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Summary Macbeth quote analysis
Grade 9 Macbeth quote analysis (colour coded by theme)
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Themes: Supernatural, appearance vs reality, ambition, kingship, guilt, gender“Fair is foul and foul is fair” (1.1): 1. This paradoxical phrase presents the idea of reality
being subjective and the idea of moral ambiguity which would evoke fear in the
Jacobean audience which would emphasise their initial fear since witchcraft was
outlawed. Further in act 1, Macbeth claims: “So foul and fair a day I have not seen”
(1.3): echoing the witches’ language before he met them which shows his
subconscious linkage and leads the audience to question Macbeth. This is one of his
first words in the play and he is already seen as malleable and susceptible to the
witches’ malevolent schemes. This is because he emulates the witches’ oxymoronic
terms. This presents Macbeth as a mouthpiece for their evil and a vessel for this
misconduct. Shakespeare’s message is clear: ‘do not trust the supernatural’ by
immediately establishing it as a malevolent and ambiguous force of evil.
“Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4): After Duncan
chooses Malcolm as heir to the throne, Macbeth realises there is now an obstacle
blocking him from fulfilling the witches’ prophecy. The juxtaposition of light and dark
mirrors the conflict between good and evil in Macbeth’s mind. The adjective ‘black’
shows he accepts his evil thoughts while ‘deep’ suggests how deeply entrenched they
are within him. “Fires” connote aggression and foreshadows how he becomes crueller
and more aggressive, and shows how his ‘deep desires’ will lead to the destruction of
himself relating to the great chain of being. The imperatives highlight how he is
commanding the stars (which are above the king in the great chain of being) to assist
with hiding the crime from God to save him from eternal damnation. This links in with
the societal belief at the time that kings were appointed by God. “Fires' and “stars”
also are within the motif of light which connotes religious imagery but also he wants
to hide the goodness as it makes him weak - reverting to typical gender stereotypes
of masculinity. ‘Stars’ also symbolises fate but if they have to hide their ‘fires’ then
it’s not his natural fate that he is choosing as he wants to construct this artificial fate
that the witches have prophesied for him at the very front of the play. Therefore we
know Macbeth thinks he is more powerful than a God as he can decide his outcome
rather than accept his original fate which was ‘Thane of Glamis’. Shakespeare’s
purpose here is to identify Macbeth’s hamartia: unchecked ambition. This will be the
catalyst for his moral and spiritual degeneration through the play.
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” (2.2):
Immediately after murdering Duncan, Macbeth is overcome with guilt. Blood is a
repeated motif in the play symbolising guilt. He uses hyperbole to express the
enormous magnitude of his guilt. The rhetorical question stresses his extreme
paranoia because he fears nothing can remove the sacrilegious stain. He imagines his
hands turning the sea red because his unnatural act has corrupted the natural order.
The quantity of blood suggests he is drowning in his own guilt. Calling Neptune means
he can no longer appeal to the Christian God as he committed regicide and went
directly against God and the Divine Right of Kings. However, not even the Roman Gods
can help him emphasising the heaviness of this sin. An alternative interpretation could
be that the classical allusion suggests Macbeth sees himself as god-like reflecting
how far he has overreached himself, and how far he has gone against god, in striving
, for the throne. Shakespeare’s purpose for dramatising Macbeth’s extreme regret for
his actions consolidated the play’s message about the inescapable nature of guilt and
to act as a warning for anyone considering the idea of regicide.
“To be thus is nothing but to be safely thus,”(3.1): 4. Macbeth reflects on the idea
that simply being King is meaningless if he cannot ensure his safety and security in
that position. The noun ‘nothing’ emphasises the insignificance of mere kingship
without the assurance of safety. "safely" also conveys not only physical security but
also psychological assurance, highlighting Macbeth's desperate desire to consolidate
his power and protect himself from perceived threats. This quote also links to the
motif of ambition and power because it’s his relentless pursuit of power that has led
him to the throne, but he realises without safety his position is vulnerable.
Shakespeare’s purpose could be to highlight the corrupting nature of ambition and
the destructive consequences it can have on a person’s mental state.
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes,”(4.1): 5. This phrase
creates a sense of anticipation and unease which foreshadows Macbeth’s descent
into tyranny. Beyond the surface meaning of the word ‘wicked’ (evil and
malevolence), it shows the corruption of morality. This quote links to the motif of the
supernatural: the witches and their prophecies has a key role in Macbeth’s downfall. It
highlights the idea that Macbeth’s fate is intertwined with supernatural forces,
leading his further into tyranny. Shakespeare's purpose foreshadows Macbeth's tragic
fate, and prompts reflection on the corrupting influence of ambition.
“Out, damned spot” (5.1): At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth’s mental state is
declining because of her guilt - shown through the blood motif when referencing the
spots of blood. The repetition of the imperative ‘out’, as it’s also from “out brief
candle”, highlights her desperation to remove the hallucinatory stains of blood that
are contaminating her soul. The adjective ‘damned’ implies she is experiencing a state
akin to hell. The noun ‘spot’ refers to the imaginary blots of blood but also suggest
she feels that she bears the stamp of the devil on her hands. In her somnambulant
state, she speaks in prose rather than verse highlighting her fragmented and
undignified mental state. Shakespeare’s primary purpose seems to be to show the
inescapable nature of guilt as a warning to anyone who has ideas about breaking the
divine right of kings. An alternative interpretation could be Shakespeare reverting to
Jacobean stereotypes about females being the weaker sex by presenting Lady
Macbeth in such a fragile manner. Shakespeare again reverts to jacobean stereotypes
in “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (5.1). ‘Perfumes’
connote femininity which shows she is becoming more mentally unstable as she is
reverting to her feminine qualities. This hyperbole emphasises that a lot of perfume
will not remove the smell of the blood as it shows regicide was an extremely serious
crime in Jacobean England. Both of these quotes contrast to the whole play as
Shakespeare mainly challenged traditional gender roles and presented Lady Macbeth
as a woman who defies female stereotypes by embodying qualities typically
associated with masculinity.
‘O full of Scorpions is my mind, dear wife’(3.2): At this point in the play, Macbeth has
fulfilled his ambition to be king but he is still troubled. The hyperbolic zoomorphic
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