Macbeth: quotes + analysis Flashcards
1
Q
What is the relevance of the motif of blood in Macbeth ?
A
- blood is used to represent many different things over the course of the play
- from beginning to end:
[] bravery (when MB is introduced)
[] ambition (dagger scene; though here it could also be perceived as guilt or a warning)
[] guilt (after killing Duncan)
[] nobility (when other chars find Duncan murdered and lament his death)
[] paranoia (MB no longer concerned about moral implications of murder, just wants to secure throne through violence)
[] revenge/karma (Banquo’s ghost, blood will have blood)
[] MB’s tyranny (killing child)
[] blood of the nation as a result of tyranny (patriotism of Macduff)
[] hysteria (of LM)
[] bravery and righteousness for killing MB
2
Q
What is significant about the meter that the witches speak in ?
A
- trochaic tetrameter
- opposite of iambic pentameter (nobility speak in this meter)
- represents the witches flipping nature and bringing chaos/upsetting the natural order
3
Q
“thunder, lightning or in rain?”
A
- bad weather symbolises the anger of the gods in literature
- witches are against God and the natural order
- ALSO bad weather causes destruction; link between witches and destructive weather could be seen as foreshadowing for their part in Macbeth’s downfall and the temporary destruction of the natural order and Scotland and goodness
4
Q
“When the battle’s lost and won. That will be ere the set of sun.”
A
- witches are shown to be prophetic (“will”- they are sure of it); links to Holinshed’s chronicles and the three fates in mythology
- “lost and won”= not equivocation since it is true, but the juxtaposition and lack of clarification demonstrates the witches’ instability
5
Q
“Paddock calls”
A
- animal familiar
- links to devil
- Malleus Maleficarum; establishes the witches as evil/having a pact with the devil/not to be trusted
6
Q
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”
A
- upsetting natural order and confusing morality
- flips the idea of what is good and what is bad
- can be viewed as foreshadowing for how they will change Macbeth’s ideas of what is good and what is bad later in the play
- evidence for a reading in which Macbeth is controlled by the witches from the very beginning
7
Q
“Hover through the fog and filthy air.”
A
- “hover” = to half-fly
- links to equivocation
- “fog” = partially clear air with vision obscured; equivocation
- “filthy air” = filth is dirt and dirt has connotations of repulsiveness or evil, establishing that the witches’ equivocation is not done with good intention
- links equivocators to evil and thus drives audience away from sympathising with people like Henry Garnet
8
Q
“brave Macbeth”
A
- first actual mention of Macbeth in the entire play is positive
- “brave” = conforms to hegemonic masculinity
- Macbeth is portrayed as the ideal man and thus also conforms to the COB in staying in his assigned place
- his aristeia
9
Q
“smoked with bloody execution”
A
- “smoked” = the blade was literally smoking as the battle was on a cold day and the sword was hot from the internal body heat of killing people so steam was produced
- figuratively, was smoking as smoking is a sign of fire, which signifies destruction and passion or life, and the blade ‘extinguished’ the ‘fires’ of those on the battlefield
- “bloody” = blood is used as a positive symbol here to signify Macbeth’s loyalty, righteousness and bravery
- bloodshed is encouraged if it is in the name of the king
- “execution” = punishment for a wrongdoing, usually treason etc. ; makes Macbeth’s violence seem justified and good
10
Q
“sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion”
A
- “eagles”/”lion” = the most regal and powerful of all birds and animals; comparing Macbeth to these again amplifies his conformity to hegemonic masculinity
- alternatively could be read as Macbeth being compared to the 4 evangelists (Mark is represented by a winged lion, whilst John is represented by an eagle); the 4 symbols of the 4 evangelists in the Bible represent the 4 facets of Jesus, with the eagle meant to symbolise divine power and spreading of God’s word, and the lion symbolising Jesus’ kingly and strong side
- a sign of Macbeth’s hubris as he is being equated to God in this reading
- shows signs that Macbeth wishes to transcend the natural order and is overambitious
11
Q
“they meant to bathe in reeking wounds”
A
- “bathe” = one takes a bath to clean themselves or to relax; it is an enjoyable experience
- “reeking” = stinking, repulsive, violent
- Macbeth is shown to enjoy the violence he enacts a little too much; foreshadowing about Macbeth’s descent into meaningless cruelty/violence later in the play
- ironic, as Macbeth is technically dirty if he “bathes” in blood; echoes the witches’ flipping of nature/reality
12
Q
“to memorise another Golgotha”
A
- “memorise” = to have such dedication to something that you know it by heart; Macbeth is so egotistical that he memorises his own feats
- “Golgotha” = where Jesus sacrificed himself for humanity’s sins; Macbeth willing to sacrifice himself for his king and country so much so that his sacrifice is comparable to Jesus
- blasphemy; wishes to transcend the COB and has immense hubris
13
Q
“No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive… with his former title greet Macbeth.”
A
foreshadows Macbeth’s treason against Duncan, as the Thane of Cawdor committed treason, then his title is given to Macbeth so Macbeth is linked to Cawdor and implied to have some of the same nature; links to “two spend swimmers” and Macbeth’s comparison to Macdonwald, another traitor to the throne
14
Q
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen.”
A
- Macbeth’s first lines in the play
- echoes the witches
- could attribute to a reading of the play where Macbeth is under the witches’ control from the beginning
- foreshadowing of his trust of the witches and disobeying of the chain of being
15
Q
“you should be women and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so”
A
- could be read as a joke for the audience, as all actors at the time of writing had to be male and so would’ve had “beards”
- could also be read as the witches going against nature; both by transcending their place on the chain of being to be like men (higher place than women) or like trying to shirk the aspects of their actual gender (hegemonic femininity) in preference of traditionally male aspects such as violence and brutality which the witches embody
- makes the witches seem uncanny and against God to a Jacobean audience
- implies that women having power is unnatural; from a feminist reading this is very sexist and perpetuates the patriarchy and female oppression
16
Q
Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more”
A
- “imperfect speakers” = Macbeth knows that they equivocate or at least that there is something wrong with the things they have promised
- “stay” = command; Macbeth views himself as able to control the witches and by extension (his own) fate; either a comment on his hubris or from a feminist perspective the fact that he is a man and thus can command women
- despite knowing that what they tell him is flawed, it sounds good and so Macbeth wishes to hear more to see if he has any other fortunes in life above being king as well as thane of Cawdor and Glamis; overambitious - this is his hamartia
17
Q
“the earth hath bubbles”
A
- “bubbles” = rise from underneath a liquid
- underneath the earth figuratively speaking is hell
- the witches are likened to “bubbles” and so Banquo is saying that they come from hell
- ties into the Malleus Maleficarum which posited similar ideas about the origins of witches’ healing powers in order to dissuade people from trusting them and to regain the Church’s political influence
18
Q
“Do you not hope your children shall be kings”
A
- Macbeth is confused at Banquo’s distrust of the witches as they have given him good news
- Macbeth’s first priority is power, and is confused at why Banquo’s isn’t either; demonstrates Macbeth’s overambition and greed
- makes Macbeth look foolish in comparison to Banquo (his foil) as he does not have the foresight to question the witches’ prophecies
19
Q
“instruments of darkness”
A
- “instruments” = either tools or literal instruments; objects used to enact a purpose or create something to listen to
- “darkness” = evil, the devil
- Banquo is implying that the witches are controlled by the devil or evil in general; presents him as wise for seeing through the trickery of the witches
- links to Malleus Maleficarum
- designed to scare the audience away from trusting witches as healers due to the fact that witches were never actually evil or worshippers of the devil
- makes Banquo seem more righteous than Macbeth for staying away from the devil and close to God, loyal to the king; conforms to COB
- this presentation of conformity to societal rules being good and moral from a marxist reading of the play is why Macbeth can be considered part of the ideological state apparatus, meant to brainwash the audience and the proletariat who listened to the play to stay in their places and maintain loyalty to the bourgeoisie instead of fighting for their own rights and power
20
Q
“win us with honest trifles to betray’s in deepest consequence”
A
- “trifles” = either something small and insignificant, or a dessert
- desserts are sweet and good to eat; implies that the witches’ truths make people trust them due to how good they sound
- the truths of equivocators are also small and not worth the trouble they bring no matter how good the end result is; witches do not explicitly say how the ‘trifles’ will be actualised
- “deepest” = the consequences are so bad that they go down to the very core of a person and morality; not worth it for a mere trifle of goodness
21
Q
“swelling act”
A
- refers to Macbeth’s ambition of becoming king
- “swelling” = good or bad connotations, for example swelling with pride or swelling because of an illness or injury
- represents how the action of Macbeth becoming king seems good outwardly, yet will cost him a lot in terms of morality and peace of mind (illness of the mind and the spirit)
22
Q
“make my seated heart knock at my ribs against the use of nature ?”
A
- “knock” = motif of knocking throughout the play signifying Macbeth’s sin and thus going to hell because of it
- “heart” = centre of moral consciousness, emotion, values etc. so his heart reacting negatively to the idea of murdering Duncan marks Macbeth’s morals as good at this stage
- “against the use of nature” = murder is against the COB/natural order
23
Q
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.”
A
- Macbeth displays essentialist logic as believes that he will become king simply because “chance” has planned it for him
- does not actually wish to kill Duncan; his moral code is still almost fully intact at this stage and his superego has more control than his ID at this stage also (psychoanalytic reading) and thus the idea that he must stay in his place and only move up in the COB if it is destined for him by God
- plays on James I’s idea about the divine right of kings (kings are chosen by God and thus have the power to act in God’s name on earth)
24
Q
“nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.”
A
- Thane of Cawdor willingly went to his death after repenting
- to an audience, shows that even traitors who betray God and the natural order know when they should repent, and know that they should have the most severe punishment (death)
25
Q
“More is thy due than all can pay”
A
- irony
- Duncan saying cannot pay back Macbeth for his good deeds when it has already been foreshadowed that Macbeth will kill Duncan and the highest price of all is life
- makes Macbeth seem evil for even thinking about murdering someone who is so grateful and kind as well as king
26
Q
“There if I grow, the harvest is your own.”
A
- metaphor of Duncan having “planted” Banquo and Macbeth ties into the idiom ‘you reap what you sow’
- in this instance, Macbeth is a bad seed and Banquo is a good one with lots of metaphorical fruit
- Banquo shown to be good and loyal to the king as he says “the harvest is your own”; offering the rewards of his own work to Duncan as he is grateful to Duncan for planting him in the first place
27
Q
“stars hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires”
A
- “stars” = typically symbolise fate in literature and are also in the sky so are close to the heavens; link to God, doesn’t want his relationship with God to be tainted by his desires to kill Duncan and take the throne
- “fires” = passion, destruction; Macbeth’s passion and ambition for power eventually leads to his own destruction; the fires of the stars are his own fate to be destroyed by his own passion
- “black” = evil, darkness
- “deep” = hidden away and repressed desires; link to psychoanalytic theory where Macbeth repressing his desire to kill Duncan in this scene leads to the repression coming undone later due to his wife then him eventually killing Duncan and reaping the consequences
28
Q
“The eye wink at the hand”
A
- MB wishing to kill Duncan without any consequences
- shows that he doesn’t actually want to murder Duncan
- essentialist logic as still doesn’t want to take an active role in shaping his fate
29
Q
“I do fear thy nature… is too full o’ the milk of human kindness”
A
- echoes the witches flipping reality, as should not “fear” “kindness”
- “milk” = nourishing, mild tasting; not the attributes of hegemonic masculinity or someone cruel enough to kill and take what he wants
- demonstrates from a feminist point of view how stereotypes about gender can harm everyone, not just women, as this emasculation is eventually what drives Macbeth to go through with the plan
30
Q
repetition of “do”/”to do” in LM first soliloquy
A
- establishes LM as an existentialist in comparison to MB’s essentialism at this point
- LM ‘pours her spirits’ to him so then he echoes her existentialism after
31
Q
“pour my spirits in thine ear”
A
- literary allusion to scene in hamlet where claudius kills his brother by pouring poison in his ear
- foreshadows that LM’s persuasion of MB to transcend COB and commit regicide is directly responsible for his downfall (peripeteia)
- alternative reading: “pour” = usually to pour a drink; nourishing, caring etc.
- “spirits”= supernatural spirits OR spirits as in opinions and thoughts; the first links LM to the witches
- as if LM will sustain MB and make him grow via her manipulation to kill Duncan
32
Q
“make thick my blood stop up the access and passage to remorse”
A
- “blood” = representative of guilt here
- “remorse” = emotion, emotion is typically an aspect of hegemonic femininity
- LM wants to rid herself of her humanity and femininity in exchange for masculine traits and cruelty
- wants to transcend COB with help of supernatural; against God
- from feminist reading, shows how the patriarchy is so dominant that women must forsake femininity if they want any power
33
Q
“breasts, take my milk for gall”
A
- “milk” = for babies to help them grow
- “gall” = poison, kills
- source of care for Duncan when he visits should be LM/MB but they are plotting to kill him instead
- LM rejecting femininity and motherhood again and thus going against COB and Jacobean society
- LM would’ve been very shocking as a character to a Jacobean audience because of all the gender roles she subverts; this may have been done to dissuade an audience from committing regicide, trying to subvert gender roles or the rules of hegemonic gender
- marxist perspective: keeping proletariat in place
34
Q
“pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell”
A
35
Q
“look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t”
A
36
Q
“you shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch”
A
37
Q
“castle hath a pleasant seat; the air… recommends itself”
A
38
Q
“honour’d hostess!”
A
39
Q
“his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp him to his home before us”
A
40
Q
“Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice to our own lips”
A
- literary allusion to scene in Hamlet where Claudius accidentally kills his own wife when trying to poison and kill Hamlet
- could foreshadow that, in trying to kill Duncan and keep the erroneous power, LM driven to suicide and MB himself is killed
- motif of poison represents the corruption of the witches seeping into every aspect of MB’s life and tainting it with cruelty etc.
41
Q
“should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself”
A
42
Q
“his virtures will plead like angels, trumpet tongued”
A
43
Q
“naked new born babe”
A
44
Q
“vaulting ambition”
A
45
Q
“I have bought golden opinions… would be worn now… not cast aside so soon.”
A
46
Q
“like the poor cat i’ the adage?”
A
47
Q
“What beast was’t then”
A
48
Q
“whilst it was smiling in my face have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums and dash’d the brains”
A
49
Q
“Is this a dagger which I see before me”
A
- “dagger” = short bladed weapon
- to use a dagger, have to get close
- likely that blood will go on face and hands due to close proximity
- could be a warning of the fact that MB will not be able to usurp COB without being fully aware of his actions unlike wink at the hand quote; emphasises his evil when he goes through with it as his overambition consumes all his morals
- from a psychoanalytic reading, the hallucination of a dagger represents his repressed desires earlier in the play to kill Duncan and take his place as king, as well as perhaps the repressed love for bloodshed he must show when around people like Duncan
50
Q
“marshall’st me the way that I was going”
A
- “marshall” = to direct someone forcefully
- echoes the witches manipulating Macbeth into killing Duncan to cause chaos
- alternatively, could be useful for a reading in which the witches are shown to actually control Macbeth (hallucination = magic, etc.)
- “the way I was going” = Macbeth already intended to kill Duncan; shows his evil and cruelty as didn’t need an extra push, just wanted to kill to get the power
51
Q
“on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood”
A
“blood” = warning of the guilt MB will have after killing Duncan, or ambition alternatively
52
Q
“Hark! Peace! It was the owl that shriek’d, the fatal bellman”
A
- short words like “Hark!” break iambic pentameter and show LM’s fear/nervousness that she is trying to repress to appear braver than she is
- “owl” = bird that can see in the night, birds fly close to the heavens, owl = rep. of God that can see their horrible actions even under the guise of night
- can never hide from God
- scares audience into submission as don’t want to go against God and go to hell (marxism)
- “bellman” = bells called knells rung at funerals, bell thus condemns LM and MB to hell after the murder
53
Q
“Had he not resembled my father as he slept”
A
- her care for her father stopped her from murdering Duncan
- emotion = heg. fem.
- message = no one can escape or transcend their true purpose in life and what they are destined to be and so staying in your place instead of trying and failing and reaping the consequences is better
- from a feminist reading, is sexist, as saying a woman can never be anything more, or that if a woman tries to be powerful like a man, will always fail
54
Q
“I had most need of blessing, and ‘Amen’ stuck in my throat”
A
- consequences of regicide immediate and dire
- cannot face God because feels so much guilt
- message that if you commit regicide or go against the COB your relationship with God will be irreparable; fearmongering and an example of the ISA from a marxist reading
55
Q
“Macbeth does murder sleep”
A
- “sleep” = rest, revitalising, peaceful, innocent
- “murder” = violent, brutal and cruel
- the effect of having the words “murder” and “sleep” next to each other amplifies the horrific nature of the regicide due to the stark contrast
- by killing Duncan in his sleep Macbeth destroyed something as pure and good as sleep; adds to the perception of Macbeth as extremely cruel and thus dissuades the audience from regicide or treason
- from a marxist reading
- the fact that the consequence is immediate after killing Duncan emphasises God’s anger at killing a king and transcending the COB
- Macbeth will no longer have any rest because of what he has done
- alternatively, Duncan is being compared to sleep and is being called innocent, pure and his goodness is restful in a sense for the country
56
Q
“Why did you bring these daggers… they must lie there”
A
- “daggers” = representative of Macbeth’s guilt
- if Macbeth brings his guilt with him metaphorically and does not hide it or put it away, their plan will be found out and will collapse
- literally speaking, the daggers must be left behind for the same reason
- “lie” = may be used as to lie down/stay in one place or as lying to someone; by placing the daggers by the guards, the daggers lie about who actually killed Duncan - daggers personified in this reading to exemplify the evil of the act; as if the dagger in Macbeth’s vision was an evil spirit marshalling him to kill Duncan
57
Q
“all great Neptune’s oceans wash this blood clean from my hand”
A
- “blood” = motif for Macbeth’s guilt here
- saying that he has so much guilt that not even all the water of the oceans will clean it
- “oceans” = water, water is pure and clean
58
Q
“I shame to wear a heart so white”
A
- “white” = purity, innocence
- “heart” = centre of all morals, the figurative core of a person’s consciousness and emotion
- LM’s heart is pure meaning that she is free technically of any real involvement in the murder of Duncan itself
- “shame” = feels embarrassed of her own emotion and that she could not bring herself to kill Duncan despite it being her will to go through with the plan
59
Q
“A little water clears us”
A
- Lady Macbeth presented as foolish or with little foresight; from a feminist perspective this can be read as a very sexist presentation of women
- literally, she is correct; blood washes off very easily from skin
- “little” = very small amount, shows she is flippant towards the murder and has little remorse at this stage
- could also be read as Lady Macbeth self-soothing and reassuring herself that Duncan’s murder wasn’t a huge deal as it is clear that she does care to some degree as she was not able to murder him; from a psychoanalytic reading of the play, this repression of her guilt is why she becomes almost hysterical in act 5 of the play
60
Q
“the earth was feverous and did shake”
A
- earth sick after murder of Duncan
- motif of illness due to the evil caused by the witches may be written in to signify to the audience that witches are not actually healers but evil
- Malleus Maleficarum
61
Q
“sacrilegious murder hath broke ope the Lord’s anointed temple”
A
- “sacrilegious” = against God, COB
- “anointed temple” = temple is a place where one may pray to God, anointment signifies being chosen by God; metaphorically saying kings on earth are vessels of God and the closest to him on earth (divine right of kings, COB, marxism)
- temple also = forehead; when kings are anointed, is done on their temple
62
Q
“There’s nothing serious in mortality; all is but toys”
A
- can be read as either MB feeling genuine guilt for the murder of Duncan
- could also be read as MB being Machiavellian and deceitful (emphasises cruelty)
- “toys” = insignificant, child’s play
- saying life is meaningless and insignificant without a king like Duncan being alive
63
Q
“his silver skin laced with his golden blood”
A
- “silver” = precious metal
- “golden” = precious metal, often used for regal attire and objects such as the crown, sceptre etc.
- “blood” here symbolises nobility; makes it more horrifying that such precious blood has been spilt
- kingly blood means more than normal blood; marxism
64
Q
“stabs look’d like a breach in nature”
A
breaking COB/natural order by committing regicide; unnatural and horrific act
65
Q
“in the great hand of God I stand”
A
Banquo = righteous, pious, foil to MB, ideal man
66
Q
“Duncan’s horses… turn’d wild in nature, broke their stalls”
A
- “stalls” = COB/place set for the people by God
- “horses” = horses bred specifically by humans to bear load and be useful; Duncan ‘bred’ MB to be loyal and tame to him (planting metaphor) and God set out special place for MB, yet now rebelling against creator, God + Duncan, like a horse rebelling against humans
- “wild” = uncontrollable, links to witches being “wild” in their attire
67
Q
What does the motif of clothing signify ?
A
one’s place in life/social status
68
Q
“Our fears in Banquo stick deep”
A
- paranoia; “fears” = scared that Banquo sees through his lies
- shows that righteous people will always see the truth, like agents of God (ref. owl that can see in the dark)
- “stick” = cannot get rid of his fears; haunt him, no mental rest, no “sleep”
- “deep” = issue of not having his own children be kings is very dear to him, or that Banquo is his best friend so killing him/being uneasy around him is painful, or that Banquo uncovering his secret goes to the core of his power + would destroy his reign
69
Q
“they placed a fruitless crown… barren sceptre”
A
- “fruitless” = fruit tastes sweet, good; no good has come of becoming king by force
- alternatively, fruit could refer to a legacy or line of kings; MB knows Banquo’s sons will be kings after him, so his own line will not survive; will mean nothing in the grand scheme of things
- “sceptre” symbolises royal power; no one like MB as king and so he has no real power as king to command people; foreshadows later rebellion led by Malcolm and Macduff
70
Q
“For Banquo’s issue I have filed my mind”
A
- “filed” = to slowly shave away something
- if file a body part like the mind, is painful; Banquo has been worrying him so much that it has caused him mental torture
- alternatively, if you file away a body part, you lose the limb and the ability to use it, so Banquo has made him so worried that he is losing his sanity and mental faculties after the murder
- makes MB seem more insane and unstable after the murder
- consequences of regicide dire; fearmongering, marxism
71
Q
“the seed of Banquo”
A
- “seed” = refers to idiom ‘you reap what you sow’
- MB ended dynasty of Duncan, and now his own line will be ended by Banquo’s sons becoming king
- gives King James I legitimacy even though Scottish as was descendant of Banquo and this shows that it was destined for Banquo’s lines to be king anyway; marxism to protect from Gunpowder Plot activists
72
Q
“Are you so gospell’d to pray for… whose heavy hand hath bow’d you to the grave”
A
- MB goes against God completely
- Bible says to turn the other cheek; MB encourages against this egging on to take revenge against Banquo
- Machiavellian; manipulating
- “pray for” = caring, forgiving, loving; aspects of femininity so emasculates them to manipulate; from feminist reading shows how stereotypes are harmful to all
73
Q
“Your spirits shine through you”
A
- echoes witches flipping reality
- “shine” = light, goodness etc.
- MB compares the murderers’ willingness to kill to goodness even though it really isn’t
74
Q
“the affliction of these terrible dreams… better be with the dead”
A
- psychoanalytic reading
- irony; killed Duncan because was envious of his position, now is envious of his death
75
Q
“Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, ‘till thou applaud the deed”
A
- feminist reading; sexist
- MB compares LM to a “chuck” (chick); innocent, young, clueless, pure; heg. fem. aspects, trying to force LM back into her place so that he has control
76
Q
“(FLEANCE with a torch)”
A
- “torch” = light, goodness
- Banquo’s line is good and righteous
- alternatively, torches are shown as a symbol of succession/responsibility such as the Olympic torch; marks witches’ prophecy of Fleance carrying on as king as true
77
Q
“Is he dispatch’d?”
A
- “dispatch’d” = a rather clinical and detached word to describe death
- usually packages or shipments are dispatched; objectifies Banquo despite him being MB’s best friend
- shows MB losing remorse and consciousness for murder
78
Q
“There’s blood on thy face”
A
“blood” = MB’s tyranny, lack of remorse, cruelty and PARANOIA; using violence purely to secure his power
79
Q
“I had else been perfect… founded as the rock”
A
- psychoanalytic reading: represses other fears to convince himself that the only thing in his way was Banquo and Fleance, who can be killed and so the problem can be solved
- could also be read as, if Fleance died, his lineage of future kings would be secure; biblical allusion to Peter being the “rock” on which the church (an institution like the monarchy) was founded by Jesus
- compares himself to Jesus again; blasphemy, against COB, surplus ambition and hubris
80
Q
“This is the very painting of your fear… would well become a woman’s story at a winter fire.”
A
- “painting” = harmless, beautiful, depiction of emotions or events
- says Banquo’s ghost cannot harm him and is nothing more than a spectacle
- “woman’s story” = emasculates MB to get him to calm down and appear more manly; says that Banquo’s ghost is so harmless that women would tell stories about it for fun around a “fire” (warmth, good)
81
Q
“blood will have blood”
A
- “blood” = karma/revenge here
- as karma for spilling blood, his own will be spilt
- alternatively, could mean that he has killed so much that he cannot stop killing and there is just. so much blood; shows dangers of giving into one’s ID from a psychoanalytic perspective (stop listening to superego/morals, lose any sense of self apart from desires)
- makes MB seem even more evil as links to a Biblical time before God gave the commandments, one of which = do not kill
- MB lives by no rules and by no god
82
Q
“stones have been known to move and trees to speak”
A
- nature protesting against the murders/going against COB
- MB scared of trees talking about the murders and ratting him out
- scared of stones moving to reveal the body of Banquo
- biblical allusion as stone of Jesus’ tomb moved; makes Banquo seem righteous and good in comparison to MB
- MB’s paranoia
83
Q
“more shall they speak, for now I am bent to know by the worst means”
A
- “bent” = pressure applied to change the shape of something
- MB feels so under pressure that he decides to go to the witches against his better judgement
- “worst means” = makes MB seem foolish and desperate, as knows with perfect clarity that the witches are evil and mislead him but trust them anyway
84
Q
“I am in blood stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious”
A
- “blood” = guilt and MB’s tyranny here
- has killed so much that it is easier to carry on than stop
- MB has lost control
- dangers of giving into ID
- shows some signs of nihilism here
- references Greek mythology as there are rivers in the afterlife (hell)
85
Q
“show the glory of our art”
A
witches/supernatural flip reality as they’re proud of the chaos/evil they enact though these are bad things
86
Q
“poison’d entrails… swelter’d venom”
A
motif of poison = moral corruption and links back to LM
87
Q
“Though you untie the winds and let them fight against the churches… Even till destruction sicken”
A
- bad weather = anger of the gods
- witches disrupt nature and the natural order so much that nature is confused and fights against itself
- emphasises MB’s desperation, reliance on the witches and evil as doesn’t mind if “destruction” grows tired of itself as long as he has proof he is untouchable
- overambition to the point of self-destruction (hamartia)
88
Q
What is the significance of the first apparition being an armed head ?
A
- at the end of the play, MD cuts off MB’s head to place on a pole in front of the castle (punishment reserved only for worst criminals)
- foreshadows this
89
Q
What is the significance of the second apparition being a bloody child ?
A
- C-section children have a lot of their mother’s blood on them when brought into the world
- Macduff born of C-section
- foreshadows that MD will actually end up killing MB
90
Q
What is the significance of the third apparition being a crowned child holding a tree ?
A
- Malcolm is the child of Duncan
- Malcolm gave the order to cut down branches of Birnam wood for cover before marching towards Dunsinane
- foreshadows how Macbeth will meet his end
91
Q
“The very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand.”
A
- shows how witches manipulated MB
- MB saying will not invite logic to dictate his actions any longer
- from a psychoanalytic reading, casts aside ego and superego and says will only act on ID
- displays the dangers of only acting on the ID and thus losing all morality all sense of holiness etc.
- fearmongering to the audience; marxist reading
92
Q
“What you egg!”
A
- “egg” = fragile, where life comes from
- emphasises youth of MD’s son and how evil it was of MB to kill even an innocent child
- fragility of an egg signifies the son’s naive worldview that someone couldn’t be as evil as MB to kill a child easily shattered; also shows how easily the son was killed due to being a defenceless child
- blood of child represents MB’s tyranny
93
Q
“offer up a weak poor innocent lamb”
A
- MB is only compared to the more violent or defensive aspects of God; Malcolm is referred to as a “lamb”
- “lamb” = sacrifice to God, representative of Jesus, young, pure, innocent
- trying to test Macduff’s loyalty to him and see if will take advantage if he says he is weak; presents Malcolm as wise
94
Q
“bleed, bleed poor country!”
A
- plosives indicate his passion and patriotism
- blood here represents patriotism, sorrow for country as a result of MB’s tyranny
- presents patriotism as good
- marxism
95
Q
“had I power, I should pour the sweet milk of concord into hell”
A
- “milk” = nourishing, motherhood
- “sweet” = good
- “concord” = order
- saying hell is disordered, and if had power would throw all order to hell
- echoes MB trusting the witches (agents of hell and chaos) and thus plunging Scotland into chaos
- testing MD; makes him seem wise for seeing if MD is simply a yes-man or if he actually has integrity
96
Q
“scarcely have coveted what was mine own… would not betray the devil to his fellow”
A
shows Malcolm to be trustworthy and the best elements of MB and Duncan combined (doesn’t trust too easily but maintains all the righteousness a king should have)
97
Q
“All my pretty ones?”
A
- kind of sexist as puts beauty before all else in terms of women
- could also be read as beauty = purity = innocence, although this is still sexist from a feminist perspective
98
Q
“I could play the woman with mine eyes… bring this fiend… within my sword’s length”
A
- saying can still be emotional whilst being manly
- muddled intention from a feminist perspective; sexist because equates emotion and thus instability with women, but progressive because changes perception of masculinity to include emotion
- Macduff righteous in his revenge
99
Q
“this tune goes manly”
A
- show Malcolm’s willingness to take criticism and improve himself instead of being an autocratic tyrant like MB
- changes his set societal idea of manliness, but still maintains that being “manly” is the most important aspect of any emotion displayed as it its the only thing he mentions; feminist reading
100
Q
What is the significance of LM’s absence for the entirety of act 4 ?
A
- feminist critique; sexist, as her absence is a result of her emotions preventing her from killing Duncan and gaining power
- saying that emotions make people less important
- difference between Macduff and LM in their emotion is that Macduff both has righteous intentions as well as being born a man and thus being born with aspects of masculinity, whereas LM is shown to be evil and fails at attaining masculine aspects
- saying that MB should’ve listened to own masculine consciousness instead of foolish women with no foresight into consequences (witches + LM); sexist and preserves COB
101
Q
“she has light by her continually, ‘tis her command.”
A
- “light” = God, truth, purity
- LM yearns for God but cannot restore relationship until she repents and accepts punishment
- LM yearns for a time before she helped to commit regicide and went against the COB and God etc., when she was pure of spirit and her heart was truly white
- psychoanalytic theory: tried to repress her goodness and act on ID and kill; both guilt and desire to be good again resurfacing in dreams and emotional outbursts etc.
102
Q
“You see, her eyes are open.” “Ay, but their sense is shut”
A
wants to see and feel God but can’t because of the sin she has committed
103
Q
“Out damned spot!”
A
- “spot” = blood of Duncan
- “damned” = the spilling of Duncan’s blood damned by God
- hallucinatory blood; from psychoanalytic theory is because she repressed any guilt (blood represents guilt and horror here) after killing Duncan
- lack of foresight as didn’t realise MB meant guilt when he said blood after killing Duncan
- sexist from a feminist reading
104
Q
“Hell is murky!”
A
- “murky” = dirty -> unclear -> evil -> moral corruption
- murky water is half-clear; links to equivocation and to the witches’ evil; saying hell is for equivocators
105
Q
“all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”
A
- echoes MB lamenting that all oceans wouldn’t wash off the blood from his hand
- makes LM seem foolish for not realising what her husband was saying at the time
- from a feminist reading, saying women have no foresight (sexist)
- “little” = small, harmless
- could perhaps be embarrassed that she could not commit to the murder yet still feels guilty ?
106
Q
“does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe”
A
- motif of clothing representing one’s place (in life) or status
- the title of king is too much for him to bear, unnatural, not the amount of power he was destined for (COB)
107
Q
“over-red thy fear, thou lily-livered boy.”
A
- reference back to LM’s “white” heart
- trying to embolden his companions, but comes off as insulting and cruel; everything MB does now is tainted with cruelty (“I am so stepp’d in blood”)
- “lily” = flower, white (pure, innocent)
- not hegemonic masculinity, so MB hates it; feminist reading shows how expectations of masculinity lead men to be cruel
108
Q
“met them dareful, beard to beard”
A
- “beard to beard” = extremely close quarters
- overambition and confidence in the witches; is so arrogant that he believes he cannot be killed and so would take advantage of this and fight in very close quarters
- may also exemplify MB’s violence in comparison to earlier in the play; now, does not mind looking at the faces of the good people he kills, when before he wished “the eye wink at the hand”
109
Q
“slaughterous thoughts”
A
- “slaughterous” = killing animals
- MB so desensitised by his own violence that he now views human lives as animalistic and thus has less remorse when he murders
- alternatively, animals are killed to be eaten; sustains himself off of violence and taking people’s power once they’re dead
- again alternatively, animals may be hunted for sport; amplifies MB’s violent and unusually cruel nature as he derives joy from being violent
110
Q
I have supp’d full with horrors”
A
- “supp’d” = to eat
- MB is filled with horrors
- alternatively, supper provides nutrients, and so by committing horrible acts (horrors) he has sustained his wrongly attained power
- eating = voluntary action; suggests that Macbeth sealed his own fate when he decided to kill Duncan/go against COB
- fearmongering; MARXIST READING
111
Q
“All our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death”
A
- all past experience does nothing except bring one closer to death
- nihilism
- alliteration and consonance emphasises MB’s bitterness and disdain towards life now that his wife is dead
112
Q
“Out, out brief candle!”
A
- literary allusion to Othello when he compares his wife’s life to a candle before killing her the finding out he actually had no reason to
- shows futility of life and pointlessness
- may be read as Macbeth blaming himself and his own perpetuation of violence for his wife’s death, or lamenting all the good lives he took for no discernible reason
- nihilism
- karma
113
Q
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player”
A
- “shadow” = dark, no substance, merely a reflection of something that has substance, flat, can’t run from a shadow
- saying that life has no light (hope), no point, no joy or meaning (nihilism
- despite life being nothing and meaning nothing, there is still no escape from it; monotony whilst waiting to die; also saying his own life was dark in the sense of being evil and against God
- plosives in “poor player” communicate his disdain for life
- “player” = actor
- life is a play that means nothing; the events of the play are predetermined (so it is predetermined that life has no meaning), actors have no ability to change anything and must be driven by the script until their time on stage is up
- actors are not genuine in their portrayal of themselves on stage; links to Macbeth’s own life after killing Duncan (Machiavellian, deceitful etc.)
- message = if you commit sins and regicide and treason you will become a miserable nihilist like Macbeth (MARXISM)
- could also be read as a smidge of his essentialist nature still shining through as characters in a play have purposes and drive a plot; essentialism = good (MARXISM)
114
Q
“I… begin to doubt the equivocation of the fiend that lies like truth”
A
- anagorisis (realisation of why MB had his downfall)
- presents MB as doubly foolish bc Banquo had told him this at the very beginning of the play, and also because MB continues to believe in the witches’ prophecy about Macduff even after this realisation
115
Q
“I gin to be aweary of the sun”
A
- nihilism (even good things like warmth and light are pointless)
- “sun” = light, warmth, nourishing, celestial body; akin to God
- MB tired of feeling God watching over him and his actions
- sun as well as being good can harm if too powerful (sunburn, drought etc.); God’s power far surpasses MB’s own despite him attempting to transcend COB (shows how one will never truly succeed at this and it is both pointless to try and will have dire consequences), also God’s anger
116
Q
“at least we’ll die with harness on our back.”
A
- Macbeth resigning to the fact he will die (nihilism)
- leaves the world as he comes into it; a soldier
- this echoes essentialist attitudes and in a sense mocks MB for not seeing this
- essentialism is important for audience to believe in and adhere to COB
- making nihilism and existentialism seem either bad or foolish encourages essentialism
- marxist reading; ISA
117
Q
“Make all our trumpets speak”
A
- “trumpets” = loud, regal, used to announce war
- makes sound like righteous revenge and calls back to Duncan (trumpet-tongued virtues)
- Duncan’s virtue was trusting good people
- the people avenging him (Macduff, his sons etc.) are the “trumpets” of his virtues as they signify his good judgement
118
Q
“They have tied me to a stake, I cannot fly”
A
- “stake” = used to burn witches during witch trials
- links MB directly to the witches and emphasises his evil; also implies that the arrival of Macduff and the army have damned him to hell (fire) and sealed his fate
- “fly” = good things such as angels, birds etc.; the sky = closest to the heavens
- cannot fly/be close to God since has been damned by Macduff
- nihilism; believes that there is no point to anything anymore and he is doomed to die
119
Q
“I bear a charmed life”
A
- “charmed” = blessed, but has undertones of being blessed by the supernatural such as witches, spirits etc. so has ominous vibes
- MB overly confident in the promises of dubious sources; shows he is foolish for trusting witches - dissuades audience from trusting witches because no one wants to be foolish
120
Q
“The usurper’s cursed head”
A
- “usurper” = someone who goes above their place; Macbeth went above his place in the COB by force, went against God, fancied himself as akin to God
- “cursed” = contrast between Macbeth viewing himself as “charmed” and outwardly being “cursed” shows (a) how deeply the witches had manipulated him and twisted his reality (makes witches seem bad/unreliable/evil), and (b) Macbeth’s own hubris and overconfidence being his hamartia as well as ambition
121
Q
“dead butcher”
A
- “butcher” = someone whose profession is slaughtering and cutting up animals for people to eat
- Macbeth is symbolically a butcher
- treats people as animals/inhuman/simply a means to get his way (“a step on which”)
- is extremely violent and enjoys this violence
- “eats” the power of the people he kills to transcend the COB
122
Q
“by self and violent hands took off her life”
A
- psychoanalytic theory
- karma
- fearmongering about regicide/disobeying COB
- marxist theory
