Analysis of Macbeth Quotes Flashcards
“For Brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name) / Disdaining Fortune with his brandished steel, / which smoked with bloody execution.” Macbeth A1 S2
(Theme, Turning Point and Character)
(3)
- Word Choice of “Brave” has connotations of someone strong, noble and admirible
- Characterisation techniques exemplify the good qualities of Macbeth’s character
- “bloody execution” foreshadows Macbeth’s murderous actions due to it’s sinister connotations
“I have no spur / to prick the sides of my intent, but only / vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself / and falls on th’ other” Macbeth A1 S7
(Theme, Turning Point and Character)
(4)
- Word Choice of “vaulting ambition” has connotations of an ever present growing intent of something
- Theme of ambition is opening up here
- The theme of ambition is responsible for all of the evil moments in the play
- Characterisation of Macbeth’s ambitious personality
“When you durst do it then you were a man / and to be more than what you were, you would / so much more the man” Lady Macbeth A1 S7
(Turning Point and Relationship)
(2)
- Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s manhood, which would have been a much stronger argument in the days of Macbeth and Shakespeare as women were thought of as the inferior sex
- Lady Macbeth has enforced her dominance over Macbeth
“False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” Macbeth A1 S7
(Theme, Turning Point and Character)
(4)
- Word choice and repetition of “false” highlights that Macbeth is going to be deceitful
- Theme of appearance versus reality is opening up here
- Foreshadows the times throughout the play where Macbeth is deceitful (such as killing Banquo)
- Shakespeare uses characterisation techniques to imply that Macbeth is someone disloyal and untrustworthy as, not only is going Macbeth to kill Duncan, he is also going to lie about it
“Is this a dagger which I see before me, / the handle toward my hand? Come let me / clutch thee: / I have thee not , and yet I see thee still.” Macbeth A2 S1
(Theme and Character)
(3)
- Symbolism of the dagger shows how strongly Macbeth’s guilt is, and how strongly his ambition is because he has intent to kill Duncan
- The dagger is a manifestation of Macbeth’s guilty conscience
- This point of the play foreshadows that Macbeth will see a decline in his mental sanity
“But wherefore could I not pronounce ‘Amen’? I had most need of blessing and ‘Amen’ stuck in my throat” Macbeth A2 S2
(Theme, Turning Point and Character)
(3)
- Macbeth is being rejected by God
- Foreshadows his downfall where everyone rejects him
- Symbolic as Macbeth was originally seen as a religious man and he has now done something so evil that even God himself has forsaken him
“To be thus is nothing, / but to be safely thus.” Macbeth A3 S1
(Theme, Turning Point, Relationship and Character)
(3)
- Word Choice of “nothing” conveys that being king, something that once was the most important thing to Macbeth, is now worthless
- This is where Macbeth decides to kill Banquo in secret, which shows that he has become consumed by the themes of both ambition and appearance versus reality
- The fact also that Macbeth is able to lie to his wife shows the cracks in their relationship which foreshadows it’s inevitable decent into turmoil
“Behold where stands / the usurper’s cursed head. The time is free” Macduff A5 S8
(Theme, Turning Point and Character)
(3)
- Word Choice of “cursed” shows Macduff’s hatred towards Macbeth
- Also, Macduff calls Macbeth a “usurper”, meaning traitor, which again emphasises how poor of an opinion Macduff has of Macbeth
- Macbeth’s decapitated head is also symbolic of how he has let his own ambition become his downfall
“If good, / why do I yield to that suggestion / whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, / against the use of nature.” Macbeth A1 S3
(Relationship)
(3)
- Word choice of “horrid image” conveys that, even though Macbeth is considering murdering Duncan, he still believes that it is an incredibly evil thing to do
- Shakespeare’s characterisation techniques show that Macbeth is very much attracted to the idea of becoming king
- The very fact that Macbeth is considering murder already foreshadows his ultimate demise due to his murderous actions throughout the play
“Come you spirits / that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here / and fill me, from the crown to the toe / top-full of direst cruelty”
(Relationship)
(3)
- Lady Macbeth’s more sinister approach to the possibility of becoming royalty is captured effectively by Shakespeare’s use of the words “mortal” and “cruelty”, both with ominous undertones
- Shakespeare’s employing of characterisation techniques to show Lady Macbeth’s evil and dark side deepen our understanding of the play as a whole
- Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeth’s split opinion of such an important matter such as this foreshadows the eventual breakdown of their relationship
“My hands are of your colour but I shame / to wear a heart so white.”
(Relationship)
(3)
- Lady Macbeth reveals, for the first time, that she feels guilty about the murdering of Duncan
- However, this is cast aside completely because she goes on to mock Macbeth’s guilt, thus displaying that she again is the main figure in the relationship
- The contrasting colours of Macbeth’s bloody hands (red) and Lady Macbeth’s description of Macbeth’s heart (white) is symbolic of the relationship between Macbeth and his wife wife due to their contrasting views
“She should have died hereafter / there would have been time for such a word. / Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.”
(Relationship)
(2)
- Macbeth dismissive tone towards the news that his wife has died demonstrates effectively the demise of their relationship
- The repetition of “tomorrow” shows that he wants to put-off caring about her
