Macbeth Quotes Flashcards
“Are you a man?”
Who asks this and why?
Lady Macbeth asks this question to Macbeth, due to his strange behaviour after seeing Banquo’s ghost
“Are you a man?”
Where else in the play can we see Lady Macbeth bully Macbeth?
When she calls him a “coward” and again emasculates Macbeth, telling him that he “would be so much more of a man” if he kills King Duncan
“Are you a man?”
Quotes like this from Lady Macbeth really effect Macbeth. What character contradicts this?
Macduff. When grieving over the death of his family, he states how he believes that expressing emotions is a big part of masculinity, saying he must “feel it like a man”
“Are you a man?”
Why is emasculating Macbeth a good tactic for Lady Macbeth?
It preys of Macbeth’s fear of not being seen as masculine and supports society’s views at the time that men shouldn’t show fear or signs of weakness. As this effects Macbeth, she can use it to manipulate him to do what she wants.
“Out dammed spot! Out I say!”
Who says this and what two things are they doing?
Lady Macbeth says this whilst sleepwalking and washing her hands (in a dream)
“Out dammed spot! Out I say!”
How does this quote show how she is now, despite not being this throughout the play, paranoid and guilty?
The fact she is dreaming about the blood on her hands (that she can’t get off) highlights her guilt of the situation, being almost punished in sleep with constant regret
“Out dammed spot! Out I say!”
What is this “spot” literally?
The blood she got on her hands from retrieving the daggers
“Out dammed spot! Out I say!”
What is this “spot” metaphorically?
The blood on her hands is metaphorically the guilt she can’t wash away. She is permanently stained by this blood.
“Out dammed spot! Out I say!”
Lady Macbeth is trying to wash away the guilt of being involved in King Duncan’s death. This is her first scene showing weakness. Name a quote that contradicts this quote from her earlier in the play.
“A little water clears us of the deed”
Here she trivialises the event and seems unbothered by it.
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”
What is this an example of here
A paradox or alliteration.
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”
What is “fair”?
Beauty and morality
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”
What is “foul”?
Callousness and immorality
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”
Who says this and when?
The witches chant it and the end of the opening scene
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”
What does this foreshadow?
That things that appear “fair” may be “foul”, foreshadowing duplicity and how things may not be as they seem.
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”
This uses alliteration of the ‘f’ sound. What does this do?
Make the words sound more similar, linking back to how Shakespeare foreshadows how appearances may be deceiving
