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“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand” Who: Macbeth Where: Scene 2, Act 2 It shows that Macbeth feels his ambition is going to end up leaving him in an unknown and uncontrollable situation. Vaulting ambition refers to Macbeth’s ambition, and how it is out of control as he becomes consumed by his greed of power. A spur is the back of a boot which makes the horse go faster when it taps them, as it pricks their sides. This quote is an extended metaphor of how Macbeth’s ambition is like a wild horse. “I have no spur, to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other” Who: Macbeth Where: Scene 7, Act 1 This is a desire that she clearly has, and this quote is also a good example of how she is able to manipulate Macbeth. Lady Macbeth feels that a real man would be able to kill the king and usurp the crown without questioning it, due to their desire for power. She is basically trying to insult Macbeth, by telling him that he is no longer a man as he is doubting whether he should kill Duncan. “When thou durst do it, then you were a man” Who: Lady Macbeth Where: Scene 7, Act 1 This could be to represent how the protagonists are repeatedly trying to undo what has been done. Additionally, the prefix ‘Un’ as used in this quote, is frequently used by Shakespeare in Macbeth. She is asking the spirits to strip her of all her feminine weakness and to instead fill her with masculinity, as she fears that her husband, Macbeth, is not strong enough to kill Duncan on his visit, and so she must be ready to kill him herself. Unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty” Who: Lady Macbeth Where: Scene 5, Act 1 “Come you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts. This announcement makes Macbeth both angry and jealous, but he hopes nobody will see his deep desires as he knows he will get into severe trouble if found out.Ĥ. Macbeth says this quote after Duncan announced his son Malcolm as his heir to the kingdom. It clearly identifies the contrast between light and dark, which represents good and evil. “Stars hide your fires let not light see my dark and deep desires” Who: Macbeth Where: Scene 4, Act 1 Brandished steel refers to Macbeth’s sword, which he used to fight the opposing army. This is important, as by showing Macbeth to be so loyal to Duncan, it makes his downfall more obvious and shows the start of his multiple acts of evil. The purpose of this quote as well as the rest of this scene is to portray Macbeth as a very strong and loyal soldier, and a hero on the battlefield who fought bravely to protect his king. “Brave Macbeth – Well he deserves that name – Confronted him with brandished steel” Who: Ross When: Scene 2, Act 1 This is important in regards to the relationship between Macbeth and Duncan, as Macbeth appeared as a loyal soldier, but he was actually planning to murder the king he had sworn to protect. This quote is used by the witches to show that not everything is as it appears, and appearances can be deceiving. This quote would then me good is bad and bad is good. To understand it you must first remember that fair and foul can mean different things, including pretty and ugly or good and bad. “Fair is foul and foul is fair” Who: The Witches When: Scene 1, Act 1 To help you with your studies, here are the best quotes in Macbeth that you should learn.
#Macbeth ambition quote full
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, full of drama and Scottish history. But it's the hard-hearted Lady Macbeth who eventually collapses under the weight of guilt, and she is the one who gives this monologue.Studying Shakespeare is something everybody will do, whether it is for their GCSE’s, A-levels, or university degree. Macbeth suffers fits of hysteria and hallucinates Banquo's ghost with blood-clotted hair. To hold onto his ill-gotten crown, he orders the slaughter of his friend Banquo and the entire household of Lord Macduff, the Thane of Fife. The king is only one of many killings during Macbeth's bloody reign. To bed, to bed! there's knocking at the gate:Ĭome, come, come, come, give me your hand. I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried he Wash your hands, put on your nightgown look not so Perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little Here's the smell of the blood still: all the That, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with
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What, will these hands ne'er be clean? - No more o' The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?. Lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need weįear who knows it, when none can call our power toĪccount? - Yet who would have thought the old man "Out, damned spot! out, I say! - One: two: why,
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