Key quotes Flashcards
A1S2, Ross: “Brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name”
Shows Macbeth as a bold and fierce character, unafraid of the enemies on the battlefield. It is also the first time he is described to the audience.
- It may foreshadow his murders as it could suggest he is willing to do things others won’t.
- As the play develops, we see this description change, as he is often called a coward by his wife.
- ‘Macbeth’ means son of God, yet later in play, he goes against the actions of a God-fearing man
A1S4, Macbeth: “Let not light see my dark & deep desires”
- Suggests that he wasn’t fully influenced by Lady Macbeth as he already had ‘deep’ desires within him.
- The power of the supernatural catalyse his change from brave and noble to evil.
A1S5, Lady Macbeth: “Unsex me here and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty”
Shows the stereotypes and struggles of women and how she has to sacrifice her femininity in order to have the strength and ability to commit the crimes she will.
A1S7, Lady Macbeth: “When thou durst do it, then you were a man”
Threatens and emotionally plays with Macbeth in order to get what she likes.
- Macbeth commits murders to prove his worth to his wife, more so than due to his desire for power.
A2S2, Macbeth: “Will all of great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand”
Used to show the immense guilt that he has after killing Duncan.
- However, the guilt he feels after killing Banquo and the Macduff’s family seems to lessen, showing his delve into being more cold-hearted.
A5S2, Macbeth: “Out, out brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow”
- Metaphor of shadow is used as it can never be caught, possibly representing his quest for power? respect? kingship?
- Candle is used as a metaphor for life as its end is inevitable.
A1S5, Lady Macbeth: “Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’ t”
- Act nice so that you are not suspected
- Examples of where this was done was when Lady Macbeth fainted to act as though this was all a shock to her
A2S3, Macbeth: “Full of scorpions is my mind”
Foreshadows how he will lose his mind later in the play and start hallucinating things
- His guilty conscience has started attacking and stinging him
A1S5, witches: “Fair is foul and foul is fair”
Foreshadows the entire play in the sense that morality will flip
- ‘Brave’ Macbeth will become nasty and evil
- Beautiful and caring Lady Macbeth will become masculine and murderous
- The last prophecies also seem impossible but end up acting as the downfall of him
A1S3, Banquo: “The instruments of darkness tell us truths, to betray us in deepest consequence”
The witches are toying with Macbeth, telling him ‘truths’, which will lead to his downfall.
- They are pulling him in, before they will betray him
A1S1, the Witches: “In thunder, lightning or in rain”
- Suggests that the witches can control the weather, giving them supernatural powers
- Foreshadows the play? Thunder (sound)- whispers of the witches; lightning (strike)- murder of Duncan; rain (wets everyone)- nobody safe in how he then kills Banquo and Macduff’s family.
A1S2, in regards to Macbeth: “Smoked with bloody execution… unseamed from the nave to the chops”
- Hyperbole of ‘smoked’ used to elevate the status of Macbeth
- ‘Unseamed’ with precision suggests he is composed and precise on the battlefield, contrary to him going crazy later on
- May already believe in the ‘no man of woman born’ prophecy
A1S3, Banquo: “You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so”
- Played by men
- Suggests that they had to sacrifice their femininity for power
The three fates in A4S1
- Act as a catalyst for Macbeth’s evil, rather than him actually being controlled.
- True evil is already in Macbeth- “We are going there to meet Macbeth”- Chooses Macbeth rather than Banquo as he already has evil within him
A2S1, Macbeth: “Heat oppressed brain”
- Brain put under immense heat (in conversations with the witches and wife), leading to it being moulded and shaped into a more evil version of himself
- Foreshadows his downfall
