Macbeth Motif Quotes

• I am in blood Stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er.

  William Shakespeare

  Blood, Lady Macbeth, Guilt

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 3, sc. 4, l. 136

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• Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?

  William Shakespeare

  Character, Hands, Play

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 2, sc. 1, l. 33

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• It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood.

  William Shakespeare

  Blood, Important Macbeth, Nature Of Evil

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 3, sc. 4, l. 122

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• Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.

  William Shakespeare

  Ocean, Blood, Hands

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 2, sc. 2, l. 61

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• Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.

  William Shakespeare

  Stars, Halloween, Dark

  William Shakespeare, Isaac Reed, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens (1817). “The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: With the Corrections and Illustrations of Dr. Johnson, G. Steevens, and Others”, p.279

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• My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white.

  William Shakespeare

  Heart, Hands, Color

  William Shakespeare (2005). “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, p.30, 1st World Publishing

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• Fair is foul, and foul is fair, hover through fog and filthy air.

  William Shakespeare

  Fog, Air, Hovering

  William Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, Nicholas Rowe (1723). “The works of Shakespear: In six volumes”, p.517

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• You lack the season of all natures, sleep.

  William Shakespeare

  Sleep, Insomnia, Macbeth Theme

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 3, sc. 4, l. 141

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• Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more!
  Macbeth does murder sleep', the innocent sleep,
  Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care,
  The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,
  Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
  Chief nourisher in life's feast...

  William Shakespeare

  Hurt, Sleep, Insomnia

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 2, sc. 2, l. 36

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• The instruments of darkness tell us truths.

  William Shakespeare

  Sad, Truth, Darkness

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 3, l. 123

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• Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.

  William Shakespeare

  Flower, Advice, Lady Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 5, l. [63]

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• Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? - Lady Macbeth

  William Shakespeare

  Men, Blood, Hands

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 1, l. [38]

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• False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

  William Shakespeare

  Memorable, Heart, Lady Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 7, l. 82

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• A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep and do the effects of watching!

  William Shakespeare

  Sleep, Benefits, Effects

  William Shakespeare (2015). “Macbeth: Third Series”, p.271, Bloomsbury Publishing

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• But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer,
  Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep
  In the affliction of these terrible dreams
  That shake us nightly.

  William Shakespeare

  Dream, Fear, Sleep

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 3, sc. 2, l. 11

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• Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plague the inventor.

  William Shakespeare

  Return, Taught, Important Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 7, l. 1

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• So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

  William Shakespeare

  Important Macbeth, Foul, Darkness In Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 3, l. 38

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• I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more, is none

  William Shakespeare

  Courage, Peace, Men

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 7, l. 46

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• All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand! Oh, oh, oh!

  William Shakespeare

  Hands, Lady Macbeth, Guilt

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 1, l. [55]

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• 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.
  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?

  William Shakespeare

  Art, Memorable, Sight

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 2, sc. 1, l. 33

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• Out, damned spot! out, I say! One: two: why, then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky!

  William Shakespeare

  Time, Hands, Two

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 1, l. [38]

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• Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow.

  William Shakespeare

  Futility Of Life, Play, Life And Death

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 5, l. 16

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• Or art thou but / A dagger of the mind, a false creation, / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?

  William Shakespeare

  Art, Brain, Mind

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 2, sc. 1, l. 33

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• Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness.

  William Shakespeare

  Kindness, Play, Lady Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 5, l. [16]

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• It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury; signifying nothing.

  William Shakespeare

  Life, Death, Play

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 5, l. 16

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