Macbeth Key Quotes (Edexcel GCSE English Literature Paper 1)
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To be bad is good-Act1Sc1 (Evil, supernatural)
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'Fair is foul and foul is fair'-The witches
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Good, courageous friend-Act1Sc2 (nobility, courage, loyalty, bravery)
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'O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!'-King Duncan
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What are these creatures? They're so withered-looking and crazily dressed-Act1Sc3 (supernatural)
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'What are these, so withered and so wild in their attire'-Banquo
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Are you alive?-Act1Sc3 (supernatural)
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'Live you?'-Banquo
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All hail, Macbeth, the future king!-Act1Sc3 (ambition)
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'All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!'-Third Witch
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You will not be a king but your children will-Act1Sc3 (conflict)
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'Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none'-Third Witch [to Banquo]
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I wish they would have stayed-Act1Sc3 (curiosity, supernatural)
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'Would they had stayed'-Macbeth
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I'm the thane of Glamis and the thane of Cawdor. And the best part of what they predicted is still to come-Act1Sc3 (ambition)
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'Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind'-Macbeth
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If it's a bad thing, why was I promised a promotion that turned out to be true? -Act1Sc3 (supernatural, good vs evil)
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'If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth?'-Macbeth
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But if this is a good thing, why do I find myself having bad thoughts so horrifying that they make my hair stand on end and my heart pound inside my chest?-Act1Sc3 (evil, good vs evil, murder, violence)
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'If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs'-Macbeth
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Malcolm will become the Prince of Cumberland (who will then become king)-Act1Sc4 (ambition, qualities of a king)
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'We will establish our estate upon Our eldest, Malcolm, who we name hereafter The Prince of Cumberland'-King Duncan
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Please don't let my evil thoughts be exposed-Act1Sc4 (evil, violence, ambition)
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'Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires'-Macbeth
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You are too kind to murder Duncan and become king-Act1Sc5 (qualities of a good king, ambition, power)
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'Yet I do fear thy nature: it is too full o'the milk of human kindness'-Lady Macbeth [to Macbeth whilst reading letter alone]
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I will encourage you with my words to be courageous and stop being afraid of murdering Duncan-Act1Sc5 (ambition, power, evil, temptation)
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'chastise with the valour of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round'-Lady Macbeth
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Make me no longer a woman and fill me with evil thoughts-Act1Sc5 (ambition, gender roles, evil)
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'unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty'-Lady Macbeth
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Look innocent and friendly but underneath, have evil and violent thoughts-Act1Sc5 (ambition, good vs evil, false perceptions)
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'look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't'-Lady Macbeth
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Everything we are doing is nothing compared to what you have done for us-Act1Sc6 (irony, false perceptions)
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'All our service....Were poor and single business to contend Against those honours deep and broad wherewith Your majesty loads our house'-Lady Macbeth
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Duncan is such a good man that if murder him, I will be damned forever-Act1Sc7 (guilt, loyalty, qualities of a good king)
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'his virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of his taking-off'
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I am fearful of committing what I have imagined, but I have a lot of ambition-Act1Sc7 (ambition, guilt)
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'I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition'-Macbeth
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King Duncan is too kind and I will feel too guilty if I kill him, we will no longer proceed with this murder-Act1Sc7 (guilt, loyalty)
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'We will proceed no further in this business'-Macbeth
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Are you afraid of acting upon what you desire?-Act1Sc7 (cowardice, ambition, gender roles, courage)
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'Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valor As thou art in desire?'-Lady Macbeth
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Macbeth is unsure whether the dagger is a hallucination or real, Macbeth is losing touch of reality-Act2Sc1 (appearance and reality, supernatural)
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'Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible, to feeling as to sight'-Macbeth
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People are deceitfu and people who appear cheerful on the outside could be hiding dark secrets, Donalbain knows that there is a traitor-Act2sc3 (appearance and reality, secrecy)
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'There's daggers in men's smiles'-Donalbain
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Macbeth wants to wash the blood from his hands and hide from the evil that he has committed-Act2sc2 (guilt and conscience)
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'Will all Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand'-Macbeth
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Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is bold and confident following Duncan's murder-Act2sc2 (guilt, ambition)
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'What hath quenched them hath given me fire'-Lady Macbeth
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Macbeth is feeling remorse and guilt over what he has done and wishes Duncan was still alive-Act2Sc2 (guilt, bravery)
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'Wake Duncan with thy knocking, I wish thou could'st'-Macbeth
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Many unnatural events have taken place including an owl eating a falcon-Act2sc4 (supernatural, evil)
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'A falcon..was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed'-Old Man
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As Donalbain and Malcolm have fled, Macbeth will be appointed king and the witches' third prophecy has come true-Act2Sc4 (supernatural)
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'sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth'-Ross
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Macbeth is having poisonous and murderous thoughts-Act3sc2 (evil, ambition)
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'O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife'-Macbeth
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Lady Macbeth becomes dominant and belittles Macbeth at the banquet by questioning his sanity-Act3Sc4 (masculinity, bravery, pride)
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'Are you a man?'-Lady Macbeth
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Macbeth orders the murderers to murder Banquo that night-Act3Sc1 (evil)
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'Banquo, thy soul's flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight'-Macbeth
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The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth has changed as Macbeth is no longer sharing his plans with her, he is taking control-Act3sc2 (relationships, power)
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'Be innocent of the knowledge'-Macbeth
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Macbeth has been overtaken by evil influences and returning to innocence would be as difficult as murder-Act3sc4 (evil, guilt)
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'I am in blood stepped in so far'-Macbeth
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Shows the extent of Macbeth's evil as the witches are very wicked but they are referring to him as 'wicked'-Act4sc1 (evil, supernatural)
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'By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes'-Second Witch
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Macbeth believes he is safe because he can not be harmed by anyone-Act4sc1 (deception, supernatural)
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'None of woman born shall harm Macbeth'-Second Apparition
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Macbeth is safe until Birnan Wood comes towards Macbeth's castle, which seems impossible-Act4sc1 (deception, supernatural)
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'Until Great Birnan Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come'-Third Apparition
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Macbeth is now at his lowest point as he is murdering innocent people-Act4sc1 (evil)
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'The castle of Macduff I will surprise'-Macbeth
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Macduff is prepared to take revenge on Macbeth for the killing of his wife and children-Act4sc3 (revenge, violence, conflict)
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'Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself, within my sword's length set him'-Macduff
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Lady Macbeth is feeling extreme guilt over Duncan's murder and is psychologically harmed-Act5sc1 (guilt and conscience)
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'What, will these hands ne'er be clean'-Lady Macbeth
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Macbeth sees life as pointless and idiotic (fate, end of life)
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'A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury'-Macbeth
