Macbeth
Summary
- War in Scotland.
- Macbeth does very well in battle.
- The original Thane of Cawdor is a traitor and is executed.
- Macbeth is promoted to Thane of Cawdor by the King.
- The witches meet Macbeth and tell him he is Thane of Cawdor, will become King, but Banquo’s children will be kings. This happens before Macbeth is informed of his new title.
- Macbeth is officially told he is Thane of Cawdor and immediately believes the witches, turning his thoughts to how he might become King.
- Malcolm is promoted to Prince of Cumberland, marking him as next in line. Macbeth thinks he must overcome him to become King.
- Lady Macbeth receives Macbeth’s letter and begins plotting Duncan’s murder. Macbeth is initially horrified.
- Lady Macbeth calls on dark spirits for the strength to kill Duncan.
- Macbeth quickly warms to the idea of killing Duncan; Lady Macbeth questions his courage to push him into doing it.
- Macbeth forgets to leave the daggers with Duncan’s guards to frame them.
- The murder is discovered and the guards are suspected. Duncan’s sons flee, leaving Macbeth to take the throne.
- Macbeth becomes King, and Banquo suspects Macbeth had a hand in the events.
- Macbeth hires assassins to kill Banquo and his son; the son escapes.
- Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth at a banquet. Macbeth breaks down and the feast ends early.
- Macbeth visits the witches again.
- After Macbeth recounts his deeds, the witches call him “wicked”.
- Prophecies: “Beware Macduff”, “None of woman-born shall harm Macbeth”, and Macbeth will be safe until Birnam Wood appears to move.
- Macbeth sends murderers to kill Macduff’s family.
- Macduff meets Malcolm in England to test their loyalty to Scotland and plan Macbeth’s overthrow.
- Lady Macbeth suffers hallucinations and takes her own life.
- Birnam Wood seems to move as the army advances with branches for camouflage, and battle begins.
- Macbeth fights Macduff and is killed.
Aspects of a Tragedy
- Mimesis – the imitation of real human action, behaviour, or life in a work of drama.
- Magnitude – the idea that a tragic story must have appropriate seriousness, scale, and importance.
- Hamartia – a tragic flaw or error in judgement that leads the hero towards downfall.
- Hubris – excessive pride or arrogance that causes the hero to challenge moral or divine law.
- Peripeteia – the sudden reversal of fortune, when the hero’s situation turns dramatically for the worse.
- Anagnorisis – the moment of recognition or realisation, often when the hero understands their mistake.
- Death (by suicide) – a self-inflicted death, often used in tragedy to show despair or the consequences of the hero’s actions. This is often the result of an anagnorisis: when the tragic hero realises what they have done, they only way they can repay their debt to society is suicide.
- Catharsis – the emotional release felt by the audience as pity and fear are resolved at the end of the tragedy.
- Chorus – a group of performers who comment on the action, provide background, and reflect public opinion.
- Catastrophe (natural chaos) – the disastrous final event of the play, often involving destruction, disorder, or ruin.
- Three Unities (place, plot, time) – classical rules stating that a play should have one setting, one main storyline, and take place within a single day.
Act 1
In Act 1 of Macbeth, we are introduced to the main characters and the setting of the play. The act opens with the three witches, who set a dark and ominous tone. They plan to meet Macbeth after a battle. We then see King Duncan receiving news of Macbeth's bravery in battle, leading to his promotion to Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches, who prophesy that Macbeth will become king and Banquo's descendants will also be kings. This prophecy sparks Macbeth's ambition and sets the stage for the unfolding drama.
| Quote | Significance | Themes |
|---|---|---|
| "Fair is foul and foul is fair" (p1) | This introduces the idea of inverted morality, where appearances can be deceiving and the natural order (great chain of being) is disrupted. | Appearance vs Reality; Supernatural; Moral Inversion; Disorder; Equivocation |
| "All's too weak for brave Macbeth [...] smok'd with bloody execution" (p2) | Macbeth is ruthless, determined, and driven. These are great qualities in battle, but end up coming back to bite him later. | Violence; Ambition; Masculinity; Heroism vs Brutality |
| "What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won." (p4) | As if victory and defeat are equal - foreshadows Macbeth's downfall. | Irony; Power; Fate; Rise and Fall; Foreshadowing |
| “All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor. All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter. [...] To be king stands now within the prospect of belief, no more than Cawdor.” (p7) | This prophecy sparks Macbeth's ambition and sets the stage for the unfolding drama. Macbeth admits that he will believe the witches if being Thane of Cawdor turns out to be true - which it does. | Ambition; Temptation; Fate vs Free Will; Prophecy; Supernatural |
| “The instruments of darkness tell us truths; win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence.” (p9) | Banquo noticed that Macbeth cannot pretend the witches are not evil, and that they will betray him after gaining his trust. | Supernatural; Deception; Appearance vs Reality; Moral Caution; Equivocation |
| “Against the use of nature? [...] My thought, whose murder is yet but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man.” (p9) | Macbeth realises that he can kill the king, however he knows this goes against nature and shakes his entire moral compass. | Conscience; Moral Conflict; Natural Order; Ambition; Thought vs Action |
| “The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap [...] Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires.” (p13) | Macbeth acknowledges that Malcolm, the Prince of Cumberland, is an obstacle to his ambition to become king. "O'erleap" suggests he does not want to assume Malcolm's position - next heir to the throne - instead, he wants to seize it. Macbeth is starting to make this a self-fulfilling prophecy and "Hide your fires" is Macbeth extinguishing his own nobleness. | Ambition; Appearance vs Reality; Darkness/Light; Divine Order; Regicide (Foreshadowing) |
| “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty.” (p15) | Satanic anger; wanting to be inhuman and instead the embodiment of cruelty itself. | Gender; Ambition; Supernatural; Dehumanisation; Hubris |
| "Bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague the inventor." | Revenant: haunted by the past; what's to stop someone from killing Macbeth? | Consequences; Justice/Retaliation; Guilt; Violence begets violence |
| "When you durst do it, then you are a man." (p20) | Lady Macbeth is manipulating Macbeth's sense of masculinity to persuade him to commit regicide. Doing this is what makes you human. | Masculinity; Manipulation; Gender Roles; Power Dynamics; Ambition |
hide your goddamn fires
heres a load of ways you can use this because i swear this quote is amazing:
- Macbeth is hiding from God
- Macbeth does not want others to find out about his intents and is worried about this
- Macbeth is extinguishing his own nobleness
- Macbeth is trying to psych himself up for regicide
- Macbeth is struggling with his conscience
- Macbeth is aware of the moral darkness he is about to embrace
- Macbeth knows he is about to do something evil and cannot justify it in any other way
- Macbeth is hiding from light - this is a recurring motif
- Macbeth is aligning himself with darkness, representing the devil and hell
- Macbeth wants to block out his own “inner light” – his reason and morality – so he can commit the crime without hesitation.
- He is trying to silence Heaven’s judgement, rejecting divine oversight so that “the eye” of God cannot witness his sin.
- The line reinforces the theme of appearance vs reality: outwardly loyal, inwardly plotting treason in total secrecy.
- It foreshadows Macbeth’s mental darkness later in the play – insomnia, visions, and paranoia after smothering his conscience.
- Macbeth is attempting to control the narrative of events; if no one “sees,” then no one can challenge his rise to power.
- The rejection of light symbolically cuts him off from spiritual salvation, suggesting that this choice damns his soul.
- It reflects Jacobean fears about regicide: to kill the king is to oppose God’s order (the great chain of being again), so Macbeth must hide from cosmic/godly as well as human law.
- The imperative “hide” shows he knows the deed is wrong; the very need for darkness proves he understands the full moral weight of his plan.
Act 2
Macbeth struggles with his conscience before murdering King Duncan, ultimately committing the act. Afterward, he and Lady Macbeth attempt to cover up their crime, but guilt begins to consume them, leading to paranoia and fear.
| Quote | Significance | Themes |
|---|---|---|
| “The moon is down [...] Their candles are all out [...] Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature gives way to in repose.” (p23) | The world is unprotected from heaven and Banquo is having nightmares (dramatic irony). | Darkness/Light; Supernatural; Disorder; Fear; Conscience |
| “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?” (p24) | Macbeth is hallucinating, showing his guilt and mental instability. He is going a bit crazy before he even kills the king, foreshadowing his state to come, and is questioning whether killing the king is just something he wants to do in the heat of the moment and will regret (spoiler: it is). | Guilt; Hallucination; Mental Disintegration; Fate vs Free Will; Appearance vs Reality |
| “I could not say ‘Amen’ when they did say ‘God bless us’. [...] But wherefore could I not pronounce ‘Amen’ [...] Stuck in my throat.” (p27) | Macbeth has been entirely cut off from God. | Damnation; Divine Order; Guilt; Isolation from Grace |
| “You do unbend your noble strength to think so brain-sickly of things. Go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand.” (p28) | Lady Macbeth says that Macbeth must be losing his noble strength; if he’s killed people before, what’s the problem now? | Masculinity; Control vs Panic; Power Dynamics; Pragmatism vs Guilt |
| “Macbeth shall sleep no more. [...] I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again, I dare not.” (p28) | Sleep is "chief nourisher" - Macbeth is going insane and cannot bear to think about what he has done. | Sleep Motif; Guilt; Consequences; Psychological Collapse |
| “To know my deed, ‘twere best not know my self. [...] Wake Duncan with thy knocking: I would thou couldst” | Macbeth already regrets killing Duncan and comments on the Porter's knocking. Macbeth thinks it would be best to forget who he even is after committing such a heinous act. | Identity; Guilt; Regret; Irreversibility |
| "Here’s a knocking indeed: if a man were porter of hell gate [...] O, come in, equivocator. [...] Anon, anon. I pray you, remember the porter." (p30/31) | The castle is hell, ruled by the devil, and the porter is an equivocator deciding whether someone enters heaven or hell. Each day, one of us may be standing before the gates of hell. | Hell Imagery; Equivocation; Moral Judgement; Comic vs Horror; Disorder |
| “The night has been unruly: where we lay, our chimneys were blown down, and, as they say, lamentings heard i’th’air, strange screams of death and prophesying [...] new hatch'd to th’woeful time.” (p32) | It’s like we’re entering a woeful new age; the great chain of being has been disrupted and this is causing chaos all throughout the natural world. | Disorder/Chaos; Great Chain of Being; Omens; Pathetic Fallacy |
| “O, yet I do repent me of my fury that I did kill them” “Wherefore did you so?” “Who can be wise, amaz’d temp’rate, and furious, loyal and neutral, in a moment.” (p35) | Macbeth - I just killed the guards before they can defend themselves Macduff - Why destroy the evidence? Macbeth - Who can be neutral and loyal in such a moment? This shows his reaction to be disproportionate and worried, which is incriminating for him. | Consequences; Justice/Retaliation; Guilt; Violence begets violence |
| “Thou seest the heavens, as troubled with man’s act, threatens his bloody stage. By th’clock ‘tis day and yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp” [...] “Duncan’s horses turned wild. Tis said, they eat each other.” | Eclipse - Pathetic Fallacy. There is chaos in the natural world because the great chain of being has been broken. Duncan's horses were only loyal to the true king - Duncan - and are completely confused and misguided without him, leading them to eat each other. This breaks the great chain of being, showing the natural world's dependence on it. | Cosmic Disorder; Great Chain of Being; Nature in Revolt; Legitimacy of Kingship; Pathetic Fallacy |
Act 3
In Act 3 of Macbeth, Macbeth, now king, becomes increasingly paranoid about maintaining his power. He fears Banquo and his descendants, as prophesied by the witches. To secure his throne, Macbeth hires assassins to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. The act explores themes of ambition, guilt, and the consequences of unchecked power.
| Quote | Significance | Themes |
|---|---|---|
| "To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo stick deep. [...] a fruitless crown" (p40) | Macbeth feels insecure as king and fears Banquo, whose descendants were prophesied to be kings. This shows Macbeth's paranoia and ambition. As the prophecies - Macbeth will be king, but Banquo's children will be kings - come true, Macbeth realises his crown is "fruitless" without an heir. | Paranoia; Security vs Power; Ambition; Futility; Succession/Heir |
| "Tis safer to be that with we destroy than by destruction in doubtful joy." "We have scorch'd the snake, not kill'd it" (p46) | Macbeth always have enemies - he can never be a legitimate king and therefore has no position power. It is never easy to be him; he has got what he wanted but is not happy. Lady Macbeth comments that it is safer to be killed than in their current position - highlighting their power instability and fear. | Insecurity; Ongoing Violence; Paranoia; Power Instability; Fear |
| "Make our faces vizards to our hearts, disguising what they are." [...] "You must leave this." [...] "Cancel and tear to pieces the great bond that keeps me pale" | Macbeth and Lady Macbeth discuss hiding their true intentions and emotions behind a false appearance. This highlights themes of deception and duplicity, and links back to "false face must hide what the false heart doth know." Lady Macbeth's reply highlights the reversing power dynamic in their relationship, and Macbeth is now the one asking to "cancel and tear the pieces of the great bond that keeps me pale" - equivalent to LM's "unsex me here". | Deception; Appearance vs Reality; Manipulation; Trust |
| "A light, a light!" [...] "Who did strike out the light?" (p49) | The (second) murderer's remarks that he sees "light" when Banquo is approaching highlights Banquo's symbolic association with light, often representing knowledge, purity, or goodness, contrasting with Macbeth's darkness and evil. He did not trust the witches and their prophecies and is still aligned with God - and Macbeth is using his pact with the Devil to extinquish the light. | Light vs Darkness; Good vs Evil; Trust; Supernatural |
| "Were the grac'd person of our Banquo present [...] never shake thy gory locks at me!" (p52) | The first quote foreshadows the situation with Banquo's ghost and shows how Macbeth is hiding what he did and being deceitful. The second quote expresses Macbeth's guilt and fear when he sees Banquo's ghost, which only he can see, highlighting his psychological torment and the consequences of his actions. | Guilt; Hallucination; Deception; Psychological Collapse; Consequences |
| "The time has been that when the brains were out the man would die, and there an end. But now they rise again with twenty mortal murders on their crowns and push us from our stools." (p54) | "It used to be that you could kill someone and that's it - but now the spirits rise against me. I am not safe, even from dead men." | Fear; Supernatural; Consequences; Security |
| "I am in blood stepp'd in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er [...] we are but young in deed." (p57) | Macbeth is too deep in murder - in his evil actions - to back out (sunk cost fallacy). It's all or nothing and he has to go all in. More needs to be done - he is going mad due to his fears and to resolve them he needs to murder more. | Guilt; Point of No Return; Moral Decay; Violence; Despair; Ambition; Fate vs Free Will |
| "He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear his hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear. And you all know, security is mortals' chiefest enemy." (p58) | Arrogantly ignore fate - Macbeth knows his fate is to die but will charge through with no anagnorisis. Hecarte is telling witches to attack when people feel secure - linking to hubris and hamartia. | Deceit; Hubris; Fate vs Free Will |
| "That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep? Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisley too, for 'twould have anger'd any heart alive to hear the men deny't." (p59) | Mocking Macbeth by mimicking his words. Lennox's heavy sarcasm shows how unbelievable Macbeth’s excuses are, revealing that the nobles quietly suspect him of killing Duncan and Banquo. His speech suggests Macbeth’s propaganda is failing and that political resistance is beginning to form against his tyranny. | Irony/Sarcasm; Appearance vs Reality; Tyranny vs Kingship; Doubt/Suspicion; Political Tension; Reputation/Propaganda |
| "Pious Edward [...] Thither Macduff is gone to pray the holy king upon his aid to wake Northumberladn and warlike Siward [...] Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights, free from our feasts and banquet's bloody knives." (p59) | Beg King Edward to start a war over the divine right of Kings, as he is very pious and a symbol of divine authority. Macbeth does not have the divine right to rule Scotland, so they are calling on Edward to help restore the rightful order. They want to stop sleepless nights, not have to live in fear, and enjoy their feasts and banquets without murders. The Great Chain of Being being broken has thrown Scotland into chaos. | Divine Right of Kings; Justice; Legitimacy; Order vs Disorder |
Act 4
In Act 4, Macbeth returns to the witches, who conjure apparitions that warn him to beware Macduff yet reassure him that “none of woman born” shall harm him and that he is safe until Birnam Wood moves. Misreading these prophecies as invincibility, he orders the brutal slaughter of Macduff’s family. Meanwhile in England, Malcolm tests Macduff’s loyalty, and upon learning of the massacre, Macduff vows revenge, setting in motion the final conflict against Macbeth’s tyrannical rule.
| Quote | Significance | Themes |
|---|---|---|
| "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble." (p63) | The witches' chant creates an eerie atmosphere, emphasizing the supernatural elements of the play and foreshadowing the chaos to come. The motif of "double" suggests duplicity and the idea that things are not what they seem. | Supernatural; Chaos; Deception; Appearance vs Reality |
| "Though bladed corn be log'd and trees blow down, though castles topple on their warders' heads, though palaces and pyramids do slope" (p64) | Macbeth's repetition of "though" shows that he does not care about the consequences. He is asking for knowledge that does not belong to him - showing that he is not a tragic hero, but a villain, and is willing to destroy the natural order for personal gain. | Ambition; Hubris; Fate vs Free Will; Disorder; Natural Order |
| "None of woman born shall harm Macbeth." (p65) | This prophecy gives Macbeth a false sense of security, as he interprets it to mean that no human can harm him. However, it is later revealed that Macduff was born via a Caesarean section, thus not "of woman born," and he is who kills Macbeth. | Fate vs Free Will; Deception; Appearance vs Reality; Supernatural |
| "I dare not speak much further, but cruel are the times when we are traitors and do not know ourselves" (p69) | Ross reflects on how they are loyal to the true crown - not Macbeth - as he does not have the divine right to rule. | Loyalty; Justice; Tyranny vs Kingship; Divine Right of Kings |
| "Be not found here [...] to do worse to you were fell cruelty, which is too nigh your person" [...] "to do harm is often laudable" (p71) | The country has gone cruel as God no longer protects it. Harming is praised - links to reverse morality and "fair is foul and foul is fair" | Disorder; Moral Inversion; Justice; Tyranny; Consequences |
| "What, you egg! Young fry of treachery!" (p72) | The Son has done nothing. At the end of an intimate scene of affection between mother and son, he is killed. The affection is in contrast to Lady Macbeth, who lost her son. Lady Macduff shows humanity through familial relationships, whereas Lady Macbeth has lost her humanity. | Innocence; Family; Violence against Children; Tyranny; Humanity vs Cruelty; Disorder |
| "When I shall tread upon the tyrant's head, or wear it on my sword, yet my poor country shall have more vices than it had before, more suffer, and more sundry ways than ever, by him that shall succeed." (p74) "Thy royal father was a most sainted King [...] Thy hope ends here." (p76) | Malcolm pretends that, even after killing Macbeth, Scotland will be worse under his own rule. He is deliberately “blackening” himself to test whether Macduff cares more about the good of Scotland than about simply replacing one ruler with another. This reveals Malcolm’s political caution and sense of responsibility, and shows how desperate and damaged the country has become under tyranny. Macduff responds to this in a way that demonstrates that he cares about Scotland, showing that if Malcolm is going to be a terrible king he has no hope left for Scotland - Malcolm is nothing like Duncan. | Tyranny vs Kingship; Loyalty/Patriotism; Testing/Trust; Appearance vs Reality; Political Legitimacy; Hope vs Despair |
| "How he solicits heaven [...] the mere despair of surgery, he cures [...] speak him full of grace" (p77) | The king of England has a deep connection to God, which allows him to heal others through his touch, symbolising the divine right of kings and the restoration of order. Kings are supposed to be healers; saintly; carers; selfless. | Divine Right of Kings; Healing; Order vs Disorder; Kingship; Religion |
| "Dispute it like a man [...] be this the whetstone of your sword, let grief convert to anger. Blunt not the heart, enrage it." (p80) | This is Malcolm telling Macduff to be a man - but in the opposite way to Lady Macbeth's earlier manipulation of Macbeth's masculinity. Don't bottle up the emotion and let it bring you down - let it all out as anger. | Masculinity; Revenge; Emotion vs Reason; Power Dynamics |
| "The night is long that never finds the day." (p81) | This quote reflects the theme of despair and the longing for justice and order to be restored. It suggests that the current state of darkness (tyranny and chaos) will eventually give way to light (justice and rightful rule). | Hope vs Despair; Order vs Disorder; Time; Justice |
Act 5
In Act 5 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth's mental state deteriorates as she is consumed by guilt, leading to her sleepwalking and eventual sucicide. Meanwhile, Macbeth prepares for battle against the advancing forces of Malcolm and Macduff. The act culminates in Macbeth's confrontation with Macduff, where he learns of Macduff's unconventional birth ("untimely ripped", i.e. born by Caesarean section) and is ultimately killed, restoring order to Scotland.
| Quote | Significance | Themes |
|---|---|---|
| "The heart is sorely charged. [...] What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed.” [...] “More needs she the divine than the physician", p85 | Repeated motif of in too deep and LM has been cut off from God. | Guilt; Damnation; Divine Order; Mental Disintegration; Consequences |
| "Those he commands, move only in command, nothing in love. [...] March we on to give obedience where ‘tis truly owed.", p87 | Macbeth has no position power as he is not the legitimate king and his people are not aligned with his cause. He has coercive power, but is losing it. He does not have the divine right. In comparison, Malcolm's army fights out of love for Scotland and loyalty to the true king. | Loyalty; Kingship vs Tyranny; Divine Right of Kings; Power Dynamics |
| "Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane, I cannot taint with fear.", p88 (context of that the doctor and attendants are present) | Macbeth tells them about the witches because he has control over the doctor and attendants; he cares more about what the witches say than anyone else. He is publicly aligned with the devil, and no longer secret. He knows he is doomed. | Supernatural; Fate vs Free Will; Hubris; Doom; Isolation |
| "This push will cheer me ever or disseat me now", p88 | If Macbeth wins the fight, he is legitimate and completely secure - if he loses, he is doomed. | Fate vs Free Will; Ambition; Power; Consequences |
| "As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies that keep her from her rest. [...] Cleanse the stuff’d bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon the heart? [...] Therein the patient must minister to himself.", p89/90 | Motif of sleep. Erase the past; clear LM of her memory. She is unfixable and Macbeth is asking for himself too. He is haunted by the past. You need to accept what you have done - have an anagnorisis. | Guilt; Mental Disintegration; Consequences; Anagnorisis (well, lack thereof) |
| "She should have died hereafter; there would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted food the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle, life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.", p92/93 | Polysyndetic list: life is repetitive. We're too busy to mount now, I'll have to mourn later - “park my humanity”. Your actions have no significance or meaning - this is trying to convince himself that his life does not matter (as he has lost his partner of greatness; they were in it together, but are no more). In the pursuit of more, he ended up with less because he had the wrong ambitions. Tragic irony - beyond salvation. | Time; Death; Meaninglessness; Guilt; Despair; Life vs Death; Fate vs Free Will |
| "Make all our trumpets speak; give them all breath, those clamorous harbingers of blood and death.", p94 | Only Malcolm doesn’t end on rhyming - this shows that he is closest to God. | Justice; Restoration of Order; Kingship; Divine Right of Kings |
| "Why should I play the Roman fool and die on mine own sword? Whiles I see lives, the gashed do better upon them.", p97 | Fails to have an honourable death - changed from when he was honourable. Will not admit he was plated by the witches. Doubles down on what he’s done, refuses to have an anagnorisis. | Hubris; Fate vs Free Will; Honour; Denial; Consequences |
| "That keep the word of promise to our eat and break it to our hope. I’ll not fight with thee.", p98 | Doesn’t want to fight with Macduff as all three prophecies have come true. Echo of Banquo’s warning - shouldn’t’ve followed the witches. | Fate vs Free Will; Prophecy; Consequences; Irony |
| Fighting, p98 | Cyclical structure of fighting. He lives and dies by the sword. Originally fighting for his country, he is now just fighting for himself. Old testament: “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.” Don’t live by the sword: violent behaviour doesn’t bring peace. | Violence; Consequences; Fate vs Free Will; Cyclical Structure |