Macbeth Quotations

Question	Answer
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair" The Witches (Act 1, Scene 1)	Shakespeare uses this phrase to suggest that what is considered good is in fact bad and what is considered bad is actually good. (Macbeth's prophecy implies a good life for him as he "shall be king hereafter", but in the end it only leads him to evil actions.)
"If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me." Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 3)	Shakespeare uses this quote to foreshadow the evil, immoral attitude that Macbeth begins to take later on in the play, as chance could crown him, and he wouldn't care even if it hurt other people.
"Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires." Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 4)	This quotation portrays the idea that Macbeth is already beginning to feel quilt, even just for thinking about killing King Duncan, and how that could help him become king.
"Come, you spirits! ... unsex me here," Lady Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 5)	Shakespeare uses this quotation to suggest how Lady Macbeth is not like a normal women and she wants power and control, and wont stop until she has it. This is shown as she calls upon supernatural forces to "unsex" her and remove herself away from the representation of women in the Jacobean Era.
"Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it." Lady Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 5)	Shakespeare uses this phrase to present the manipulative, devious behavior of Lady Macbeth and how she plays a part into the corruption of Macbeth and him becoming a heartless, merciless king that believes he has ultimate power and cant be stopped.
"I dare do all that my become a man; Who dares do more, is none." Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 7)	Shakespeare uses this quote to imply that Macbeth was hurt or maybe frustrated after his manliness was questioned by Lady Macbeth and he believes that agreeing to murder King Duncan and commit treason is as much as a man someone can become, and anymore is coward-like.
"Screw your courage to the sticking place." Lady Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 7)	Shakespeare uses this quotation to emphasize the manipulative nature of Lady Macbeth and how she is insulting/questioning Macbeth's manliness to manipulate him into murdering King Duncan.
"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?" Macbeth (Act 2, Scene 1)	Shakespeare uses this quotation to suggest how Macbeth is being tempted by the supernatural forces to murder King Duncan. It also reinforces the supernatural theme within the play through the hallucinations of the dagger.
"There's daggers in men's smiles." Donaldbain (Act 2, Scene 3)	Shakespeare uses this quote to create the imagery that after the murder and death of King Duncan there isn't much trust left between any of the characters in the play, and no matter how they act towards you, they could back-stab you any second, linking to Lady Macbeth's previous quote, "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it."
"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble." The Witches (Act 4, Scene 1)	Shakespeare uses this phrase to reinforce the supernatural nature of the witches as they are the only characters in the play to talk in Iambic Tetrameter.
"When our actions do not, Our fears do make us traitors." Lady Macduff (Act 4, Scene 2)	Shakespeare uses this phrase to imply that Macduff's families fears of Macbeth are what class them as traitors to him, even though they have no reason to feel comfortable around him, after so much suspicion for the murder of King Duncan and Banqou.
"Out damned spot! out, I say!" Lady Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 1)	Shakespeare uses this quotation to emphasize the change between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's characters, as at the beginning of the play Macbeth was very guilty, while Lady Macbeth only wanted to succeed and reach her goal, while now Lady Macbeth is feeling the guilt, even to the point she took her own life, while Macbeth is ruling like a worthy king when he isn't one.
"Those he commands move only in command, Nothing in love" Angus (Act 5, Scene 2)	Shakespeare uses this quote to present how Macbeth isn't a king for the people or the country and is only aware of his own well-being, and that the people of Scotland only follow his commands because they have to, not because they want to.
"Unseamed him from the nave to the chaps" Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 1)	This is Macbeth ‘unseaming’ the rebel Macdonwald. This foreshadows Macbeth’s own ‘unseaming’ by Macduff. It is also a clothing metaphor suggesting Macdonwald is being stripped of his title due to his traitorous actions, like Macbeth is later.
"brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name" Captain (Act 1, Scene 2)	Shakespeare uses this quotation to imply that Macbeth should have died in battle, but he was stronger than his fate and ended up surviving almost as if his destiny/fate had just been messed with by some supernatural force.
Why do you dress me in borrowed robes? Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 4)	Macbeth asks this when he is deemed Thane of Candor. This suggests his suspicion that there may be trickery at play. It also indicates that this title is not rightly his, it is "borrowed".
"Infirm of purpose. Give me the daggers!" Lady Macbeth (Act 2, Scene 2)	Macbeth returns with the daggers which Lady Macbeth ridicules. She criticizes his resolve and significantly takes action and seizes the weapons with the imperative ‘Give me the daggers!’ Thus, here she takes the masculine role – active, powerful and violent.
"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean form my hand?" Lady Macbeth (Act 2, Scene 2)	Here, Shakespeare uses blood to symbolize guilt and water to symbolize purity. The metaphor of Neptune’s ocean suggests that no amount of ‘water’ will ever remove the sacrilegious ‘stain’ of regicide.
"Be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck" Macbeth (Act 3, Scene 2)	Shakespeare shows the change in Macbeth’s character and his relationship with Lady Macbeth. Not only is he independently murderous, he also distances himself from the previously dominant Lady Macbeth – she is no longer his ‘partner of greatness,’ she is dismissed as ‘dearest chuck.’
"Full of scorpions is my mind" Macbeth (Act 3, Scene 2)	This metaphor reveals both Macbeth’s paranoia and his ‘deep and dark desires.’ The metaphorical scorpions have replaced the ‘milk of human kindness’ cementing Macbeth as a villain.
"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" Lady Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 1)	This contrasts with Lady Macbeth’s earlier remark demonstrating her guilt. The metaphor suggests the irreversibility of her actions – nothing will rectify it. The adjective ‘little’ also connotes weakness, childishness and fragility reinforcing Lady Macbeth’s fall from power.
"Give me my armour" Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 3)	This imperative suggests power and authority. Here Macbeth is reverting back to his soldier persona from the start of the play. This is the role that is truly his, it ‘fits’ him unlike the ‘giant' role of King which he usurped.
"Life is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing" Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5)	This metaphor suggests that with his wife dead (perhaps the source of his power) and an army marching towards him, Macbeth succumbs to a pessimistic, even nihilistic, outlook. However, the metaphor also implies his crimes are meaningless suggesting Macbeth perhaps does not feel true guilt.
"Dead butcher and fiend-like queen" Malcolm (Act 5, Scene 8)	Butcher connotes violence and brutality and epitomizes Macbeth as a leader – he has brutally ‘butchered’ Scotland in his own quest for power. ‘Fiend-like’ suggests evil and the supernatural connecting Lady Macbeth to the witches.

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	Created by Riley Loades over 5 years ago