QUOTES Flashcards
Macbeth’s ruthless lust for power is addictive and, ultimately, self-destructive.
Macbeth&Ambition
onlyVaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itselfAnd falls on the other (Macbeth)
I am in bloodStepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,Returning were as tedious as go o’er (Macbeth)
Out, out, brief candle!Life’s but a walking shadow
Thou wast born of womanBut swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn,Brandish’d by man that’s of a woman born
Macbeth’s violent nature, as described by the injured captain in Act I, foreshadows what is to come
Macbeth&Violence
theyDoubly redoubled strokes upon the foe (Captain)
he unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps (Captain)
carved out his passageTill he faced the slave (Captain)
Before my bodyI throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff (Macbeth)
Shakespeare’s decision to immediately show Macbeth’s guilt manipulates the audience to sympathise
Macbeth
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain (Macbeth)
But wherefore could not I pronounce ‘Amen’? (Macbeth)
Who should against his murderer shut the door,Not bear the knife myself (Macbeth)
O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! (Macbeth)
Blind ambition compels Macbeth to see what he wants to see, rather than what is actually before him
Macbth&Ambition
onlyVaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itselfAnd falls on the other (Macbeth)
Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane,I cannot taint with fear (Macbeth)
Then fly,false thanes,And mingle with the English epicures
Thou wast born of womanBut swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn,Brandish’d by man that’s of a woman born
Macbeth’s ruthless lust for power is addictive and, ultimately, self-destructive
Ambition
onlyVaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itselfAnd falls on the other (Macbeth)
I am in bloodStepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,Returning were as tedious as go o’er (Macbeth)
Thou wast born of womanBut swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn,Brandish’d by man that’s of a woman born
Out, out, brief candle!Life’s but a walking shadow
Macbeth’s ambition increasingly isolates him and leads to paranoia
Ambition
these terrible dreamsThat shake us nightly
I am in bloodStepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,Returning were as tedious as go o’er:
…that which should accompany old age,As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,I must not look to have (Macbeth)
Then fly,false thanes,And mingle with the English epicures
In Acts IV and V, Macduff’s very real masculinity exposes Macbeth’s perverted version of masculinity
Yet do I fear thy nature;It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness (Lady Macbeth)
MALCOLM: Dispute it like a man.MACDUFF: I shall do so;But I must also feel it as a man
Macduff: O, I could play the woman with mine eyes
Act IV Sc 3
Before my bodyI throw my warlike shield (Macbeth
Macduff’s emotional response to his family’s slaughter, and his subsequent resolve turn the audience further against Macbeth
Malcolm: Be this the whetstone of your sword: let griefConvert to anger
Macduff: What, all my pretty chickens and their damAt one fell swoop?
MALCOLM: Dispute it like a man.MACDUFF: I shall do so;But I must also feel it as a man
The Weird Sisters’ warning ‘Beware Macduff’ prompts Macbeth to slaughter Macduff’s family, which in turn focuses Macduff’s vengeance
If thou be’st slain and with no stroke of mine,My wife and children’s ghosts will haunt me still (Macduff)
Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself;Within my sword’s length set him (Macduff)
Through Lady Macbeth, the audience is shown that equivocation can lead to guilt and self-ruin
Will these hands ne’er be clean? (Lady Macbeth)
all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand (Lady Macbeth)
Nought’s had, all’s spent,Where our desire is got without content
Shakespeare represents evil in different ways according to gender: Macbeth (men) can be violent; Lady Macbeth (women), manipulative
What cannot you and I perform uponThe unguarded Duncan? (Lady Macbeth)
Wouldst thou have thatWhich thou esteem’st the ornament of life,And live a coward in thine own esteem
he unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps (Captain)
The early subversion of gender roles between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth hints at the perversion of the natural order of the universe
yet do I fear thy nature;It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness (Lady Macbeth)
I dare do all that may become a man;Who dares do more is none (Macbeth)
My hands are of your colour; but I shameTo wear a heart so white (Lady Macbeth)
Banquo’s choice to remain loyal to Duncan’s name leads him on a very different path to Macbeth’s
If you can look into the seeds of time,And say which grain will grow and which will not (Banquo)
I fear,Thou play’dst most foully for’t (Banquo on Macbeth)
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! (Macbeth)
Shakespeare manipulates history by casting Banquo in a positive light in order to please James I, who claimed to be Banquo’s descendant
What, can the devil speak true?
Our fears in BanquoStick deep (Macbeth)
I lose noneIn seeking to augment it, but still keepMy bosom franchised and allegiance clear (Banquo)
Banquo is an ‘antithetical foil’ to Macbeth: his loyalty and resolve highlight Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s ‘vaulting ambition’ further
Our fears in BanquoStick deep (Macbeth)
I fear,Thou play’dst most foully for’t (Banquo)
If you can look into the seeds of time,And say which grain will grow and which will not (Banquo)
