Lady Macbeths Important Quotes

Important Quotes:
“Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here And fill em from the crown to the toe topfull Of direst cruelty.” Act 1 Scene 5

“I have given suck and know How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me I would, while it was smiling in my face Have plucked the nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn As you have done to this.” Act 1 Scene 7

“I laid their daggers ready; He could not miss ‘em. Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done’t.” Act 2 Scene 2

“A little water clears us of this deed How easy it is them!” Act 2 Scene 2

“Come to my womans breasts And take my milk for gall, your murdering ministers.” Act 1 Scene 5

Lady Macbeths Character

 Traits/characteristics

Ambition: She is filled with a burning desire for Macbeth to seize the throne so that she might be Queen of Scotland. She longs for her and Macbeth to have “sovereign sway and masterdom” over the whole country. Her determination to achieve this goal is evident when she declares that Macbeth “what thou art promised.”

Ruthlessness: She is willing to let nothing stand in the way of her ambitions. She is not willing to wait and see if the witches’ prophecy comes through and Macbeth becomes King of Scotland in the future. She is determined “catch the nearest way” to power by murdering Duncan and seizing the throne. Her ruthless determination is evident when she declares that Duncan will not live out the night. The greatest indication of Lady Macbeth’s ruthlessness is when she calls the evil spirits to strip her of her femininity “Come you spirits that tend on moral thoughts, unsex me here.” She is so desperate for power that she is willing to “sell her soul” in order to achieve it.

Manipulative: Lady Macbeth reveals herself as a master manipulator. She knows her husband and she is capable of pressing his buttons in order to get him to do what she wants. She skilfully overcomes Macbeth’s reluctance to murder Duncan by questioning his manliness. She declares that if he were a real man he’d agree to murdering Duncan “when thou durst do it, then you are a man.”

Dominant: Lady Macbeth is presented as the dominant force in her and Macbeth’s relationship. She shows this as she was able to manipulate Macbeth into murdering Duncan. She taunts him by suggesting he is a coward. She suggests if he was a real man he would do what was necessary to make his dream of power a reality.
Decisive: Lady Macbeth shows how decisive she is when she first hears that Macbeth could be King, she immediately thinks of killing Duncan so Macbeth can be King and she can be Queen. She decides that she and Macbeth are going to do whatever it takes to kill Duncan to make this happen. She is the one who came up with the plan that will allow them to murder Duncan and commit regicide and not to be suspected of doing so.

BBC Shakespeare Animated Tales - Macbeth - Part 1

                                                                      

Setting/Pathetic Fallacy/Tone

Pathetic Fallacy

Tone: Dark and ominous suggestive of a world turned topsy-turvy by foul and unnatural crimes

The main type of weather found throughout the play are thunder and lightning storms, which occur when evil deeds are either being formulated or carried out. We first see this theatrical use of weather when we meet the three witches in Act 1, scene 1.

In the first battle scene, the witches describe "fog and filthy air", which is representative of mystery, and of how things are not how they should be (the natural order is reversed, as suggested by the line "fair is foul and foul is fair").

On the night of Duncan's murder, a thunder and lightning storm raged outside. The use of pathetic fallacy has the effect of making the scenes of fear or violence more intense.

The pathetic fallacy or anthropomorphic fallacy is the treatment of inanimate objects as if they had human feelings, thought, or sensations.

Pathetic fallacy is sometimes used in the form of metaphors, such as the idea of having a violent sea to represent a feeling of betrayal, of being tossed out into the water without a life-saving device. One such example in this play is when we meet the three witches (1.1). The atmosphere is dark and moody and the world around the witches is dark and gloomy. This is a good example of pathetic fallacy in that the rain, dark and gloom all represent the feeling in the scene, and form a good setting for our feelings of disgust and queasiness when we read about the witches burying a human hand.

Macbeth’s dark thoughts and his lack of control are echoed in the weather of the scenes to come. The main type of weather found throughout the play is thunder and lightning storms, which occur when evil deeds are either being formulated or carried out. Before Duncan’s murder pathetic fallacy is used  when  Fleance quotes “The moon is down I have not heard the clock”. This sets the perfect mood in the castle to commit the  murder of Duncan. The atmosphere parallels Macbeth’s dark thoughts and his lack of control in the nightmares in the subconscious when sleeping.

Quotes and Examples

·         “When shall we three meet again. In thunder, lighting or in rain” Act 1 Scene 1
(use of nature reflects on the emotions and problems that are to follow in the play)

·         “Fair is foul, foul is fair. Hover through the fog and the filthy air” Act 1 Scene 1
(everything is not as it seems. Paradox. It sets the tone of the play)

·         “So foul and fair a day I have not seen” Act 1 Scene 3
(echoes the sentiments of the three witches in Scene 1. Paradox)

·         “The moon is down; I have not heard the clock”
(before murder of Duncan and it sets the mood of the castle)

·         “This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself into our gentle senses”
(comments on the atmosphere-air is pleasant and sweet)

Setting Of each scene:

Act 1 Scene1: is set in a desolate place while thunder and lightning. It sets the mood of the scene for the three witches.

Act 1 Scene 3: Set in a heath near Forres again thundering while the witches explain to Macbeth about the prophecy.

Act 1 Scene 4: Set in the palace of Duncan. They talk about the thane of Cawdor execution and how Macbeth is promoted to thane of Cawdor.

Act 1 Scene 5: It’s a crucial scene set in Macbeth’s Castle as were introduced to Lady Macbeth and her femine wiles

Act 1 Scene 6: This is when the king arrives to Macbeth’s castle. Duncan comments about the pleasant atmosphere of the castle and Banquo echoes what the king has said.

Act 1 Scene 7: Again set in the castle of Macbeth. It’s about Macbeth’s indecision of the murder of the king. Macbeth proves Lady Macbeths manipulative skills as a dominant figure. 

Act 2 Scene 1: set in the court of Macbeth’s castle where Banquo meets his son and they discuss how the night is going his quote reflects on the murder of Duncan

Act 2 Scene 2: Set in Macbeth’s castle near Duncan’s room. Macbeth feels guilty of the murder. Lady Macbeth demands Macbeth to bring the daggers back to the guard’s room and she falsely put the blames on the guards.

Act 2 Scene 3: set in the entrance to Macbeth’s castle. “The night has been unruly: where he lay  This reflects the weariness or the unsettled atmosphere after the murder.

Weird Sisters

The Three Witches/ Weird Sisters in

Macbeth

                      


Shakespeare's Three Witches, or the Three Weird Sisters, are characters in Macbeth. We were introduced to the three witches in the opening scene, Act 1, Scene 1 where they were at a desolate place. Their conversation is filled with paradox and equivocation: they say that they will meet Macbeth "when the battle's lost and won" and when "fair is foul and foul is fair". This paradoxical theme is present throughout the play.

In Act 1, Scene 1, we ackowledge their supernatural powers by their prophetic abilities and through their familiars, Graymalkin and Paddock. When they "hover through the fog and filthy air" we are suggested the traditional notion of witches flying through the night sky in brooms.
                                              

 This scene portrays the witches as evil beings with prophetic powers.
They know that Macbeth will fight and that he will emerge victorious.

Lady Macbeth

FIRST IMPRESSION

Lady Macbeth makes her first appearance late in scene five of the first act when she learns in a letter from her husband that three witches have prophesied his future as King. When King Duncan becomes her overnight guest, Lady Macbeth seizes the opportunity to effect his murder. Aware her husband's temperament is "too full o' the milk of human kindness" for committing a regicide, she plots the details of the murder, then, countering her husband's arguments and reminding him that he first broached the matter, she belittles his courage and manhood, finally winning him to her designs.

Relationship with Macbeth

Lady Macbeth plays a major role in influencing her husband to take the path that he does. She is the catalyst that effectively unleashes Macbeth’s true side of evil. Throughout the play we can see that she has a strong influence on him and is a primary cause for increasing Macbeth’s ambition. Lady Macbeth’s words to her husband as well as her many powerful soliloquies show us her great desire to become Queen and hence urge Macbeth to murder Duncan as well as begin his reign of tyranny. However, in no way can Lady Macbeth be seen as the sole influence on Macbeth. She greatly helps him throughout the play to get him through various problems. In the earlier acts of the play we can see that Lady Macbeth’s words mean a lot to her husband, giving the impression that she is definitely the dominant figure in the relationship. Lady Macbeth has a strong influence on her husband and is a sole reason why Macbeth acts as he did.

Lady Macbeth is an influence on her husband in many different ways, for many different reasons. The reader discovers that as soon as she opens her husband’s letter she immediately begins to scheme and plot, showing her true evil and aspiration. One is immediately aware that she wants Macbeth to become King so she can solemnly become Queen of Scotland. She is unsure whether Macbeth is too kind and without the evil that needs to merge with his already prominent ambition. As said in her famous soliloquy, “I fear…is too full’o the milk of human kindness, to catch the nearest way”. For this reason, she influences him greatly into the prospect of murdering the king. The thought of becoming Queen pushes her and causes her to act outrageously. Macbeth is slightly doubtful of her plan to kill the King, however Lady Macbeth subtly bombards him with comments that question his courage and by saying that his love is worth nothing if he refuses to go through with the plan.

Because Macbeth is not completely certain of the success of the devious plan, he is greatly assisted by his wife. Lady Macbeth is worried that her husband will give their plan away through his facial expressions so she gives him the advice, “look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under”. When Macbeth tells his wife that he will not do it she turns on him and starts to insult him by telling him he is a coward “and live a coward in thine own esteem”. Lady Macbeth uses this because she knows that he is a known as a brave soldier, in hope that he will defend himself by carrying out the murder. Another example where she helps Macbeth is the incident after he has killed Duncan. As Macbeth is uneasy and awestruck she takes the daggers back into Duncan’s chamber for him and helps him wash the blood off his hands. She is very useful in this situation as she helps pull him together sensitively. When Macbeth is speaking to Macduff directly after the murder he threatens to give the game away so much so that Lady Macbeth faints to draw attention to herself, ensuring that he doesn’t give too much away.

Macbeth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC9G_CZVAL8&feature=player_embedded

^^ In the first 2 minutes of this video, they try to convey the violence of Macbeth and Banquo on the battlefield, as described in Act 1 Scene 2 by The Captain.

AMBITION/UNCERTAINITY

1. "Commencing in truth? I an Thane of Cawdor if good, why do i yield to that suggestion whos horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature."

• First thoughts are of murder --> it unnerves him --> not completely sure.
• DEEP THINKER --> he doesn't disregard the prophecy that he will become king.
• Indecisive about murder --> his soliloquy shows this.

1. "Remarking upon the difficulties of knowing what people are really thinking. Starts hide your fires, let no light see my black and deep desires." 

• Macbeth doesn't want people to know what he is thinking.
• Thoughts of murder --> ashamed? --> scared of his thoughts.

Soldier

Macbeth is confident and brave on the battlefield. It is mentioned in Act 1 Scene 2 that he holds the position of captain so this leads to the thought that he is good in a position of authority. He is loyal in the way that he brutally fights and risks his life for his king and country; “For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution”.

It also seems to us that Macbeth is a merciless violent person in the way he ‘carved out his passage’ through the army of men until he faces MacDonwald and “he unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps”. He does this almost immediately, it appears that he did not think about it or maybe didn’t need to think about it. He is so sure of himself on the battlefield and the violent acts he performs; we could even maybe say that it comes natural to him.

Macbeth and Banquo are so lost in the moment and eager for violence that they are not in the slightest bit dismayed by the prospect of more battle and more fighting. In fact, they seem enthusiastic about the idea and are “as cannons overcharged with double cracks”. They get so deep into their enjoyment of this violence that maybe their view of what is too much has been altered as the Captain describes their violence and how it seemed they wanted it; “except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, and memorize another Golgotha”.

And yet this part of his personality is in complete contrast to his indecisiveness of the murder of Duncan. He is so sure of himself and so confident with his actions on the battlefield and does not think before performing his violent actions and yet, when it comes to Duncan’s murder, he almost thinks too much about the murder. He does not seem enthusiastic about performing the action; it is almost as if he is trying to persuade himself against doing it (his soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 7).

All this connects to the theme of Paradox present in the play; Macbeth himself is a paradox. He is decisive and doesn’t need to think before performing murderous actions on the battlefield, which is in contrast to his indecisiveness and fear about murdering Duncan.

PICTURES