Macbeth Key Quotes Flashcards
Manipulation/weakness
Lady Macbeth and the Witches tempt Macbeth with greatness. The witches achieve this with a pattern of three when they hail Macbeth in Act 1, whilst Lady Macbeth repeats their words snd later uses rhetorical questions to make the King’s murder sound easy. “What cannot you and I perform upon/Th’unguarded Duncan?”
Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into continuing with the murder by mocking and belittling him, using emotional blackmail, challenging his decisions through questions and giving him orders.
The witches also manipulate Macbeth, through their apparitions to cause his downfall. They increase his paranoia about banquets descendants and Macduff, using repetition through the verb ‘beware’ and visually, through the line of eight kings. They also tell him half truths in order to make him over confident and careless.
eg Act 1, scene 7
“if it were done when tis done, then twere well it were done quickly…”
Theme: Moral hesitation, guilt,
Macbeth delivers a soliloquy as he contemplates the consequences of murdering King Duncan.
This speech reveals Macbeth’s hesitation and the moral struggle he faces about whether to committee murder.
In exam - Macbeth’s soliloquy reveals his moral hesitation and foreshadows the psychological torment he will endure later.
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?
Act 2, Scene 2
Said after murdering Duncan
Theme: blood, guilt, repercussions of tyranny
Macbeth uses hyperbole to expose the depth and enormity of his guilt, suggesting that no amount of water, not even an ocean, could cleanse him of the bloodshed he has caused.
Blood is a physical manifestation of his guilt and the repercussions of being a tyrannical leader. Blood is staining his hands, which is a representation of his conscience being stained with guilt.
Nb: Hyperbole is the use of exaggerated
language to empasise a point or emotion,
often to heighten the intensity of a
character’s feelings or adding dramatic
weight to their dialogue
“I heard a voice cry ‘sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”
Act 2, Scene 2
Key Context
Theme: Guilt, supernatural, ambition, violence
Theme Supernatural
Theme Ambition
Theme Violence
Macbeth’s inability to sleep after Duncan’s murder reflects the profound psychological and moral consequences, marking his status as a tragic hero (experience downfall)
Sleep traditionally a restorative state, becomes an unattainable luxury for Macbeth, signifying his irrevocable loss of innocence and the inner torment will plague him.
By “murdering sleep,” Macbeth not only disrupts his own peace of mind but also violates the natural order, marking the point of no return in his moral degradation.
The exclamatory phrase “sleep no more!” highlights the intensity of Macbeth’s guilt the carcass of insanity (descent into madness).
The exclamation adds emotional weight to his realisation that peace and innocence, symbolised by sleep, are lost to him forever.
King Duncan’s Grim Death Sparks Paranoia
King James I
Divine Right of Kings
Great chain if being
Daemonologie
Seven Deadly sins
Patriarchy
Divine Right of Kings
When Macbeth murders King Duncan, he violates this sacred order, committing a grievous sin against both god and the natural hierarchy. The line “Macbeth does murder sleep” reflects this disruption.
By murdering a divinely appointed king, Macbethhas shattered the natural order , and in doing so, he loses his peace of mind- represented by the motif of sleep. His hubris (excessive pride) has also been to his detriment.
Great Chain of Being
By murdering King Duncan, Macbeth breaks this chain, throwing the natural world into disorder. The voice that cries “sleep no more” reflects this cosmic disruption.
Sleep, a natural, restorative process, is now unattainable for Macbeth, symbolising the wider disorder in both the human and natural worlds. This manifests as a consequence to Macbeth’s tyrannical pursuits.
Sample Para
In Macbeth, Shakespeare deliberately chooses to have certain key events occur offstage, a technique known as elision. One of the most significant examples of this is the murder of King Duncan, which is not shown directly to the audience. Instead, the aftermath is revealed through Macbeth’s psychological unravelling, highlighted in the line “sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep.”
The voice that Macbeth hears can be interpreted as a supernatural element, symbolising the weight of his conscience or perhaps a manifestation of guilt. The idea that he has “murdered sleep” can also connect to the play’s exploration of the supernatural, where the consequence of one’s actions are interwined with otherworldly forces.
Although not explicitly mentioned in this quote, it connects to the theme of ambition because Macbeth’s murder of Duncan is driven by his ambition to ascend to the throne. The aftermath this unchecked ambition is a loss of peace, as Macbeth realised his desires.
This quote highlights the consequences of Macbeth’s violent act as an antagonist (villain) - the murder of Duncan. This moment marks a turning point in the play, showing how his violent ambition leads to his psychological unravelling.
“O, full of scorpions is my mind..”
Act 3, Scene 2
Theme Paranoia
“Why should I play the Roman fool, and die on mine own sword?”
Act 5, scene 8
Noble brave warrior
” I dare do all that may become a man,”
Feelings of conscience, fear of killing the King
“I have supp’d full with horrors”
Act 4, scene 5
His cruelty
