Key Quotes for ACT 5 Flashcards
‘she has ___ by her continually. Tis her command’
‘light’
Lady Macbeth dreams about the night they murdered Duncan
she is not dominant anymore as she is so weak that she is even scared of the dark (she is contaminated by evil)
‘Tis her command’ suggests that Lady Macbeth is striving as hard as she can for heaven’s absolution from her crimes
‘Hell is ___’
‘murky’
implies that Lady Macbeth is already in Hell
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in their destructive power, have created their own hell where they are tormented by guilt and insanity
‘all the perfumes of Arabia will not ___ this little hand
‘sweeten’
Shakespeare’s use of hyperbole here to emphasise Lady Macbeth’s anguish and heartache after what she’s done
she feels as though she will never be clean of the murder of Duncan (she will never be able to rid herself of it)
‘little hand’ suggests a feminine image
‘sweeten’ by using delightfulness to remove a bad stench
‘I have ___ full with horrors’
‘supped’
Macbeth is contemplating the extent to which he has traumatized himself in his quest for power
he realizes that there is little that can terrify him
he knows that his lack of fear does not come from a place of strength, but from becoming familiar with terrible deeds
‘It is a tale told by an idiot… ; ___ nothing’
‘signifying’
Macbeth insists that there is no meaning or purpose in life (Macbeth’s nihilism)
he recognises that everything he did to become king will soon be erased by his story coming to an end
however there is also a defensive and self-justifying quality to his words, if everything is meaningless, then Macbeth’s awful crimes are somehow made less awful, because, like everything else, they too “signify nothing”
'’My wife and children’s ___ will haunt me still’
‘ghost’
in the final battle Macduff declares that if anyone else kills Macbeth, “My wife and children’s ghosts will haunt me still” (Macduff feels guilty for leaving them so he feels the need to redeem himself by killing Macbeth himself)
shows that evil has spread from Macbeth’s mind into his actions and into the world around him; even the man who rids the world of him is tainted
‘Either though, Macbeth, Or else my sword with an ___ edge’
‘unbattered’
Macduff is determined to kill Macbeth and revenge the brutal murder of his family
either Macduff kills Macbeth or he gets no revenge
‘my soul is too much ___ with blood of thine ready’
‘charged’
Macbeth says this, referring to the blood of Macduff’s wife and children
this passage is one of the few in the play that indicates Macbeth’s remorse for the brutal acts he has committed in his quest to obtain and keep the throne
Macbeth is saying that the murder of Macduff’s family are on his conscience so he doesn’t want to shed Macduff’s blood.
could it be that he really feels remorse? or is he just making an excuse for backing out of a fight with Macduff
‘which would be ___ newly with time’
‘planted’
mirrors Duncan’s style of speech
this is said by Malcolm at the end of the play. He says that, now that Macbeth is dead, there is a new era for Scotland (representing the growth of life)
he is now the rightful King and they will call their exiled friends back to Scotland, he also takes a moment to curse Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
he mentions that Lady Macbeth took her own life
