair." the witches, A1S1. juxtaposition/ oxymoron. describes how good is bad and bad is good, emphasises the idea of how macbeth was good and then turned evil as he fell a victim of greed and dark desire. macbeth mimics this phrase in a later scene which foreshadows how he has turned to supernatural and evil to get what he desires and shows how he is a vessel of misconduct.