Macbeth - Power and Ambition Flashcards
A quote presenting Macbeth to possess driving ambition within himself prior to meeting the Witches, who act as a catalyst for it - Act 1, Scene 3
MACBETH: Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more… Speak, I charge you
A quote suggesting Banquo to be sensible and insightful and painting Macbeth as neither, who is too rapt by his ambition to see reason, foreshadowing his downfall at the end of the play - Act 1, Scene 3
BANQUO: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/The instruments of darkness tell us truths,/Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest confidence
A quote demonstrating Macbeth’s fall from a pious, humble and loyal man, to a treacherous and conniving one who has turned against God due to his driving ambition - Act 1, Scene 4
MACBETH: (Aside) The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step/On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,/For in my way it lies./Stars, hide your fires,/Let not light see my black and deep desires
A quote showing Macbeth to see his wife as his equal, unusual for the Jacobean area, and their already desperate desire to possess power above that which they already hold - Act 1, Scene 5
Written in a letter to Lady Macbeth by Macbeth: “my dearest partner in greatness… what greatness is promised thee”
A quote showing Lady Macbeth’s desperation to possess power, a desperation that is so strong, she wishes to be free of female traits and those which make her human so that she may take it - Act 1, Scene 5
LADY MACBETH: Come you spirits…/unsex me here/And fill me from the crown to the toe topful/Of direst cruelty
A quote showing the significant levels of deception to which the pair are willing to stoop in order to gain more power - Act 1, Scene 5
LADY MACBETH: look like th’innocent flower,/But be the serpent under’t
A quote demonstrating the extent to which Macbeth is willing to go in order to increase his power, going forward with the plan despite believing it to be horribly wrong and knowing it to cause disruption to the universe - Act 1, Scene 7
MACBETH: his virtues/ Will plead like angles, trumpet-tongued against/The deep damnation of his taking off
A quote suggesting that Macbeth knows full well that his ambition will lead to his downfall, but succumbs to it anyway, presenting clearly his driving desire for power - Act 1, Scene 7
MACBETH: “I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself/And falls on th’other-“
A quote showing the power of Lady Macbeth and the driving ambition of Macbeth, as a mere emasculatory comment from his wife prompts Macbeth instantly to agree to the murder of Duncan again - Act 1, Scene 7
LADY MACBETH: And live a coward in thine own esteem/Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would”,/Like the poor cat i’th’addage?
A quote reminiscent of Macbeth’s speech in Act 1, Scene 4, when Lady Macbeth begs to be enshrouded in darkness to commit her evil deeds, furthering her power Act 1, Scene 5
LADY MACBETH: Come, thick night,/And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell [so that heaven cannot] peep through the blanket of the dark”
A quote suggesting Lady Macbeth is no longer the hard, uncaring woman who desired power, but now a slightly skittish one, envying the dead Duncan who must not now fear the security of his power - Act 3, Scene 2
LADY MACBETH: ‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy/Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy
A quote showing an increase in Macbeth’s greed and ambition, now seeing his wife as lesser and refusing to include her in his plot to kill Banquo, keeping her only for praise and treating her as a child. He now wishes to hold his power alone - Act 3, Scene 2
MACBETH: Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,/’Till thou applaud the deed
A further quote presenting Macbeth’s increased arrogance, as he instructs his wife to hide her inner feelings behind a facade, as she did to him in Act 1, Scene 5 - Act 3, Scene 2
MACBETH: make our faces vizards to our hearts,/Disguising what they are
A quote suggesting Macbeth fears his security in his power, constantly tormented by the knowledge that Banquo and Fleance are still alive to take his kingship - Act 3, Scene 2
MACBETH: O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives
A quote suggesting power has corrupted Macbeth, bringing him to commit terrible atrocities thoughtlessly in order to keep his power, contrasting the brave and loyal Macbeth from the opening of the play - Act 4, Scene 1
MACBETH: From this moment,/The very firstlings of my heart shall be/ The firstlings of my hand
