Macbeth Quotes Flashcards
“Fair is foul…”
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.”
- Act 1 Scene 1
- Said by Witches
- Inversion, so is the same back to front so lingers in the readers mind
- Meaning: Don’t trust appearances
- Alluded to later in the play by Macbeth
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” - Act 1 Scene 3
“Stars, hide your, …”
“Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires.”
- Act 1 Scene 4
- Said by Macbeth
- Theme: Guilt and Ambition
- Wants to hide his desires from god (stars)
- Conflicted: alludes to great chain of being and he is afraid to even consider the idea of killing Duncan.
- Alliteration
- Juxtaposition
“Yet do I fear … “
“Yet do I fear they nature. It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness.”
- Act 1 Scene 5
- Said by Lady Macbeth
Themes: Masculinity, cruelty, ambition, guilt
- Macbeth is not a murderer by nature, she fears his nature as not being ambition enough
“Is this a dagger… “
“Is this a dagger which I see before me?”
- Act 2 Scene 1
- Said by Macbeth
Themes: Supernatural, appearance vs reality, guilt, fate vs free will
- Conflicted even right before the murder
- Possible excuse to kill the kill
“Had he not resemebled …”
“Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done’t”
- Act 2 Scene 2
- Said by Lady Macbeth
Themes: Guilt, masculinity and cruelty, appearance vs reality
- Vulnerable side to LM?
- Incapable of murder
- Attempts to assume masculine traits but inevitably requires her husband to do the killing which could be appeasing the Jacobean patriarchal society
- Her complete mental breakdown at the end of the play could be seen as a punishment for her unnatural masculinaty
“Sleep no more, … “
“Sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep”
- Act 2 Scene 2
- Said by Macbeth
- Themes: Guilt, supernatural
- Sleep is a symbol of innocence - ironic
- Lack of sleep reveals guilt
- Allows for sympathy and he is afraid of consequences
- Use of sleep to show mental state - sleep walking and insomnia for there on
