Macbeth (OCR GCSE English Literature): Revision Notes

Macbeth: Key Quotations

Below is a list of all of the quotations we have covered organised by character and theme:

Ambition

1. Macbeth: "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand?"
2. Macbeth: "I am in blood stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er."
3. Lady Macbeth: "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty."

Fate vs. Free Will

1. Macbeth: "If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then to me."
2. Macbeth: "I defy you, stars!"
3. Banquo: "May they not be my oracles as well, and set me up in hope?"

Guilt and Conscience

1. Macbeth: "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand?"
2. Lady Macbeth: "Out, damned spot! out, I say!"
3. Macbeth: "I am in blood stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er."

The Supernatural

1. Macbeth: "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand?"
2. Banquo: "What are these, so wither'd and so wild in their attire, that look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, and yet are on't?"
3. Macbeth: "I have thee not, and yet I see thee still."