click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Macbeth
Key Quotes from Macbeth and the meanings
Quote | A/S and explanation |
---|---|
"Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps And fix'd his head upon our battlements" | A1/S2 Macbeth cut Macdonwald open from his navel to his jaw and put his head on a stake |
"Go pronounce his present death And with his former title greet Macbeth" | A1/S2 The execution of the traitor Macdonwald, The Thane of Cawdor, and send messengers to inform Macbeth that he is the new Thane of Cawdor |
W: "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter" | A1/S3 The witches are hailing Macbeth for both his present and future titles, planting the seeds of Macbeth's future actions |
W: "Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy, yet much happier. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none" | A1/S3 |
MB: "why do you dress me In borrow'd robes?" | A1/S3 Macbeth has just been named the new Thane of Cawdor and is wondering why this has happened, not knowing that the previous Thane was a traitor |
MB/LM: "my dearest partner of greatness" | A1/S5 how Macbeth addresses Lady Macbeth at the start of the play, in the letter that he sends her |
MB: "Hear it not Duncan; for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell" | A2/S1 A bell started ringing as Macbeth has made it past his doubts about killing Duncan and will now commit the murder |
LM: "A little water clears us of this deed" | A2/S2 Shows Lady Macbeth's naivety towards murder as she thinks that the consequences of their actions can be washed away as easily as the blood on their hands can be with water |
LM: "What! in our house?" B: "Too cruel any where" | A2/S3 Lady M is faking shock at the kings murder in her own home and Banquo is suspicious of her because of her focus on where Duncan was murdered rather than his actual murder |
DB: "There's daggers in men's smiles: the near in blood, The nearer bloody" | A2/S3 The prince brothers Donalbain and Malcolm are going into hiding and DB says to MC that they can trust no one, especially the people they are closest too |
MD; "Lest our old robes sit easier than our new!" | A2/S4 Macduff doesn't think Macbeth will be a good king (suggesting that his new robes will not fit) |
LM: "'Tis safer to be that which we destroy Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy" | A3/S2 |
MB: "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed" | A3/S2 Macbeth plans on murdering Banquo and his son Fleance, but wants to save Lady Macbeth from the guilt of knowing about this attack before it has been carried out |
"Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff: Beware the Thane of Fife" | A4/S1 The first apparition Macbeth receives from the witches on his return visit. It warns him to be cautious of Macduff |
"for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth." | A4/S1 The second apparition Macbeth receives from the witches on his return visit. It foresees that no one birthed by a woman can kill Macbeth |
"Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunisane Hill Shall come against him" | A4/S1 The third apparition Macbeth receives from the witches on his return visit. It foresees that Macbeth will reign until the Great Birnam wood moves to meet the castle on Dunisane Hill |
MD: "He has no children. All my pretty ones? Did you say all?" | A4/S3 Macduff has just been told that his entire household has been slaughtered by Macbeth, including his wife and children and is in disbelief. All throughout this passage he keeps repeating questions about his family's lives |
LM: "Yet here's a spot.. .....Out, damned spot! out, I say!" | A5/S1 Lady Macbeth has started sleep walking and frequently starts washing her hands because she believes there to be blood still on them and it won't come off. This shows her guilt over what happened with Duncan |
LM: "Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him" | A5/S1 Lady Macbeth naivety surrounding death is shown again as she talks about her shock at the amount of blood spilled from Duncan's body |
MB: "Thou wast born of woman: But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandish'd by man that's of a woman born" | A5/S7 Macbeth just fought and killed Young Siward and tells him that he fought for nothing because he was birthed by a woman |
MD: "Macduff was from his mother's womb Untimely ripp'd" | A5/S8 Macduff was born via an early c-section and therefore was not birthed by a woman |
MC: "Of this dead butcher and hid fiend-like queen, Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands Took off her life" | A5/S8 |
B: "O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou mayst revenge. O slave!" | A3/S3 Banquo and his son Fleance are ambushed while they are fleeing. Banquo is killed and tells his son to run and avenge him later |
MB: "Which of you have done this?" | A3/S4 Macbeth is hallucinating Banquos ghost at a banquet due to his own guilt but asks which of his lords is making him see things |
LM: "I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and worse; Question enrages him. At once, good-night:" | A3/S4 Lady Macbeth is trying to calm the situation of Macbeths hallucination of Banquo down and is now kicking everyone out if the banquet claiming that her husband is unwell |
Murderer: "safe in a ditch he bides" | A3/S4 The murderer who killed Banquo is informing Macbeth that Banquo is dead in a ditch and will not be found |
MB: "Seize upon Fife; give to the edge of the sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line" | A4/S1 Macbeth was just told by the witches apparitions to beware of Macduff, so Macbeth has given the order to kill everyone in Fife including Macduffs family |
MD son: "He has killed me, mother: Run away, I pray you!" | A4/S2 Macduff's son has just been killed and is begging his mother to run |
MC: "Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief Convert to anger; blunt not the heart, enrage it" | A4/S3 Malcolm's second attempt to comfort Macduff over the loss of his wife and children by telling him to turn his grief into anger to kill Macbeth instead of letting it numb him completely |
MC: "Be comforted: Let's make us medicine of our great revenge, To cure this deadly grief" | A4/S3 Malcolms first attempt to console Macduff over the loss of his family by trying to convert his grief into rage and a need for revenge |
LM: "The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now? What! will these hands ne'er be clean? | A5/S1 While Lady Macbeth is sleep walking she remarks on how Lady Macduff is now dead due to her husband and asks if her hands will ever be clean from bloodshed |
LM: "What's doe cannot be undone" | A5/S1 Lady Macbeths unconscious realization that the blood she and Macbeth have spilled cannot be washed away as easily as their hands can be washed of blood |
MB: "I will not be afraid of death and bane Till Birnam Forest come to Dunisane" | A5/S3 Macbeth has complete confidence in the witches prophecy that he reveals an arrogance to all around him and ignores reports and advice from other lords and his doctor |
MB: "Ring the alarum bell! Blow, wind! come, wrack! At least we'll die with harness on our back" | A5/S5 Macbeth plan to go down fighting |
MB: "She should have died hereafter" | A5/S5 Upon hearing if his wifes death, all Macbeth can really say is that she should've lived longer |