Macbeth quote analysis Flashcards
That will be ere the set of sun (witches a1s1)
witches are meeting Macbeth while it is still light and while he can still choose good over evil
There to meet with Macbeth
(witches a1s1)
ambiguous + paints Macbeth in a bad light because why is he meeting with the witches when it was sinful?
Fair is foul and foul is fair
(witches a1s1)
- appearance vs reality
- fricative alliteration emphasizes quote
- chiasmus, palindrome suggests that anything bad can become good and vise versa
- rhyming couplets sound like they are chanting a spell
Brave Macbeth
(Captain, about Macbeth a1s2)
- describes the ease with which Macbeth enacts state-sponsored killing
- Macbeth is killing traitors and protecting the king so fulfils the witches statement of ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ as Macbeth is previously good but then succumbs to evil
Unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps
(Captain, about Macbeth a1s2)
- Macbeth kills Macdonald brutally which shows he is cocky
- like ripping a seam on a piece of clothing
Yes, as sparrows, eagles, or the hare, the lion
(Captain, about Macbeth and Banquo a1s2)
- Macbeth and Duncan are not ‘dismayed’ by the Norwegians because they are the apex predators
- High in the great chain of being
Memorise another Golgotha
(Captain, about Macbeth and Banquo a1s2)
- ambiguous biblical allusion
- paints Banquo and Macbeth badly because they might not be on the good side as they are trying to recreate Golgotha where Romans tried to check if Jesus was dead by stabbing him
Bellona’s bridegroom
(Ross, about Macbeth a1s2)
- Macbeth has become married to the cause of war
With his former title greet Macbeth
(Duncan, about Macbeth a1s2)
- Duncan wants to kill the Thane of Cawdor for betraying him and give the title to Macbeth
- Duncan is too trusting + too quick to make decisions
What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won
(Duncan a1s2)
- Simple rhyme parallels Duncan’s simplicity
So foul and fair a day I have not seen (Macbeth a1s3)
- Macbeth echoes the witches’ words
- he is under the witches’ influence subconsciously without even seeing them
Live you, or are you aught
(Banquo, about witches a1s3)
- Macbeth and Banquo both express their curiosity towards the witches but they go separate ways
Choppy finger laying upon her skinny lips
(Banquo, about witches a1s3)
- witches are inhuman and separate creatures from the rest of society
All hail Macbeth
(First witch, about Macbeth a1s3)
- betrayal connotations in the Bible
- like Judas, the witches will betray Macbeth
He seems rapt withal
(Banquo, about Macbeth a1s3)
- Macbeth is spellbound and initially taken in by the witches while Banquo isn’t which sets up the foreground for Banquo who was created as a foil to Macbeth
Stay, you imperfect speakers
(Macbeth, to the witches a1s3)
- Macbeth is so enthralled by the witches he uses an imperative to try and get them to stay in vain
Have we eaten on the insane root?
(Banquo, to Macbeth a1s3)
- are we having hallucinations?
- query suggests that Banquo is a representation of the virtuous qualities of man as he recognizes the witches’ attempt to hurt Macbeth with their prophecies
Can the devil speak true?
(Banquo, to Macbeth a1s3)
- Banquo is comparing witches to devils
- similar to the beliefs about witchcraft in King James 1’s Daemonologie
Might yet enkindle you to the crown
(Banquo, to Macbeth a1s3)
- After Macbeth’s attempt to reward Banquo if he is loyal to him, Banquo replies by telling him to wait and see what happens
- moral way of thinking
The instruments of darkness
(Banquo, about witches a1s3)
- telling Macbeth the witches will betray him but his ambition is so great he ignores his best friend’s warnings
Cannot be ill, cannot be good
(Macbeth, about witches a1s3)
- conflicted thoughts about witches
- paradoxical language
Make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature
(Macbeth a1s3)
- graphic descriptions of physical effects of fear
- thought of murder terrifies him
- against nature + great chain of being because he knows his murderous thoughts are wrong
There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face
(Duncan a1s4)
- There’s no way to look at someone to tell what they’re thinking
- naive king
- ‘construction’ implies a conscious formation of a front that which foreshadows Lady Macbeth urging Macbeth to ‘look like the innocent flower’
I have begun to plant thee
(Duncan, about Macbeth a1s4)
- biblical allusion of God being a farmer in the Bible
- Duncan is close to God
- enhances belief of Divine Right Of Kings