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Macbeth key quotes

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  • The witches – sets Macbeth’s inner conflict in action (prophecy)
    ‘All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter’
  • Macbeth – admitting to his wife that he wants to kill Banquo ‘O full of …’
    ‘O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife’
  • Macbeth - reacts callously to news of his wife's death. He cares about nothing anymore. ‘She should…’
    'She should have died hereafter'
  • Captain – shows how people think of Macbeth at the start of the play (2 words)
    ‘Brave Macbeth’
  • The Witches – introduces the supernatural theme – ‘fair is…
    ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’
  • The Witches - their prophecy says that Banquo's descendants shall be kings
    'Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none'
  • Malcolm – shows what Scotland thinks of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth at the end. ‘The dead…’
    ‘The dead butcher and his fiend-like queen’
  • Lady Macbeth - she reassures Macbeth after he murders Duncan, saying he can easily wash the blood off his hands – ‘ A little water…’
    'A little water clears us of this deed'
  • Banquo - He has been thinking about the prophecies and wants to discuss them, unlike the secretive Macbeth ‘I dreamt last night…’
    'I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters'
  • Macbeth – he admits that wanting power is his fatal flaw, ‘I have no spur…’
    ‘I have no spur/To prick the sides of mine intent, but only vaulting ambition’
  • Macbeth – ranting and raving at Banquo’s ghost ‘Thou canst not…’
    ‘Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake thy gory locks at me!’
  • Lady Macbeth – she wants the spirits to make her more masculine and evil to kill Duncan – ‘Unsex me here…’
    ‘Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty’
  • Macduff – reveals that he is not ‘of woman born’, and so he can kill Macbeth ‘ Macduff was from his …’
    ‘Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped’
  • Lady Macbeth – manipulates Macbeth into killing Duncan ‘ Look like…’
    ‘Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’
  • Macduff – he is distraught when he hears that his wife and children have been slain by Macbeth ‘What, all my…’
    ‘What, all my pretty chickens and their dam at one fell swoop?’
  • Banquo - He realises that the prophecy has come true and he suspects Macbeth has done wrong to achieve it. He lacks the courage to speak out, however, and says nothing. This is his fatal flaw. ‘Thou hast it now…’
    and I fear. Thou played'st most foully for it'
    'Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, /As the weird women promised
  • Macbeth – he feels guilt and regret for killing Duncan ‘Will all great …’
    ‘Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?’
  • Banquo - He warns Macbeth that the witches may be trying to trick him. This is proof of his honest and moral character. ‘'And oftentimes, to win us to our harm…
    The instruments of darkness tell us truths'
  • Lady Macbeth – she has been driven mad by guilt and is trying to wash her hands clean of the blood she is imagining.
    ‘Out, out, damned spot, I say!’
  • Lady Macbeth - tries to bring Macbeth's ranting under control at the banquet by insulting his manhood, however this time it doesn't work
    'Are you a man?'
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