Macbeth Quotes Flashcards
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.”
Said by: The Witches
Act 1 Scene 1
-This paradox sets the tone for the plays theme of deception and moral confusion. It suggests that appearances are misleading and what seems good may actually be evil. This line also foreshadows Macbeths own journey from hero to tyrant and his moral unraveling.
Spoken in the opening scene this reflects the Jacobean anxieties about disorder and the supernatural. King James 1 was fascinated and fearful of witchcraft (Daemonologie) so Shakespeare foregrounds the uncanny to tap into his kings audiences fears.
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen.”
Said by: Macbeth
Act 1 Scene 3
Macbeths words echo the Witches, hinting at his fate being intertwined with theirs. He unknowingly aligns himself with their dark power. The oxymoron conveys the stormy battlefield and the triumph of victory, blending literal and moral ambiguity.
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.”
Said by: Macbeth
Act 1 Scene 3
Macbeth briefly considers letting fate take its course. This moment shows his internal conflict between ambition and morality, before he decides to interfere with destiny by killing Duncan. This hesitation maps his inner conflict between ambition between ambition and honour.
“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.”
Said by: Lady Macbeth
Act 1 Scene 5
Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to hide his true intentions, emphasizing the theme of deception and false appearances. It shows her cunning and the manipulative power she holds at this point in the play. The biblical illusion to Eden (serpent) implies betrayal and original sin, reinforcing the theme of deception. In the patriarchal society, woman were expected to be submissive and weak. Lady Macbeths subversion- urging her husband to conceal murderous ambition- would shock the Jacobean society. This also highlights the theme of appearance vs reality.
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition.”
Said by: Macbeth
Act 1 Scene 7
Macbeth admits that his only motivation is ambition, not justice or honor. he has no moral justification for regicide. The image of a rider spurring a horse conveys reckless overreach and inevitable downfall. Shakespeare critiques unchecked ambition here, showing that it leads to dangerous, destructive choices.
“When you durst do it, then you were a man.”
Said by: Lady Macbeth
Act 1 Scene 7
She attacks Macbeths masculinity to provoke him into murder. “Dare” and “man” become weapons, exposing how social constructions of gender can be manipulated. This shows how gender roles and power dynamics are used to control behaviour in the play. This was unusual in the Jacobean patriarchal society.
“Is this a dagger which i see before me….?”
Said by: Macbeth
Act 2 Scene 1
Macbeths soliloquy- hallucinating a floating dagger- blurs reality and imagination. The dagger, “gouts of blood” pointing towards Duncans chamber, foreshadows murder and signals his tourtuired psyche. This also highlights the theme of the supernatural, as ghosts and visions were staple elements in Jacobean era, used to externalise guilt and moral conflict. So this reflects his inner conflict and shows that his mind is corrupted.
“”Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
Said by: Macbeth
Act 2 Scene 2
Macbeths hyperbolically claims not even the vast seas can cleanse him of Duncans blood guilt. The reference to Neptune amplifies the scale of his remorse and permanence of his crime. Blood imagery in Shakespeare often signifies guilt rather than physical stain.
“A little water clears us of this deed.”
Said by: Lady Macbeth
Act 2 Scene 2
Lady Macbeths pragmatic dismissal of Duncans murder shows her initial control. Yet the juxtaposition with Macbeths guilt foreshadows her later breakdown when water no longer suffices. The contrast between lady Macbeths early ruthlessness and her later sleepwalking invites discussions of repressed guilt. In Jacobean morality, the belief was that sin would inevitably surface.
“O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!”
Said by: Macbeth
Act 3 Scene 2
Macbeth confesses that his thoughts are venomous and relentless. The scorpion metaphor evokes both danger and internal torment, showing how power has become a psychological prison.
“What’s done is done.”
Said by: Lady Macbeth
Act 3 Scene 2
Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to stop dwelling on their crimes. her curt epigram suggests stoicism, yet irony undercuts her- she cannot escape the past, as we see in her sleepwalking.
“ I am in blood stepped in so far…. Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”
Said by: Macbeth
Act 3 Scene 4
Macbeth likens his murderous path to a river of blood he cannot leave. he feels that stopping now would be just as difficult as continuing - a chilling embrace of violence as destiny. Shakespeare is trying to warn against showing mercy to tyrants, resonant in a post- Gunpowder-Plot society fearful of insurrection.
“Out, dammed spot! Out, I say!”
Said by: Lady Macbeth
Act 5 Scene 1
During her sleepwalking, lady Macbeth tries to wash imagined blood stains from her hands. The repetition and imperative “Out” reveal obsessive guilt and unravelling sanity. Sleepwalking scenes were a popular dramatic device to expose hidden crime. Shakespeare uses it to demonstrate the physiological punishment can be deadlier than any early justice.
“Life’s but a walking shadow..full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Said by: Macbeth
Act 5 Scene 5
Macbeths nihilistic soliloquy reduces life to an empty performance. The “ walking shadow” and “sound and fury” metaphors convey existential despair- ambition has led him to meaninglessness. Shakespeare suggest that without moral order life collapses into chaos and vanity. This could have also been catalysed by the Witches.
“Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped.’
Said by: Macduff
Act 5 Scene 8
The final irony: the prophecy is fulfilled not by Caesarean birth but by violent extraction. “:Ripped” stresses the unnaturalness of Macbeths murder, sealing his fate.
