1.6 - Key Quotes
Key quotes - Act 1
| Quote | Character | Theme | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" | Witches | Appearance versus reality | Establishes moral confusion and ambiguity theme |
| "For brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name" | Captain | Natural order and divine right | Shows Macbeth's initial nobility and rightful place |
| "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!" | Third Witch | Supernatural | Prophecy that awakens Macbeth's ambition |
| "Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires" | Macbeth | Ambition | Shows awareness of evil desires and moral corruption |
| "Come, you spirits... / unsex me here" | Lady Macbeth | Supernatural | Invocation of evil forces and rejection of feminine nature |
| "Look like th' innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't" | Lady Macbeth | Appearance versus reality | Direct instruction in deception and false appearance |
Key quotes - Act 2
| Quote | Character | Theme | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Is this a dagger which I see before me" | Macbeth | Guilt and conscience | Hallucination showing psychological breakdown |
| "Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep!'" | Macbeth | Guilt and conscience | Psychological consequence of regicide |
| "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?" | Macbeth | Guilt and conscience | Irreversible nature of guilt and sin |
| "A little water clears us of this deed" | Lady Macbeth | Appearance versus reality | False confidence and dramatic irony |
Key quotes - Act 3
| Quote | Character | Theme | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| "To be thus is nothing, / But to be safely thus" | Macbeth | Corruption of power | Paranoia and insecurity despite achieving crown |
| "We have scorched the snake, not killed it" | Macbeth | Corruption of power | Violence breeds more violence and insecurity |
| "Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake / Thy gory locks at me" | Macbeth | Guilt and conscience | Denial of responsibility and supernatural manifestation |
| "I am in blood / Stepp'd in so far that... / Returning were as tedious as go o'er" | Macbeth | Corruption of power | Point of no return in moral corruption |
Key quotes - Act 4
| Quote | Character | Theme | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble" | Witches | Supernatural | Chaos and deceptive magic |
| "None of woman born" | Second Apparition | Appearance versus reality | Deceptive prophecy creating false security |
| "He has no children" | Macduff | Natural order and divine right | Personal loss motivating justice |
Key quotes - Act 5
| Quote | Character | Theme | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Out, damned spot! out, I say!" | Lady Macbeth | Guilt and conscience | Complete psychological breakdown |
| "Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" | Lady Macbeth | Guilt and conscience | Irreversible consequences and contrast with earlier confidence |
| "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage" | Macbeth | Fate versus free will | Nihilistic realisation of life's meaninglessness |
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