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Macbeth Quotes

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Character Analysis Essay In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth shows readers many different emotions. Emotions caused by the Witches' predictions for his future, the secrets Macbeth is keeping from everyone and by the pressure of trying to stay king and live a long healthy life. Macbeth is left with a whirl of emotion when faced with many factors. The three key emotions Macbeth reveals are curiosity, fear and determination; these emotions will play out through the actions made by Macbeth when faced with challenges. Curiosity played a big role in developing the character of Macbeth, and here is why. To begin, Macbeth is approached by the three witches at the start of the play and shows his curiosity when being informed about his …show more content…

Secondly, Macbeth is faced with more curiosity after his recent actions of killing Duncan, becoming king, and now stuck on what is next for his future he is left curiously asking the witches what will happen. In Act 4 Scene 1 Macbeth says “I conjure you by that which you profess, howe’er you come to know it, answer me.” (Shakespeare 4.1 51-52). This quote tells us that Macbeth is curiously looking for answers and develops a sense of curiosity about what else will happen to him throughout the play. The witches left Macbeth very curious in the play, his curiosity left readers with a mysterious feeling and created a good development of his curious side. Macbeth shows a lot of fear throughout the play, sourced by his actions, secrets, and paranoia.To begin, Macbeth becomes fearful of Banquo finding out the truth about the murder of Duncan. Macbeth says in Act 3 Scene 2 “Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond which keeps me pale.” (Shakespeare 3.2 …show more content…

unreal mockery, hence.” Shakespeare 3.4 108-110. This quote shows us readers that Macbeth is fearful of what he has done, he is regretful, and now paranoid of the ghost following his actions. The fear of Macbeth helped the readers understand Macbeth's emotions and develop a good understanding of him as a character and how his actions affected him. Macbeth shows many emotions throughout the play, the last key emotion being determination, and here is how it played a role in developing Macbeth’s character. To begin, Macbeth was determined to conjure others that challenged him and his place as king and this led to a lot of anger towards many characters, especially Banquo. Macbeth says in Act 3 Scene 1, “No son of mine succeeds. If’s be so, for Banquo issue have I filed my mind. For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered, put rancors in the vessel of peace, only for them; and mine eternal jewel given to make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings.” (Shakespeare 3.1 62-68). This quote shows Macbeth's determination to stay king and prevent Banquo and his sons from taking his place; he feels as though he deserves to be king, and he didn’t do all that work for

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807 Words | 4 Pages

Banquo says, “I fear thou play’ds most foully for’t” (Act 3 sc 1 lines 2-3). I feel that Banquo is seeing that Macbeth is getting everything that he wants and Banquo is noticing that it’s out of the ordinary and he ends up getting suspicious of Macbeth. Macbeth notices that Banquo is getting suspicious of him. Also, the weird sister told Macbeth that one of Banquo sons is going to be king one day. Macbeth doesn’t like the idea of both of these, so Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance.

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174 Words | 1 Pages

Another reason this is an important quote is that it shows the witches true personality and what they know. This quote sets the mood for the entire play. Macbeth said this to Banquo in Act 1 Scene 3. Macbeth is saying that if fate is telling him he’s going to be king why should he mess with fate.

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623 Words | 3 Pages

He is also fearful before the battle at the castle because he realized that the witches have tricked him. He started to think about what else the witches might have been tricking him about. Once he does realize that the witches have tricked him he kind of surrenders in a sense because he knows he is going to die. To conclude Macbeth displays fear a lot throughout the

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669 Words | 3 Pages

For instance, when Macbeth understands that things are not aligning with his expectations, he changes the situation in the way he wants it. He keeps in mind that the witches had mentioned Banquo’s children becoming king and sees Banquo as a burden. Macbeth expresses, "To be thus is nothing; But to be safely thus./Our fears in Banquo/Reigns that which would be feared: 'tis much he dares; /And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,/To act in safety" (3.1.52-59). Macbeth recognizes Banquo as a threat, a potential challenge to the throne. He feels that the only way to secure his position is to eliminate Banquo, so he takes matters into his own hands.

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675 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the play, the guilt leads him to kill more and more people because he needs reassurance that he is safe. Because of this constant reassurance, he would end up killing Banquo. As he says, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep.” This quote shows that Macbeth was worried over the fact Banquo was the only one who knew about his prophecy. He needed reassurance because he needed to be sure that Banquo could never find out that he killed King Duncan otherwise his position would be put under threat which could’ve led to his downfall much sooner.

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1160 Words | 5 Pages

One of the effects on Macbeth after he killed Duncan was that he wanted more power and his ambition and greed grew stronger. As the play went on, Macbeth became suspicious about Banquo because the Witches said that Banquos descendants would be king, and not Macbeth’s. This then leads Macbeth to kill Banquo, who was originally a foil to Macbeth. Macbeth quotes many inhumane sayings throughout the play such as “Thou art the best o’ th’ cutthroats: Yet he’s good that he did the like for Fleance. If thou didst it, thou art the nonpareil.”

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780 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth’s decision on killing those who are a threat to him also leads to him hiring two murderers to ultimately kill his best friend, Banquo, and his son, Fleance. Macbeth views Banquo as a threat and fears him saying, “our fears in Banquo/ Stick deep: and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be fear’d. There is none but him/ Whose being I do fear” (3.1.53-59). In this scene, Macbeth is now obsessed by the witches' prophecies to Banquo and treats him as his

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368 Words | 2 Pages

Macbeth is fearful of how the witches know his deepest desires to be king. If word were to get out about Macbeth's sinful thoughts and his desire for power, he believes that we would be ruined. Banquo notes the fear in Macbeth right away, showing how Macbeth is fighting against his ambitions the instant he hears the prophecy. Due to his fear, Macbeth tries to use force and aggressive words to convince the witches to speak: "Say from whence/ You owe this strange intelligence, .

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1645 Words | 7 Pages

Also, by phrasing “guide his valour to act safety”, Shakespeare sets a concern imagery for Macbeth because Banquo is too smart to be deluded. Therefore, not only Macbeth feels insecure with Banquo but also sees him as his great enemy. This threat and insecurity eventually develops fear within Macbeth and leads him to say,, “Our fears in Banquo Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature Reigns

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922 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth’s mental condition begins to dwindle as time goes on, starting with the murder of Duncan. At first, Macbeth is seen as a soldier that everyone aspires to be, strong, brave, and compassionate about his duties to the king. In act one scene two, Captain says, “...For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-...” This shows that he is a likeable person who has only the objective of serving his king. After meeting with the witches and hearing his prophecy, Macbeth starts to think about what it would be like to be king of Scotland.

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856 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth begins to fear General Banquo’s nobleness and honesty because he knows Banquo is a more honorable man than he is. He began to like the feel of power and became fearful that Banquo was starting to suspect that he killed the King for his position. Macbeth did not want anyone to be greater than he was, nor did he want anyone to find out how he got his title. Macbeth uses his power for ill purposes by convincing two murderers that Banquo is the enemy and that he must be killed. The witches’ prophecy is what led Macbeth to become fearful of General Banquo’s

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736 Words | 3 Pages

His capricious and malicious acts prove how naive and vile he is as a person. Macbeth even attempts to kill Banquo to prevent any trace of his nature from making him, a “fruitless crown.” Macbeth states, “Must lave or honors in the flattering streams, and make our face vizards to our heart, disguising who we are,”(3.2.45). With such desperation, Macbeth is willing to include other people in his premeditated murder. By having Lady Macbeth be part of his plot to kill Banquo, Macbeth reveals two things about himself: That he does not value those around him, even if they are his loved ones, and that he places his personal success over all aspects of his life.

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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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527 Words | 3 Pages

In Macbeth’s soliloquy, he talks about Banquo’s “hath of wisdom” and how Banquo acts safely(58). This illustrates that Macbeth is afraid of what Banquo might do. This illustrates Macbeth’s ambition because he is not going to give up until he finds what he is looking for if he gets suspicious with Macbeth. This makes Macbeth very scared of Banquo because if Banquo finds out that Macbeth killed Duncan, Macbeth’s life is going to be hell and Banquo is immediately going to tell everybody in Scotland. Macbeth fears Banquo so much that he will “champion his utterance” and will battle anybody to keep his crown(77).

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1931 Words | 8 Pages

After killing Banquo Macbeth evokes fear from the audience. Yet at a banquet thrown in honor of Macbeth’s new title of King, Macbeth begins hallucinating about the ghost of Banquo haunting him, this not only ruins the evening, but causes the audience to question the mental deterioration of Macbeth. Yes he is to be feared for his actions taken against Banquo, but the audience is left to question if Macbeth’s actions are not still reactions from the prophecies the witches gave him. They played on his ambitious tendencies and clearly manipulated him, which draws pity, although Macbeth is acting on his own, not under the constructs of any direction which causes fear of what he is capable of. In this moment with the apparition of Banquo the audience has to question the confounds of Macbeth’s sanity, it is easy to fear Macbeth because of what he is doing, but circumstances such as these and the encounters with the Weird Sisters make it difficult for the audience to despise Macbeth, instead they take pity on what they view as a delusional mind.

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