Macbeth Quotes

"Whence is that knocking? How is't with me, when every noise appals me? Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red" (2.2.55-62).

Macbeth is speaking. Act 2, Scene 2. He is speaking to himself. Macbeth has come to recognize that his guilt can never be washed off, even if the blood can be washed from his hands. Instead, his guilt will poison the world around him, which he compares to an ocean. He has already begun to hallucinate: here, he imagines hands plucking out his eyes in retribution for the murder of Duncan: Where is that knocking coming from? What's happening to me, that I'm frightened of every noise? (looking at his hands) Whose hands are these? Ha! They're plucking out my eyes. Will all the water in the ocean wash this blood from my hands? No, instead my hands will stain the seas scarlet, turning the green waters red.

"We have scotched the snake, not killed it. She'll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice Remains in danger of her former tooth. But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer, Ere we will eat our meal in fear and sleep In the affliction of these terrible dreams That shake us nightly. Better be with the dead, Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, Than on the torture of the mind to lie In restless ecstasy. Duncan is in his grave; After life's fitful fever he sleeps well" (3.2.15-25).

Macbeth is speaking. Act 3, Scene 2. He is speaking to Lady Macbeth. He is saying that even though Duncan is dead doesn't mean they are safe. Meaning that is Banquo is still alive, they don't stand a chance of staying king and queen. this is animal imagery and he compares his enemies to snakes.

"Come seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, And with thy bloody and invisible hand Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond Which keeps me pale! Light thickens, and the crow Makes wing to the rooky wood. Good things of day begin to droop and drowse" (3.2.46-52).

Macbeth is speaking. Act 3, Scene 2. He is speaking to idk. idk

Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee. Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold. Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost glare with" (3.4.97-101).

Macbeth is speaking. Act 3, Scene 4. Speaking to Banquo's Ghost. Macbeth wants ghost to leave: Go! And get out of my sight! Stay in your grave. There's no marrow in your bones, and your blood is cold. You're staring at me with eyes that have no power to see.

"But tis strange: And oftentimes, to win us to harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles to betray's In deepest consequence" (1.3.122-126)

Banquo is speaking. Act 1, Scene 3. He is speaking to Banquo. Banquo is warning Macbeth that witches lie (to lead people to destruction) and that they are evil: But this whole thing is strange. The agents of evil often tell us part of the truth in order to lead us to our destruction. They earn our trust by telling us the truth about little things, but then they betray us when it will damage us the most.

"This guest of summer, The temple-haunting martlet, does approve By his loved mansionry that the heaven's breath Smells wooingly here... Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed The air is delicate" (1.6.3-9).

Banquo is speaking. Act 1, Scene 6. He is speaking to Duncan. He is explaining how the martins are all around Macbeth's castle and they like to settle in beautiful lovely places. Which is ironic because evil and murder occurs there: The fact that this summer bird, the house martin, builds his nests here proves how inviting the breezes are. There isn't a single protrusion in the castle walls where these birds haven't built their hanging nests to sleep and breed. I've noticed that they always like to settle and mate where the air is the nicest.

"O, never Shall sun that morrow see! Your face, my thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters. To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue; look like th' innocent flower But be the serpent under it. He that's coming Must be provided for" (1.5.68-75).

Lady Macbeth is speaking. Act 1, Scene 5. She is speaking to Macbeth. She is telling Macbeth that Duncan will be killed so they the can rule: hat day will never come. Your face betrays strange feelings, my lord, and people will be able to read it like a book. In order to deceive them, you must appear the way they expect you to look. Greet the king with a welcoming expression in your eyes, your hands, and your words. You should look like an innocent flower, but be like the snake that hides underneath the flower. The king is coming, and he's got to be taken care of.

"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 pow'r to accompt? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" (5.1.31-36).

Lady Macbeth is speaking. Act 5 Scene 1. Speaking To herself in her sleep. She is trying to wash and clean the blood off her hands. She is sleepwalking. BLood symbolizes guilt, so she is trying to wash off the guilt of the murders she caused alongside her husband.

"Wisdom? To leave his wife, to leave his wife, to leave his babes His mansion, and his titles, in a place From whence himself does fly? He loves us not, He wants the natural touch. For the poor wren, (The most diminutive of birds) will fight Her young ones in her nest, against the owl" (4.2.8-13).

Lady Macduff is speaking. Act 4, Scene 2. She is speaking to Ross. She is upset that Macduff has left her and her kids unprotected from Macbeth while he fled to England. This was right before Macbeth killed them and everyone else in the household.

"From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. And even now, To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done! The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to the edge o' the sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line" (4.1.166-173).

Macbeth is speaking. Act 4, Scene 1. He is speaking to Lennox. He is telling lennox that he is not going to think through his problems and he going to do the first thing he thinks of. He found out that Macduff has fled to england.

"Ha, good father, Thou seest the heavens, as troubled with man's act, Threatens his bloody stage. By th' clock 'tis day, And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp: Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame, That darkness does the face of earth entomb, When living light should kiss it?" (2.4.4-9).

Ross is speaking. Act 2, Scene 4. He is speaking to an old man. Ha, good father, It's the day after King Duncan's murder, and things are not looking good. Even though it's the middle of the day, darkness fills the sky, as though the sun ("the traveling lamp") has been "strangle[d]" by "dark night." Anyone else get the feeling that this is symbolic? Duncan's rule and his life have both been extinguished by Macbeth, who has committed the most "unnatural" act of all: upending the natural order of power.