Macbeth: Key Quotes and Analysis
Learning quotations is essential for the AQA Literature exam because it is a closed book exam — you cannot take the text in. This note provides 10+ key quotations with context, technique analysis, and thematic links.
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Act 1 Quotes
1. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (Witches, Act 1 Scene 1)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | The witches' opening chant, setting the tone for the whole play |
| Technique | Chiasmus (a reversed parallel structure) and paradox |
| Analysis | The reversal of "fair" and "foul" establishes that nothing in the play is as it seems. Appearance and reality are constantly confused — Duncan trusts Macbeth, Macbeth hides murder behind hospitality. The phrase also introduces moral inversion: good becomes evil and evil is disguised as good |
| Themes | Supernatural, appearance vs reality, moral disorder |
2. "Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires" (Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 4)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Macbeth's aside after Malcolm is named heir, revealing his first murderous thoughts |
| Technique | Imperative verb ("hide"), light/dark imagery, personification |
| Analysis | The imperative "hide" shows Macbeth actively seeking to conceal his ambition. The contrast between "light" (goodness, truth) and "black and deep desires" (evil, ambition) associates his intentions with darkness and depth — hidden, dangerous, and morally corrupt. He already knows his desires are wrong, yet pursues them |
| Themes | Ambition, appearance vs reality, guilt |
3. "Look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under't" (Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Lady Macbeth advises Macbeth to hide his murderous intentions behind a welcoming facade |
| Technique | Simile, biblical allusion (the serpent in the Garden of Eden) |
| Analysis | The contrast between the "innocent flower" and the "serpent" captures the play's theme of deception. The serpent allusion links Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to Satan and the Fall of Man, framing regicide as the ultimate sin. Lady Macbeth's command shows her as the dominant partner at this stage |
| Themes | Appearance vs reality, guilt, gender roles |
4. "Unsex me here, and fill me... of direst cruelty" (Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Lady Macbeth's soliloquy, calling on spirits to remove her femininity |
| Technique | Imperative verbs ("unsex", "fill", "stop up"), invocation of the supernatural |
| Analysis | "Unsex me" reveals that Lady Macbeth sees femininity as a barrier to violence and ambition. She associates womanhood with compassion and weakness, requesting that spirits replace these with "direst cruelty". The imperative verbs show her determination, but the fact that she must ask for supernatural help implies that cruelty is not natural to her — foreshadowing her eventual breakdown |
| Themes | Gender and masculinity, supernatural, ambition |
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Act 2 Quotes
5. "Is this a dagger which I see before me?" (Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 1)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Macbeth hallucinates a dagger leading him to Duncan's chamber |
| Technique | Rhetorical question, hallucination/supernatural imagery |
| Analysis | The question reveals Macbeth's psychological turmoil — he cannot distinguish reality from imagination. The dagger may be a supernatural omen drawing him toward murder or a projection of his guilty conscience. Its ambiguity mirrors the play's central question: is Macbeth controlled by fate or does he choose evil? The dagger becomes covered in "gouts of blood", foreshadowing the bloodshed to come |
| Themes | Guilt, supernatural, ambition |
6. "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" (Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 2)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Immediately after murdering Duncan, Macbeth stares at his bloodstained hands |
| Technique | Rhetorical question, hyperbole, classical allusion (Neptune, god of the sea) |
| Analysis | The hyperbole — all the world's oceans cannot cleanse him — shows that Macbeth understands his guilt is permanent and absolute. Blood here is a symbol of guilt, not just a physical stain. This directly contrasts with Lady Macbeth's dismissive "A little water clears us of this deed" — a contrast that reverses in Act 5 when she obsessively washes her hands |
| Themes | Guilt, blood imagery, consequences of evil |
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Act 3 Quotes
7. "O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!" (Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 2)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Macbeth reveals his tormented mental state to Lady Macbeth before Banquo's murder |
| Technique | Metaphor, exclamatory sentence |
| Analysis | The metaphor of "scorpions" in his mind is visceral and disturbing — scorpions sting, poison, and cause pain from within. This suggests Macbeth's guilt and paranoia are self-inflicted tortures that he cannot escape. The image also implies that evil thoughts have infested his mind like parasites, taking over his identity. Note that he calls her "dear wife" — he still seeks comfort from her, but is already planning Banquo's murder without her involvement |
| Themes | Guilt, mental deterioration, isolation |
8. "Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake thy gory locks at me" (Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 4)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost at the banquet — visible only to him |
| Technique | Imperative, dramatic irony (the audience knows Macbeth ordered the murder) |
| Analysis | Macbeth's denial — "thou canst not say I did it" — is technically true (he hired murderers) but morally absurd, revealing his desperate self-deception. The ghost's "gory locks" physically manifest the violence Macbeth ordered. His public breakdown exposes his guilt to the thanes, accelerating his political isolation |
| Themes | Guilt, supernatural, consequences |
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Act 5 Quotes
9. "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" (Lady Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 1)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Lady Macbeth sleepwalks, obsessively trying to wash imaginary blood from her hands |
| Technique | Imperative, exclamatory, dramatic irony |
| Analysis | The "damned spot" directly echoes and reverses her earlier dismissal: "A little water clears us of this deed." The word "damned" carries religious connotations — she recognises her soul is condemned. The involuntary nature of sleepwalking shows her guilt has penetrated her subconscious, beyond her control. She who once commanded dark spirits is now commanded by her own conscience |
| Themes | Guilt, gender, supernatural, blood imagery |
10. "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage" (Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Macbeth's response to Lady Macbeth's death |
| Technique | Extended metaphor (life as theatre), nihilism |
| Analysis | The theatrical metaphor reduces all of life to a meaningless performance — a "walking shadow" (insubstantial), a "poor player" (a bad actor), who "struts and frets" (acts with false importance). The phrase "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" is the play's most famous expression of nihilism — Macbeth has gained a crown but lost all meaning. This speech reveals the ultimate cost of his ambition: not just death, but the total destruction of purpose and value |
| Themes | Ambition (consequences), mortality, despair |
11. "Yet I will try the last. Lay on, Macduff, and damned be him that first cries 'Hold, enough!'" (Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 8)
| Element | Analysis |
|---|
| Context | Macbeth's final words before his death in battle with Macduff |
| Technique | Imperative, defiance |
| Analysis | Despite knowing the prophecy protects Macduff, Macbeth chooses to fight rather than surrender. This moment partially redeems him — he dies as a warrior, echoing the brave soldier of Act 1. The verb "try" acknowledges likely failure but shows courage. Shakespeare may intend the audience to feel a moment of grudging respect amid their condemnation |
| Themes | Masculinity, fate, courage |
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How to Use Quotes in the Exam
Embedding Quotes
Wrong: Macbeth says "Is this a dagger which I see before me." This shows he is hallucinating.
Right: Macbeth's anguished question — "Is this a dagger which I see before me?" — reveals his deteriorating mental state, as the hallucination blurs the boundary between his guilty conscience and supernatural intervention.
Tips
- Learn 2–3 quotes per theme so you always have relevant evidence
- Short quotes (3–6 words) are easier to memorise and embed naturally
- Always analyse specific words within the quote — don't just explain the general meaning
- Link every quote to a theme and to Shakespeare's intentions
- If you forget the exact wording, paraphrase and say "Shakespeare presents..." — you can still gain marks