| Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, and put a barren scepter in my gripe | Macbeth (3,1) He decides he must kill Banquo after just talking to him. Means: He has been given the crown an scepter but his legacy will not live on (he is sterile) |
| It is concluded: Banquo, thy soul’s flight, If it find heaven, must find it out to-night. | Macbeth (3,1) After summoning the murderers to kill Banquo, the murder will take place that very night |
| Nought’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content | Lady Macbeth (3,2) Talking to herself before Macbeth enters, she’s given up so much but for what? Their desires got them nothing but guilt |
| Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, till thou applaud the deed | Macbeth (3,2) He doesn’t want to tell his wife his plans to kill Banquo but he tells her she will see the benefits of the impending act |
| Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect, whole as the marble, founded as the rock | Macbeth (3,4) He has just been told Fleance got away, he is scared and nervous because until this point he has been perfect |
| Double, double toil and trouble, Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. | Witches (4,1) The witches are stirring up a potion for Macbeth |
| But cruel are the times, when we are traitors and do not know ourselves | Ross (4,2) WIth Lady Macduff and he kids at her castle, but times are bad when people get denounced as traitors and don’t even know why |
| Out, damned spot! Out, I say! | Lady Macbeth (5,1) As she sleep walks she tries to clean an invisilbe spot of blood off her hand, the blood represents guilt and she can’t handle it anymore, this is what shows her guilt to the doctor as well |
| I would not have such a heart in my bosom, for the dignity of the whole body | Gentlewoman (5,1) She sees the guilt in Lady Macbeth’s heart and she would never want the title of Queen if it meant living with that guilt |
| I have almost forgot the taste of fears | Macbeth (5,5) He hears the sound of women yelling but he has no fear left to go investigate or care |
| With barefaced power sweep him from my sight… but wail his fall who myself struck down | Macbeth(3,1) Tries to convince the murderers they must kill Banquo, he pretends to be sad, can’t do it himself because they have friends in common |
| Whose absence is no less material to me than his father’s. must embrace the fate of that dark hour. | Macbeth (3,1) Talking to murderers, his views of murder and death have change, he feels no guilt in having Banquo killed |
| There the grown serpent lies. The worm that’s fled Hath nature that in time will venom breed; No teeth for th’ present. Get thee gone. Tomorrow We’ll hear ourselves again. | Macbeth (3,4) Angry at the murderers, Thanks for that. The adult snake lies in the ditch. The young snake that escaped will in time become poisonous and threatening, but for now he has no fangs. Get out of here. I’ll talk to you again tomorrow. |
| Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake Thy gory locks at me. | Macbeth (3,4) Talking to the ghost infront of his guests, You can’t say I did it. Don’t shake your bloody head at me. Ghost of Banquo which is why it is bloody |
| What, quite unmanned in folly? | Lady Macbeth (3,4) Yelling at Macbeth for acting so out of line in front of the guests, she questions his manhood like she has before |
| And there an end. But now they rise again With twenty mortal murders on their crowns And push us from our stools. This is more strange Than such a murder is. | Macbeth (3,4) Aftet LM yells at him for “seeing a ghost” It used to be that when you knocked a man’s brains out he would just die, and that would be it. But now they rise from the dead with twenty fatal head wounds and push us off our stools. This haunting business is even stranger than murder. |
| Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee. Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold. Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost glare with! | Macbeth (3,4) Talking to the ghost, Go! And get out of my sight! Stay in your grave. There’s no marrow in your bones, and your blood is cold. You’re staring at me with eyes that have no power to see. Simply you’re dead leave me alone |
| What man dare, I dare. Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, The armed rhinoceros, or th’ Hyrcan tiger; Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves Shall never tremble. Or be alive again, And dare me to the desert with thy sword. If trembling I inhabit then, protest me The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow! Unreal mockery, hence! | Macbeth (3,4) Tries to explain his rude behavior, he says he is not afraid of anything else, I can handle anything thrown at me but I cannot bare the sight of a ghost |
| It will have blood, they say. Blood will have blood. Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak. | Macbeth (3,4) Foreshadowing of his impending death and what the witch’s apparition says |
| From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. And even now, To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line. | Macbeth (4,1) Talking to Lennox after the witchs left, From now on, as soon as I decide to do something I’m going to act immediately. In fact, I’ll start following up my thoughts with actions right now. I’ll raid Macduff’s castle, seize the town of Fife, and kill his wife, his children, and anyone else unfortunate enough to stand in line for his inheritance. |
| That has a name. But there’s no bottom, none, In my voluptuousness. Your wives, your daughters, Your matrons, and your maids could not fill up The cistern of my lust, and my desire All continent impediments would o’erbear That did oppose my will. Better Macbeth Than such an one to reign. | Malcolm (4,3) Malcolm fears Macduff is a traitor puts his through a test, he tries to convice Macduff that he himself is worse than Macbeth because his lust is so great. Tries to say he would make a terrible ruler |
| Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief Convert to anger. Blunt not the heart, enrage it. | Malcolm (4,3) Has just found out that Macduff’s family has been slain, tells him he needs to let the pain engulf him and turn his sorrow into pain |
| Well, march we on, To give obedience where ’tis truly owed. | Caithnes (5,2) Macbeth seen as a tyrant now, people don’t like him or trust him, Well, let’s keep marching and give our loyalty to someone who truly deserves it. |
| Bring me no more reports. Let them fly all. Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane I cannot taint with fear. What’s the boy Malcolm? Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus: “Fear not, Macbeth. No man that’s born of woman Shall e’er have power upon thee.” Then fly, false thanes, And mingle with the English epicures. | Macbeth (5,3) He does not want to hear what the servant has to say, he feels very secure in what the witchs said and feels no fear. Don’t bring me any more reports. I don’t care if all the thanes desert me. Until Birnam Wood gets up and moves to Dunsinane, I won’t be affected by fear. |
| I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked. Give me my armor. | Macbeth (5,3) He is told that 10,000 men are marching towards him and he has his first echo of the old Macbeth and his courage |
| Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. | Macbeth (5,5) He has just been told that Mady Macbeth has been found dead, he knew it would happen soon but is too busy to feel pain. Every day brings people a day closer to their death |
| I have no words. My voice is in my sword. Thou bloodier villain Than terms can give thee out! | Macduff (5,8) Doesn’t care that Macbeth won’t kill him he feels that he doesn’t even deserve his words so his sword will show his true feelings |
Macbeth Quotes
August 31, 2019