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Macbeth Quote Analysis

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Throughout the story of Macbeth by Shakespear, there is a clear decline in almost all of the characters' mental states, especially Macbeth. At the beginning of the play, he was known for being a strong honorable man. But later on, we learn that he strives to have a lot of power and would do anything that it takes for him to be King of Scotland. Things started to go downhill for Macbeth after the murder of Duncan. The three witches played a big part in Macbeth’s mental state, along with his hallucinations, and his wife, Lady Macbeth. In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, there were three witches who had a huge effect on Macbeth. Throughout the play, the three witches told Macbeth three prophecies which affected Macbeth greatly. Macbeth talked to …show more content…

Every time Macbeth experienced hallucinations, he fell farther into psychosis, which was mostly driven by his bad intentions and the guilt that he was feeling. Two important hallucinations that Macbeth had was the dagger and the ghost of Banquo. Before Macbeth was about to kill Duncan, Macbeth saw a dagger that was covered in blood floating in the air. A quote that shows this scene is, “is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.” This quote proves that Macbeth was seeing something that was not really there. Another example of Macbeth seeing things is when he saw the ghost of Banquo. Soon after Banquo was killed, Macbeth saw Banquo’s ghost while at the banquet. When Macbeth saw this, he felt extremely guilty because he had murdered one of his old friend’s. “Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold. Thou hast no speculation in those eyes”. This quote is an example of Macbeth trying to reassure himself that he is just seeing things and Banquo is not really there, he's dead. This is also causing Macbeth to feel really guilty and as a result of how much remorse he is feeling, he is

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Macbeth hallucinates a vision of a bloody dagger pointing him in the direction of the king, and interprets it as a sign to go through with the murder; however, he goes back on his word a moment later, doubting its significance: “Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight? or art thou but / A dagger of the mind, a false creation, / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (Shakespeare II.

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771 Words | 4 Pages

Proceeding with the crime, Macbeth later receives the news that only Banquo has been killed. Macbeth’s paranoia, guilt, and shame manifest into an envisionment of Banquo’s ghost at Inverness. Upon Macbeth seeing the ghost, Lady Macbeth attempts to calm him down, to which he

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876 Words | 4 Pages

Once Banquo leaves, a floating dagger appears before Macbeth: “Is this a dagger which I see before me… A dagger of the mind, a false creation / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? / I see thee yet, in form as palpable /

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959 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth is saying returning from the dead is more strange than the original murder, and that he is seeing banquo's ghost. Lady Macbeth tells him to brush it off, and act normal. In Act 5 Scene 1, Macbeth sees apparitions. The three apparitions he saw was an armed head, a bloody child, as well as a child crowned,with a tree in his hand. This is just another example on a hallucination that

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1354 Words | 6 Pages

The hallucination of the blade that Macbeth sees shows his uncertainty, fear, and foreshadowed guilt. Knowing that he is an honorable general, he feels the guilt of betrayal, eventually overwhelming him. “Mine eyes are made fools of the other senses or worth all the rest. I see thee still, and, on thy blade and dagger, gouts of blood, which were not so before. There’s no such thing.

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683 Words | 3 Pages

Consequently, Macbeth hallucinates and this event represents his guilt before even committing the act. Macbeth is wracked with guilt over what he is about to do, and his mind races with thoughts of such evil action. Because of his own ambition, the decision to murder Duncan is supported by the prophecies of the Witches as well as the encouragement of his wife. He first sees a dagger hanging mid-air, “Is this a dagger which I see before me” (2.1.41) and with “gouts of blood” (2.1.54) dripping from it. Even though guilt and insanity are weighing him down, he still decides to kill Duncan and follows his

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404 Words | 2 Pages

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!" The paranoia caused by Banquo's ghost indicates the guilt Macbeth feels for betraying his friend and the fear of getting caught for his misdeeds. Greed occurs in the play via Act 2 Scene 1, where Macbeth follows the illusion of a dagger to King Duncan's chamber.

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After a while of convincing conversation and arguing, he finally decides to do it. He soon realizes the entire rest of his life he would have this feeling of guilt and of a dirty murderer to remind him of his bloody deeds. Macbeth has many moments where he has to realize he is just seeing things. As stated before he had seen the dagger, which symbolized the murder and then he had the incident where he saw Banquo’s ghost during dinner.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

In the middle of this dinner with some lords of the land present Macbeth thinks that he's seen Banquo's ghost appear. Lady Macbeth has to pull him aside and say “This is the very painting of your fear this is the air drawn dagger which you said led you to Duncan” (3.4.61-63). This quote shows us how bad that Macbeth is getting cause he is thinking that he sees a ghost of the man that he had murdered and he causes a huge scene at the dinner that his wife invited many prominent guests to. And to even further his murderous deeds Macbeth decides to have another killing

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956 Words | 4 Pages

For instance, he hallucinates that a dagger is floating in the air in front of him, which he sees in a “form as palpable / As this which” he uses to kill Duncan (2.1.40-41). Moreover, later on in the novel after murdering his former friend Banquo, Macbeth loses his mind in front of the Lords as he envisions Banquo’s ghost sitting at a table. Almost proving that he ordered Banquo’s murder, Macbeth exclaims “Thou canst not say I did it; never shake / Thy gory locks at me” (3.4.50-51).

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619 Words | 3 Pages

After Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo, he is “greeted by” the ghost of Banquo while at a Banquet. He sees the ghost and starts speaking to it, while the others are watching. He says

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696 Words | 3 Pages

Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold, thou hast no speculation in those eyes which thou dost glare with.” (3.1.93-6). Meanwhile the guests, oblivious to Banquo’s ghost, take in the scene and wonder at their new king’s hysterics. There is stark contrast between the courageous soldier described at the beginning of the play and the paranoid shell of a man he has become, and seeing Macbeth portrayed this way is a cue for the audience’s

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647 Words | 3 Pages

They show him three apparitions and then a group of kings. The first two apparitions are mentioned in the stage directions but never described in spoken text. Those being of a floating armored head and a bloody child. The last apparition is described by Macbeth as “[it] rises like the issue of a king,/ And wears upon his baby-brow the round/ And top of sovereignty?”

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682 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth is the Shakespearean play that features the triumphant uprise and the inevitable downfall of its main character. In this play, Macbeth’s downfall can be considered to be the loss of his moral integrity and this is achieved by ambition, despite this, Lady Macbeth and the witches work through his ambition, furthering to assist his inevitable ruin. Ambition alone is the most significant factor that led to Macbeth’s downfall. The witches are only able to influence his actions through Macbeth’s pre-existing and the three witches see that Macbeth has ambition and uses it to control his action. Ambition alone is displayed throughout the play to be the most significant cause for Macbeth’s downfall.

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781 Words | 4 Pages

Finally, the vision of a bloody dagger that emerged right before the murder emboldened Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Prior to murdering Duncan, Macbeth was hesitant about following through with his wife 's merciless task. He doubted that he was able to murder one of his most loyal friends, until he saw the vision. On page 43, Act II, scene I, Macbeth sees the apparition: "Is this a dagger that I see before me with its handle turned to my hand?" Macbeth contemplates whether it is a figure of his imagination prompted on by his already guilty conscience, or a supernatural encounter that is compelling him to do the deed.

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