Macbeth key quotes

Question 1

“fair is foul, and foul is fair hover through the fog and filthy air”

Answer 1

This use of rhetoric shows us the morals of the witches, as an audience we can see clearly that the witches do not play by the rules, they believe that playing unfairly is the only way that you can be fair. This indicates to us that they are scheming and we sense that they have a plan for Macbeth. word choice of “filthy” tells us that the witches are supernatural as they move swiftly through the air with their evil intentions leading the way. This ties back to the theme of morality as we see here that the witches lack morality and have no quarrel with messing with matters that don’t effect them we learn later simply for their own twisted sense of entertainment.

Question 2

“His brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution”

Answer 2

These are the words said by an injured captain walking off the battlefield and reporting on Macbeth’s actions to King Duncan. His words foreshadow the ending of the play as we learn later that macbeth meets the same fate as the traitor, as his final fate is too a bloody execution. This shows how Shakespeare creates a natural cycle using ideas of the great chain of being as macbeth is originally a nobleman and kills traitors on the behest of the king, however later becomes a traitor and meets the same fate as that which he subjected many others to. This portrays the theme of fate versus free will as we as a reader do not know exactly how much of this cycle was Macbeth’s own doing. We ask ourselves what role the witches had on the outcome as a whole and how much of this was simply fate as the natural order was restored in the end and the great chain of being was restored when the crown was passed back down its royal lineage.

Question 3

“so foul and fair a day I have not seen”

Answer 3

This is dramatic irony as Macbeth mimics the words of the witches from earlier this asks the reader the question if it is too late for Macbeth already as he is already evidently under some sort of control by these witches and this plays into ideas of fate versus free will

Question 4

“Unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe tops with direst cruelty”

Answer 4

This characterisation helps us develop Lady Macbeth and her nature as we see here that she rejects the societal expectations placed on her because of her womanhood. This shows us the patrearchal ideas of the time as Lady does not think that her womanhood would contain enough cruelty to carry out this action and so she calls on the supernatural. We as a reader are already aware of the dangers of the supernatural because of the witches and the influence that they hold over Macbeth. This again ties in with themes of ambition as lady Macbeth is willing to sacrifice her role in the great chain of being as a woman of the house to realise her own ambitions for power and respect. We see here that she already doubts her husband’s ability to ‘do what needs to be done’ and thinks that he is “too full of the milk of human kindness” This hints at the nature of their relationship as rather untrusting and a realtionship formed with power as the key currency that both Macbeth and his wife are chasing.

Question 5

“Nor heaven peep through the blanket of dark to cry Hold!”

Answer 5

Here we see how shakespear uses light and dark imagery as lady Macbeth does not want the light of morality to shine down upon her and does not want the will of god to interrupt her actions. She wishes for darkness which we as an audiance see as synonmous here with forces of the supernatural and light reperesents the forces of god and heaven

Question 6

“Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent undern’t”

Answer 6

This is a use of biblical symbolism as here shakespeare references the story of Adam and Eve, as he tricks them into eating the fruit of knowledge in the form of a serpent. we see here that Lady Macbeth is shakespeare’s Eve as she convinces her husband to defy the word of god and kill Duncan. This causes the wrath of god to be unleashed and shows the negative consiquences of their actions for both. It also shows the duplicitous nature of the characters as lady is encouraging her husband to lure Duncan into a false sense of security and betray his trust. Such a foul tactic would be deemed fair by the witches and this all ties into the theme of ambition as we see here that lady Macbeth is attempting to get her husband to change the person that he is simply so that their ambition can be met, furthermore we learn alot about the dynamic between Macbeth and his wife as she is portrayed as manipulative and leads him down the path to ruin. A possible interpritation of this is a warning from shakespeare againts placing women in positions of power which would conform with the widespead patriarchal ideas of the time.

Question 7

“We but teach bloody instructions which being taught return to plague the inventor”

Answer 7

Here Macbeth considers the idea of killing Duncan and this line foreshadows the ending of the play as the bloody instruction could be symbolising the murder of the king which later comes back to haunt him as others learn from his actions and later kill him to restore the rightful bloodline to the throne. Alternatively this could be interpreted as the execution of the rebel Macdonald, as he has taught people to kill traitors to the throne in this brutal and remorseless fashion so to this has come back to bite him when he became treacherous and the same fate awaited him.

Question 8

“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself and lands on the other side”

Answer 8

This metaphor shows the full extent of Macbeth’s ambition this acts as characterisation as this is the moment where he begins to realise that his ambition is driving him forwards to killing Duncan and stealing the throne from beneath him. This metaphor refers to attempting to mount a horse however falling off the other side of it. This further foreshadows the downfall of Macbeth later in the play as he momentarily obtains everything that he wanted, however this moment did not last and he began falling off after this moment as his ambition and fears got the better of him.

Question 9

“We will proceed no further in this business” Macbeth
“Was the hope drunk wherein it dressed itself” Lady

Answer 9

This characterisation shows us the dynamic of the relationship between lady Macbeth and her husband as when he attempts to take control of the situation and say that he doesn’t want to carry out their plan she continues to manipulate him this time more aggressively as she suggests that his grand ambitions were nothing more than a dunken dream and insinuates that he is being cowardly in not being committing himself to the plan and in effect insults his manhood. This makes him question his decision further.

Question 10

“wakes it now to look so green and pale”

Answer 10

Lady macbeth calls her husband cowardly to see her ambitions met and insult his manhood this further characterises their relationship and helps us see how Shakespeare designs her character to act like Eve from the bible story leading her husband down a path from which he cannot return. this ties in with the theme of ambition as they both want power and are not contempt with their position in the great chain of being and we as an audience can already see that they will be punished for this.

Question 11

“i would have while its smiling face plucked my nipple from its boneless gums and dashed the brains out had I sworn as you have done”

Answer 11

Here shakespeare creates a horrific image of Lady Macbeth suggesting that if she had sworn to her husband to something she would do it no matter the cost, as she tells him that she would sooner murder their child than break an oath that she had made to him. This characterisation explains the dynamic between these two characters it shows the raw brutality and wickedness of Lady Macbeth and the lengths that she would be willing to go to, when chasing her ambition. This also shows us the committed nature of their relationship as they would do anything for one another. This again mimics the story of Adam and Eve in the bible as they were so committed to one another that they were willing to disobey god for one another so to are Macbeth and Lady doing in this moment.

Question 12

“Is this a dagger which I see before me”

Answer 12

This is a famous scene in the play and is a key moment in the play as Macbeth must make his final decision that will effect the course of history, he has this brief moment to make his mind up about killing Duncan. The dagger symbolises Macbeth’s ambition “come let me clutch thee” he wishes to take his ambitions and rise to kingship however the fact that he cannot clutch the dagger shows that his morality is holding him back and that he in this moment is unable to make up his mind.

Question 13

“Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going”

Answer 13

Through the word choice shakespeare conveys the Idea of fate versus free will. “the way that I was going” refers to the path that he is on, we as a reader question if Macbeth is hopeless at this point in the story, as he is already under the influence of the witches and we feel that Macbeth is being controlled by forces that are beyond him, he is a smaller piece of the puzzle, we question if this is his fate all along does he have any free will in the situation or was it destiny that he kill the king

Question 14

“On thy blade and dudgeon are gouts of blood which was not so before”

Answer 14

Here Shakespeare uses symbolism to suggest that this dagger that Macbeth sees is his moral conscience as before the murder the dagger would be clean and so to would his conscience be, however he sees that if he were to murder the king there would be blood on his hands and that his conscience would forever be stained by his actions. This foreshadows the guilt later felt by the Macbeths for defying the word of god and choosing to commit regicide.

Question 15

“This is a sorry sight” Macbeth
“a foolish thought to say a sorry sight”

Answer 15

This further shows the dynamic between lady macbeth and her husband as she attempts to get him to silence his guilt this is possibly as she herself feels immense guilt for her actions and is attempting to silence her own thoughts of guilt. This shows how she can be rather cold, and expects more of her husband than to be feeling guilt. We see here that she senses that the job is not yet complete and that if they want to survive they cannot show any weakness in this moment of regret.

Question 16

“Will all great neptune’s oceans wash this blood clean from my hands?”

Answer 16

This symbolism refers to the blood on Macbeth’s hands as his conscience as he wonders if he will ever be free from the responsibility of his actions, he asks himself if there will ever come a point where he can live with himself again because of his actions. This shows regret for the actions however does not show remorse. We as an reader see that Macbeth is more concerned with how his actions will impact him than the true evil of what he has just done to another human being. quelling them from existence. This ties in with the theme of morality in the play as we can see how macbeth struggles to deal with these thoughts.

Question 17

“the minions of their race turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, contending against obedience as they would make war with mankind”

Answer 17

This word choice of “turned wild in nature” refers to the breakdown of the great chain of being as Macbeth’s actions has caused outrage in the heavens and nature itself is apauled by the actions taken against Duncan. We as an audience sense that the actions of Macbeth and his wife has unleashed anarchy upon all of Scotland as the word of god has been disobeyed and murdered. We sense here that shakespeare warns us of the consquences of breaking the great chain of being.

Question 18

“Our fears in banquo stick deep”

Answer 18

This word choice of “sticks deep” shows the pure mental and physical anguish that torments Macbeth as a result of his knowledge that banquo will have children that become kings, and that his hopes of having a royal lineage and his position are both threatened by banquo’s continued existence. This is also Ironic as Macbeth’s fears have driven him so far as to hire those that would kill for a fee, this mimics how the weapons of these people will later stick deep into banquo. This conveys the themes of ambition as we see just how far Macbeth is willing to go in order for his power to be maintained. Even killing his former comrades simply for his own peace of mind. We also see the Tyrannical nature of Macbeth as it is not kingly to be conversing with murderers and killers. Shakespeare hints here how Macbeth is not fit to be king possibly as this was not the role that god intended for him, and that god had not given him the right to take the throne it was stolen from gods gracious messenger

Question 19

“Say to the king I would attend his leasure for a few words”

Answer 19

This characterisation shows how the dynamic of the realtionship between Macbeth and Lady has changed as she needs to ask for permission to see her husband which she did not have to do so before. This shows how the two have become more distant as they have now both realised their goals and no longer have a common goal to work towards. This perhaps shows that Macbeth blames his wife for the guilt that he feels for killing Duncan perhaps using her manipulation to justify his actions and shift responsieability which we as an audience do not compeletly agree with, whilst we see that she was a driving factor we also see that after the Dagger soliloquay that Macbeth makes this decision of his own free will. This ties in with themes of guilt

Question 20

“Be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck”

Answer 20

Macbeth says this to his wife in regards to his plans for Banquo, this shows how he no longer informs her of his decisions. It shows the shift of power in their relationship as he has accended to kingship she has been left behind and what was once an equal and fair marrage has become patriarchal once more. We as a reader sense that before Macbeth became king he could be controlled and manipulated by his wife however now we see how Lady Macbeth has completely lost control of her husband and his actions.

Question 21

“O full of scorpions is my mind dearest wife”

Answer 21

Here we see how Macbeth wishes for peace of mind the scorpions symbolise his anger, frustration, and fear of the pain that awaits him. He is frustrated that despite his best efforts his rule will mean nothing should Banquo’s lineage supercede his own. We see his fear of what is still to come and the guilt that he is going through for having committed regicide. An alternative interpritation is that he fears eternity as a result of what he has done. He worries about how god will treat him for having disobeyed his grand plan.

Question 22

“Then live Macduff what need I fear of thee?”

Answer 22

This comes after the second apparition tells him that he cannot be harmed by those of woman born. We see here how Macbeth has become arrogant and now believes that he cannot be harmed by anyone. He completely ignores the first apparition’s warning as a result of this. This foreshadows his downfall at the hands of Macduff. We as an audience see here the true lengths to which Macbeth has fallen to simply decide to kill Macduff anyway even if he thinks that he can no longer be harmed by him.

Question 23

“Bleed, Bleed, poor country”

Answer 23

This personification reflects how the actions of Macbeth have had a widely negative impact on the events throughout the play as a whole. We see here how Macbeth’s actions have caused great suffering and misfortune to fall upon Scotland as he is not it’s rightful ruler

Question 24

“They have placed a fruitless crown upon my head and a barren scepter in my gripe”

“For banuqo’s issue have i defiled my mind and for them the gracious duncan have I murdered”

Answer 24

This shows how Macbeth feels as if all of his actions up until this point have not benefeited him, he feels trapped as if he is a small part of the bigger picture. He is appauled that all of his actions will not benefit him and instead will benefit someone else that did not sacrifice in order to gain the throne.

Question 25

“She should have died hereafter”

Answer 25

These are the first words of Macbeth after the death of his wife, this characterisation clearly shows us the strength of their bond and shows us the reader how they truely did care about one another. As this begins Macbeth’s nihilistic rant, as he no longer sees a point in continuing the fight, he has lost the person that he cared about. He sees now the foolishness of his actions as he was lead down this dark path by his wife that has now abandoned him before what he perceives to be his final moment of triumph because of his hubris as a result of the second apparition’s prophecy. We see now that no matter the outcome of the battle in Macbeth’s eyes the battle was lost. He perhaps reflects on the past and things that he could have done to change this outcome, this ties in with themes of fate versus free will as we as an audience question if this was always going to be the outcome for Macbeth, we also see how Lady has been punished for breaking the great chain of being by manipulating her husband to kill Duncan. The dramatic irony here is that the tale shakespeare is telling us is a cautionary one. We can see how should Lady have been contempt with her god apointed station she would have lived a longer life.

Question 26

“like a poor player that struts for his hour upon the stage and is never heard from again”

Answer 26

This is an inherently nihilistic statement by which shakespeare uses a metaphor to compare Macbeth to an actor that now having played his role will fade into the background of history, this encapsulates Macbeth’s feelings that he has played his role in the bigger picture to perfection, and now that his wife has passed he no longer feels any need to continue his life further we see here how, the death of Lady Macbeth has caused Macbeth to realise how futile his current situation is. He regrets his actions and the situation that he is in, and is now spiteful of the world around him no longer wishing to live without his wife showing the strength of their relationship that has had wider impacts on the play as a whole.

Question 27

“It is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”

Answer 27

This is another inherently nihilistic statement as we see now that Macbeth has lost the will to live, he sees the futilty of all of his actions up unitl this point and questions his motives. Here he sees the futility in attempting to change the natural order which allows shakespeare to tell us a cationary tale about breaking the great chain of being, as god is punishing Macbeth for breaking the natural order and stealing Duncan’s crown. He realises that there was no true motive to be chasing, and here shakespeare warns the audience about the dangers of superceding your place in society and ambition

Question 28

“unseamed him from the naive to the chops”

Answer 28

Shakespeare here uses word choice to emphasise the brutality of Macbeth towards the rebled “Unseamed” Has connotations of the killing involving very little honor or dignity it was a slaughter and a fitting end for the rebel whore Macdonald. “naive to the chops” foreshadows Macbeth’s own fate at the end of the play as Macduff presents his head to the rightful king Malcom. We see here how shakespeare re-enforces ideas of the great chain of being as we see that those who would defy the word of the king also defy the word of god and as a result of this their fate is that of bloody execution. We see how Macbeth later breaks the great chain of being by commiting the act of regicide. Shakespeare uses this to illustrate the theme of violence in the play as Macbeth is justified in his actions until he himself betrays the throne and ucerps the word of god. We as an audiance see that he must be punished severely for this transgression against god.

Question 29

“Stars hide your fires let not light hide my dark and deep desires”

Answer 29

Shakespeare here uses the technique of symbolism, as we see how shakespeare uses The fire of stars which reperesents the wrath of god and the heavens he wishes for the heavens to delay his punishement for the acts that he is considering. This shows Macbeth’s duplicitous nature as he is both in the presence of the king as a loyal servant however is also considering his murder. “let not light hide” refers to morality as he wishes for no one of moral standing to uncover his thoughts in this moment as he realises that if he was discovered to be having these thoughts he would face execution. “Dark and deep desires” the word choice of dark illustrates the demonic nature of these thoughts Shakespeare explains to the audience that Macbeth’s thoughts in this moment are that of satin himself, and deep desires refer to Macbeths hamartia being his endless ambition and willingness to stop at nothing to achieve his goals. This portrays themes of duality and morality as we can see how Macbeth here is struggling and conflicted about having these treachourous thoughts about betraying the throne.

Question 30

“I fear thy nature is too full of the milk of human kindness”

Answer 30

Shakespeare here uses symbolism and charecterisation to portray his point, that lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth is too light hearted to see his ideas to fruition. She prepares to convince him to act on his desires, shakespeare’s word choice of milk makes it clear to the audience that he is making a point about lady Macbeth’s womanhood, she sees herself as lacking the milk of human kindness and hence the motherly qualities that were expected of women of that era, we see how lady Macbeth rejects these societal norms as she instead acts to influence her own future and remove any obstacles in her path.This furthers themes of ambition, morality, and societal expectations of women as we must consider how lady Macbeth acts as opposed to how she would have been expected to act at this news. She is the catalyst for her husbands eventual downfall as she places thoughts in his mind and councils him to do her bidding we see here how shakespeare uses the play to uphold societal norms by projecting the ‘dangers’ of placing women in roles of power and trust.

Question 31

“All our service in every point twice done and done double”

Answer 31

Shakespeare uses this scene where Lady is misleading Duncan into a false sense of security and attempting to make him drop his guard and allow their plot to succeed, we see how shakespeare uses foreshadowing to show that lady Macbeth like the witches may have been under the control of supernatural forces, because in the play it appears as a common theme that the witches chant in doubles the word choice emphasises also the duality of Lady’s personality and how she in this moment is an equivicator, she is the serpant in this moment and so to she is the devil luring the innocent and pure Duncan to a horrific end.

Question 32

“False face must hide what the heart doth know”

Answer 32

We see here how shakespeare uses word choice to emphasise Macbeth’s duplicitous nature as we see how false face represents his equvication later in this act. We see that Macbeth feels the need to “hide what the heart doth know” this acts as charactersiation because we as an audience can see how Macbeth acts to supress his morality as he knows that to kill the king would be a great moral evil however he knows that it is necessary for his goals to be achieved and will stop at nothing for his ambitions to be met in this way shakespeare renforces the idea that Macbeths hamartia and ultimate downfall will be at the hands of ambition as he is driven forwards to commit actions that he will be punished for severely.

Question 33

“I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry”

Answer 33

Shakespeare here uses symbolism to illustrate the true impact of Macbeth’s actions on the wider setting as by breaking the great chain of being and upsetting the natural orders, nature has gone mad, and nature itself is appauled by the muder of Duncan, this illustrates the true immorality of Macbeth’s actions. This plays into the idea that every being has their god given role in the world and in ucerping his own role Macbeth unleashes chaos upon scotland.

Question 34

“there is nothing serious in morality all is but toys”

Answer 34

We see here how shakespeare uses word choice to portray themes of duality in Macbeth as although we as an audience can see that Macbeth is covering up for his involvement in the murder by expressing his distain for Duncan’s death. We can also see however how Macbeth also does genuinly feel guilt for his actions and hence this acts as a way of expressing his true disgrace at his own actions we see how Macbeth could potentialy be regretting taking action against Duncan. However we also see that Macbeth has passed a point of no return as he has already broken the great chain of being and in doing so unleashed god’s wrath on all of Scotland. We can see how Macbeth will eventually see cnosiquences for his actions

Question 35

“I fear thou played most foully for it”

Answer 35

Here Banquo expresses his fears that Macbeth was the murderer of Duncan as Banquo was the only one present with Macbeth’s encounter with the witches. We can see how Banquo suspects that foul play was at hand this mimmics the ideas of the witches as we see how Macbeth has played foully for his position and stolen robes however we see how these actions in the eyes of the devil are all justified. We see here how Banquo is better suited to rule over Scotland than Macbeth because shakespeare shows us that unlike Macbeth and the witches that Banquo has a stronger morral compass as he sees the only way to become king is through being fair. He has distaste for methods of foul play and here we begin to see why Macbeth grows jealous of Banquo as he is more fit to rule and he shall have a legacy as his sons will become kings.

Question 36

“To be thus is nothing but to be safely thus”

Answer 36

Here Macbeth thinks about the threat that Banquo poses to him as a result of Banquo’s prophecies. We see how shakespeare uses characterisation to portray just how fearful and paraniod Macbeth has become towards Banquo. As he believes that all of his actions would have been in vein if it were just for banquo’s issue to take the throne and legacy from him. His ambition now changes from obtaining the throne to maintaining his position as king. We see how his parranoia lead him to invite those into his council that would kill for a fee. This portrays Macbeth’s lack of kingly qualities as criminals being in the presence of the king would be a disgrace in society at the time. The king must be a stern fist against crime however actively involving himself in crime and betrayal shows the reader how Macbeth is abusing his power as King and slowly transitioning into a tyrant that kills to maintain fear and power.

Question 37

“sleek o’er your rugged looks and be bright and jovial among our guests”

Answer 37

We see here how Macbeth lacks kingly qualities again as Lady must inform him how he should play his role as king. This emphasises the point made by shakespeare that although Macbeth may dawn the robes of a king he will never truely be king without the blessing of god. The role of king was not meant for him and he has defied gods great plan and the great chain of being. the justaxposition of ruggesd and sleek show us The duplicitus nature of macbeth as his mind is rugged and riddled with guilt and sorrow at his position. However to maintain his power he must apear sleek and composed. We see here how Lady Macbeth no longer cares for the wellbeing of her husband only about maintaining power as she does not wish to help him, she wants him to keep playing his role as king for her own sake and cares more about power than the wellebeing of her own husband again showing how she defies societal expectaions of women at the time who would be expected to care for their husbands in times of need, instead she is more concerned about power.

Question 38

“Are you a Man?/ Ay and a bold one that might look upon that which may appual the devil”

Answer 38

This shows how Macbeth has broken free from Lady’s influence entirely, she has lost control over him, as he now asserts that he is the most manly of all as he has now seen such appauling sights. We see here how their relationship dynamic has changed as she is no longer able to influence him by questioning his manhood, he is now sure of himself.