Everything on the GCSE English Literature Macbeth Quotes poster is written out below, section by section. Use it to search the sheet, copy parts into your own notes, or check a fact quickly.
Macbeth
"Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires"
Macbeth asks darkness to conceal his ambition. He recognises that his desire for the throne is morally wrong, even before he murders Duncan. Themes: ambition, moral awareness.
"Is this a dagger which I see before me"
Macbeth hallucinates a dagger just before killing Duncan. The vision reveals his inner turmoil and guilty conscience at the moment he chooses violence. Themes: ambition, conscience, the supernatural.
"Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep'"
Immediately after the murder, Macbeth imagines a voice accusing him of destroying innocent rest. Sleep symbolises peace and innocence, which he can no longer enjoy. Themes: guilt, conscience.
"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?"
Macbeth uses hyperbole to suggest that not even the sea can wash away Duncan's blood. His guilt feels permanent and inescapable. Themes: guilt, conscience.
"To be thus is nothing, / But to be safely thus"
Now king, Macbeth admits that holding power means nothing unless he can keep it. His ambition has brought insecurity rather than satisfaction. Themes: power, paranoia, ambition.
"We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it"
Macbeth compares his threat from Banquo to a wounded snake that can still strike. One act of violence has not secured his position – it has created further danger. Themes: power, violence, paranoia.
"Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake / Thy gory locks at me"
At the banquet, Banquo's ghost appears and Macbeth speaks to it in front of his guests. His public denial exposes the guilt he cannot hide. Themes: guilt, conscience, appearance versus reality.
"I am in blood / Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er"
Macbeth sees himself as trapped in violence. Having committed so many crimes, he believes it is easier to continue than to turn back. Themes: moral corruption, violence.
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage"
Near the end of the play, Macbeth describes life as meaningless and brief. His nihilistic despair shows how completely ambition and guilt have destroyed him. Themes: fate, despair, the meaning of life.
Lady Macbeth
"Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here"
Lady Macbeth calls on evil spirits to remove her compassion and femininity so she can be ruthless enough to seize power. Themes: ambition, gender, the supernatural.
"Look like th' innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't"
She teaches Macbeth to hide his true intentions behind a harmless appearance. Deception becomes central to their plan. Themes: appearance versus reality, deception.
"A little water clears us of this deed"
After Duncan's murder, Lady Macbeth insists they can wash away the guilt as easily as blood from their hands. Her false confidence becomes dramatic irony when guilt later destroys her. Themes: appearance versus reality, guilt.
"Out, damned spot! out, I say!"
In her sleepwalking scene, Lady Macbeth obsessively tries to clean an invisible bloodstain. The guilt she dismissed has broken her mind. Themes: guilt, conscience.
"Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand"
She now accepts that guilt cannot be removed. The contrast with her earlier claim about "a little water" shows her complete psychological collapse. Themes: guilt, conscience.
The Witches
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"
The Witches' opening line sets the moral disorder of the play. Good and evil, and appearance and reality, will be reversed throughout. Themes: appearance versus reality, the supernatural.
"All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!"
This prophecy plants the idea of kingship in Macbeth's mind and awakens the ambition that drives the tragedy. Themes: ambition, the supernatural, fate.
"Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble"
The rhythmic chant of their spell links the Witches to chaos, evil and deception. Themes: the supernatural.
Macduff
"He has no children"
When Macduff learns of the murder of his wife and children, his anguished cry reveals personal grief that fuels his desire for justice against Macbeth. Themes: revenge, suffering, justice.
The Second Apparition
"None of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth"
The Witches' prophecy gives Macbeth false confidence that no human can kill him. Shakespeare later subverts it when Macduff reveals he was born by Caesarean section. Themes: appearance versus reality, fate, deception.
The Captain
"For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name"
The Captain's praise at the start of the play presents Macbeth as a loyal, heroic soldier. This noble image makes his later moral collapse more tragic. Themes: heroism, honour, tragedy.