Key Quotes And Analysis Macbeth Flashcards
“Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” -ambition and Ladymacbeth
The use of the imperative verb “come” shows lady Macbeths commanding nature, subverting Jacobean gender norms. The fact that she’s even commanding the supernatural establishes her as more powerful and evil as the witches. Due to James 1’s Daemonologie people at the time would believe that witches were in league with the devil as a result, some members of the audience would see lady Macbeth as the 4th Witcher. The use of the verb “tend” is unusual here as the spirits would not have been caring or kind this shows lady Macbeth’s comfortability with evil. Woman at the the time were expected to be kind, caring and nurturing mothers the use of the verb “unsex” shows Lady Macbeth’s ongoing conflict with her biological sex she wants to be stripped of all of the good qualities given to her by God and evade her guilt, going against the divine right of kings
“I fear thy nature; it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness’ -ambition and lady Macbeth
The verb “fear” is contrasting by the noun “kindness” it’s concerning to consider that lady Macbeth is scared of a good quality to possess. This shows the great capacity of evil needed to commit regicide. The noun “nature” presents kindness as a natural quality to possess the fact that lady Macbeth goes against natural order here shows how much of a dangerous character she is. The intensifier “too” and the intensifying adjective “full” create a hyperbole showing how much ladymacbeth really despises human kindness. This subverts typical gender norms here as woman were expected to be nurturing and caring yet lady Macbeth does not possess such qualities therefore, an audience is able to see that she is on the side of evil. Now “milk” is white and has connotations of purity and innocence it also has those motherly connotations which shows that LadyMacbeth is challenging macbeths masculinity here. Shakespeare also uses the noun “human” or further emphasise that cruelty is against natural order. This whole phrase is oddly ironic as we have seen Macbeth being described as brave and like a valour’s minion so the fact that lady Macbeth thinks that he’s so humanly kind shows that she is so much more evil.
“Fair is foul and foul is fair hover through the fog and filthy air”- supernatural
The paradoxical nature of “fair is foul” blurs the lines of basic morality showing that Shakespeare wants us to see that the witches are chaos incarnate. The adjectives “fair” and “foul” have polar opposite meanings, yet are paired with the definitive verb “is”. This is an example of equivocation, intentionally confusing language this could allude to the equivocation of Jesuit in the 11th century who faced death because of their faith although they are confusing language this could be seen as denying god. Shakespeare wanted to do this so that a Jacobean audience sees instantly that witches are against god. The fricative alliteration of “faire,foul,fog,filthy” used in this phrase further strengthens that ominous atmosphere and the verb “hover” supports this idea of the supernatural. The noun “fog” shows how they can hide and thrive in confusing atmospheres because fog is not transparent it’s easier to cause chaos. The adjective “filthy” used to describe the noun “air” expresses contamination the evil contaminating the good the witches ruining the natural order. Te use of the rhyming couplet paired with the trochaic tetrameter mirrors the speech of incantations it also juxtaposes the speech of Nobel’s which we see later speak iambic pentameter
“Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under ‘t’ “ -ambition, guilt and Ladymacbeth
There’s a contrast between the two verbs to “look” and “be” to introduce the theme of appearance verses reality. The theme of sight created by the verb “look” shows how our senses can be deceived and the adjective “innocent” coveys her own awareness and disregard for her own immorality. Natural imagery created by the noun “flower” shows that the good is part of natural order yet Lady Macbeth is against all of this and the noun “serpent” has sinister connotations and could be a religious allusion to what happened in the garden of Eden parallels are created between Lady Macbeth and Eve in order to present the theme of a tragic hero. Lady Macbeth is responsible for the fall of an honourable man Macbeth, a preposition “under” reinforces the idea of deception. They’re able to conceive their true intentions behind the facade.
“They placed a fruitless crown and put a barren sceptre in my grip” -kingship, guilt and Macbeth
Macbeth uses the pronoun “they” to refer to the witches he seems to be so trusting of them before but now he shifts all responsibility towards them and their actions shown in the verbs “placed” and “put” .The adjectives “fruitless” and “barren” evoke connotations of cultivation. The Jacobean believes about witches destroying crops, they’ve destroyed the rule of Scotland it’s no longer enjoyable for him due to his immense guilt. The noun “sceptre” and “crown” are usually typical symbols of kingship however, these are now skewed described by the adjectives “baron” and “fruitless” in order to show that Macbeth is not the rightful king.
