Macbeth Quotes Flashcards
Captain Ross, Act 1 Scene 2
“Brave Macbeth - Well he deserves that name”
-Macbeth seen in a very high regard
-Valiant and fought for king (worthy)
-Portrays how the royalty were a terrible judge of character (multiple betrayals) - just because he was brave (thought he was god)
Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 4
“Let not light see my black and deep desires”
-metaphor for god and people around him
-proof Lady Macbeth wasn’t the only influence
-portrays power of supernatural (catalyst to his betrayal)
Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5
“Unsex me here, and fill me, from crown to toe, top-full of direst cruelty”
-Wants to be more masculine (could be used for supernatural and woman as well
-Suffering from patriarchy, to become powerful as a woman you must sacrifice feminine traits
Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 7
“When thou durst do it, then you were a man”
-Questions Macbeth’s masculinity which may have been main influence and trigger to killing king Duncan (To prove his masculinity
-Or could still be his desire to complete his vaulting ambition
Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 2
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand”
-guilt symbolised by the amount if blood on his hands
-Rare moment of guilt since he becomes emotionless later on
-Act 5 scene 1, Lady Macbeth washing blood off her hands (irony)
Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5
“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow”
-Always chasing something (ambition, power, money etc..)
-First time he questions if it was worth it (can’t achieve what he wanted - kept chasing something like shadow)
Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5
“Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t”
-Two-faced, look innocent. but evil under it
-She is telling this to Macbeth
-Links to Adam and Eve story
Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 2
“Full of scorpions is my mind”
-Foreshadow that his vaulting ambition will be his eventual downfall (hamartia)
-Possessed by his hunger thats eating away at his conscience / sanity
The Witches, Act 1 Scene 1
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”
-Summarises entire play (what you expect doesn’t happen)
-Brave Macbeth becomes a hunger filled tyrant
-Supernatural configures what’s known to be true by audience and characters
Banquo, Act 1 Scene 3
“The instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence”
-They play Macbeth and Banquo (like instruments
-Foreshadows evil and something bad will happen
-Juxtaposition as he admits witches will tell truths (for the purpose of winning trust then betraying you - Macbeth’s story)
Macbeth Context
-Jacobean era
-Patriarchal society (e.g Lady Macbeth knows she needs to be more masculine to handle more power - “unsex me here”)
-Based in Scotland
