Macbeth Key Quotes Flashcards
‘Out out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more’
LM’s ‘Out’ Language → Reflects his evil; also shows deep connection through love
Light → Christian imagery; love for wife stronger than religion
Player → Nihilistic view: life is pointless, like an actor bound by fate
Irony → Free will led to tragic outcome OR avoids guilt by blaming God
Shakespeare’s Message → He changed his fate (glovemaker’s son - playwright); Macbeth could have too
‘unseamed him from the nave to the chaps’
‘Brave Macbeth’ → Heroic warrior image, aligns with Jacobean valor, foreshadows tragic downfall
Violence as Justifiable → Initially seen as honor on battlefield; OR critically reflects culture’s acceptance of brutality as honor
Inherent Brutality → Graphic suggests Macbeth’s natural violence; OR ambition and darkness fuel brutality
‘Unseamed’ → Precise, skilled violence, like a butcher; OR shows calculated cruelty, not just aggression
Foreshadowing Downfall → Early glorification of violence sets up moral decline
Ambiguity in Violence → Heroism turns to monstrosity, questioning cost of valor in corrupt society
‘Out, damned spot! out, I say!’
Repetition of ‘out’ → Shows urgency and desperation to rid herself of guilt, powerlessness over the crime
‘Damned’ → Suggests eternal punishment, links her to hell, guilt that’s irreversible
‘Spot’ → Symbolizes guilt, marks her with the stain of sin; impossible to erase, indicating the lasting effects of her actions
Prose vs. Verse → Prose suggests loss of control, rationality, and dignity; contrasts with earlier use of verse when she was in power
Inescapable Guilt → Guilt is permanent, foreshadows her mental breakdown as a consequence of regicide.
Feminist Perspective → Lady Macbeth’s fragility reflects Jacobean views of women as weak and emotionally unstable, contrasting her earlier strength.
‘Unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst of cruelty’
Patriarchy Rejection → believes success requires manhood; manly traits include cruelty
imperative verb → unconventional for women to be commanding in Jacobean times
prefix ‘un’ → casual action, mustn’t have previously been conforming to gender roles; if she had deep feminine identity, it would be harder to do
Women and Power → Women excluded from power except via men; motivates her to control Macbeth; Shakespeare suggests negative patriarchy leads to unfeminine behavior.
Crown → Desires to be Queen OR Refers to head; aims to become more dominant person in general
‘Stars hide your fires let not light see my black and deep desires’
Juxtaposition of light/dark → reflects inner battle between good vs. evil
‘Deep desires’ appear quickly → ambition overrides honour fast, shows moral collapse
Adjective ‘black’ → embraces evil thoughts
‘Deep’ → suggests they’re deeply rooted, not sudden
Imperative verbs → commands stars = blasphemous, tries to escape divine judgement + silence conscience
hide → understands wrong in what he is doing, tries to avoid Christian consequences
Disdaining fortune → rejects fate, wants control over destiny
Shakespeare’s purpose → shows unchecked ambition as Macbeth’s hamartia
‘a little water clears us of this deed’
