Macbeth is one of the more famous tragedies of Shakespeare. It tells the tragic and rather gruesome story of how the noble Macbeth was morally corrupted to capture the throne of Scotland and murder his own king in the process.
The play has several famous quotes, which you may have heard referenced in modern pop culture. And no, Macbeth is not the play with the famous line “To be or not to be.” That’s another play by Shakespeare — Hamlet. Keep an eye out for our analysis of that play as well.
Here, I have selected five quotes that I believe contribute significantly to understanding the themes and major characters in the play. Read on to learn more.
1. Fair is foul, and foul is fair
This is a paradoxical line, spoken by the witches in Act 1, Scene 1. It can be more or less described as the theme of the entire play. This line suggests an inversion of both the natural and moral order. Here is the larger quote showing the context of the line.
Act 1, Scene 1:
First Witch: Where the place?
Second Witch: Upon the heath.
Third Witch: There to meet with Macbeth.
First Witch: I come, Graymalkin!
Second Witch: Paddock calls.
All: Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
The witches come across as gleefully and cartoonishly evil Disney villains. But this is not a kid’s movie. Their speech sets the tone for the horror that is about to be unleashed after their fateful encounter with Macbeth.
After pronouncing their prophecy to Macbeth, he goes on to murder King Duncan as he sleeps innocently as a guest under Macbeth’s roof. That is not enough. Macbeth goes on to murder men, women, and children who he deems as future threats to the throne.
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair” hammers home the point that morality is thrown out the window when it comes to Macbeth obtaining the power that he craves.
2. Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here"
This plea or prayer to demons by Lady Macbeth reflects her resolute attempt to “man up” to the task of murdering King Duncan and seizing the throne. You can describe her as being the one who goads her husband to murder Duncan.
The Three Weird Sisters or Witches plant the idea in Macbeth’s mind. However, his conscience holds him back from going through with it. Lady Macbeth throughout the play chides Macbeth for being too weak and feminine.
Here is the full context of the quote. Act 1, Scene 5:
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood,
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers.
The quote emphasizes the extent to which Lady Macbeth associates femininity with weakness and compassion. In a sense, you could say that she is overcompensating for being a female in a patriarchal society where only men wield external symbols of power.
3. Macbeth hallucinates a dagger
In this soliloquy, Macbeth hallucinates a dagger that leads him toward Duncan’s room. The dagger has been interpreted in all sorts of ways. One of the more common interpretations is that it represents Macbeth’s unconscious. Let’s take a look at the full quote here. Act 2, Scene 1:
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
He yearns for the throne of Scotland. His conscience and honor stand in the way of fulfilling this ambition. With the goading from the three witches and his resolute wife, he overcomes his hesitation and gives in to his darkest unconscious and unspoken desires.
We further explore this theory in a psychoanalytic reading of Macbeth here. In short, we can interpret the dagger as a manifestation of the deepest and darkest urgings of Macbeth’s id.
4. Out, damned spot! Out, I say!
Lady Macbeth’s famous line reveals her immense sense of guilt in the part she played in the death and murder that follows the decision to murder King Duncan. She speaks these lines while sleepwalking. Act 5, Scene 1:
Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,
then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my
lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we
fear who knows it, when none can call our power to
account?--Yet who would have thought the old man
to have had so much blood in him.
In the light of day, she boasts about her willingness to commit acts of murder. But in the play, sleep is a motif that represents innocence and good conscience, as described here.
Under the power of “innocent sleep,” she unknowingly confesses to her crime and expresses tremendous remorse while sleepwalking. However, this is not enough. Unable to come to terms with the crimes that she has committed, Lady Macbeth commits suicide.
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5. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
This quote reflects just how meaningless life has become for Macbeth. His beloved wife has now died from suicide, and he feels nothing. The quote is a direct response to news of his wife passing away.
The speech suggests that Macbeth has wholly sunk into a black hole of despair and nihilism from which there is no escape. Act 5, Scene 5:
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. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Life now holds no meaning for Macbeth. He holds on to his throne for the mere sake of holding on. He fights for the mere sake of fighting. It means absolutely nothing to him.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, December 30). Looking at Famous Quotes from Macbeth. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/looking-at-famous-quotes-from-macbeth |
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