Macbeth Quotes and Scenes

Act 1 scene 5: a quote about Lady Macbeth asking for evil spirits to remove her womanly qualities so she can carry out murder “Come, you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”
Act 2 Scene 1: Macbeth’s questioning disbelief upon seeing the apparition of the dagger- suggests an awareness that the supernatural is preposterous but he succumbs to it anyway “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?”
Act 1 Scene 3: Banquo questions the witches’ gender identity, increasing the gothic element of gender transgression and the mystery surrounding these supernatural creatures “You should be women, yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so”
The three witches agree to meet Macbeth after a battle. They respond to the calls of their familiars. Act 1 scene 1
A battle-wounded captain tells Duncan that Macbeth was strong enough to defeat the more powerful Macdonald in battle. Ross tells Duncan, Malcolm and Lennox that Macbeth has captured Cawdor, whom Duncan sentences to death, bestowing Macbeth with his title. Act 1 scene 2
Act 1 Scene 2- the captain gives an analogy of christ’s execution to describe the slaughter Macbeth enacted on Macdonald. It suggests from the beginning Macbeth’s murderous nature and religious transgression. But this is on the battlefield, without the witches. “Or memorise another Golgotha”
The witches plot to torment a sea-captain while awaiting Macbeth. He arrives with Banquo and they predict he will be Thane of Glamis, Cawdor and ‘King hereafter’. They tell Banquo his descendants will be Kings. Macbeth demands to know the source of their powers but they vanish. Ross and Angus appear and tell Macbeth he is now Thane of Cawdor. He is horrified at the thought of killing Duncan to make the predictions true. Act 1 scene 3
Act 1 scene 3- in an aside, Macbeth is horrified at the thought of killing Duncan and quashes it immediately. Before meeting his wife his sense of honour is still intact. This suggests LM is the main source of gothic transgression in the play. BUT words like ‘horrid’, ‘fears’, ‘murder’ and ‘smothered’ imply it is high in his subconscious “My thought…shakes so single state of man that function is smothered in surmise.”
At Duncan’s palace, Macbeth declares his loyalty to the King, Duncan announces that Malcolm shall be his heir, causing Macbeth to brood- the thought of murdering Duncan is growing Act 1 Scene 4
Act 1 Scene 4- upon learning that Malcolm is heir, Macbeth allows himself to brood more on the witches’ prediction that he will be King. The metaphor of stars implies Macbeth wants his evil act to be hidden from God. “Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires”
Relevance/ written communication/ literary terminology/ Are you answering the question? AO1
Language/Form/Structure/Quotations AO2
Links to gothic genre/different interpretations (could mean this by but could also mean this) AO3
Links to historical/gothic context AO4
Unrhymed lines with a five-beat rythmn e.g. ‘So (x) foul (/) and (x) fair (/) a (x) day (/) I (x) have (/) not (x) seen (/) Blank verse (iambic pentameter)
Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth’s letter telling of the Witches prophecy. She fears he is too squeamish to murder Duncan himself, and calls on evil spirits to remove her womanly qualities so she can assist Macbeth in his evil. Macbeth appears and she tells him to hide his deadly intentions and act the host. Act 1 Scene 5
Lady Macbeth welcomes Duncan and the other men to Macbeth castle. She is overly-courteous, speaking of loyalty and praising the King she is plotting to murder. Act 1 Scene 6
Macbeth struggles with his conscience over killing Duncan and decides not to. LM accuses him of cowardice and would kill her own child than break such a promise (showing her evil triumphs his) she assists him by inebriating the bodyguards and they decide to seem pleasant to veil their misdeeds. Act 1 Scene 7
Act 1 scene 5- after reading his letter, Lady Macbeth worries that he husband’s ambition is marred by his kindness “I do fear thy nature, it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness”a
Act 1 Scene 7- Macbeth admits he has no good reason to kill Duncan, and that his ambition is overreaching itself “Only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other”