20 Important Lady Macbeth Quotes With Meanings
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Lady Macbeth's character epitomizes the theme of gender and power roles.
Lady Macbeth is a daunting character sketched by Shakespeare shows the ambition of a woman to acquire power. In the story, her husband implied that she has a masculine soul inhabiting a female body, which connotes masculinity to ambition and violence in this drama.
The story revolves around the prophecies of the three witches Macbeth encountered after his first victorious combat. Macbeth plots to kill Duncan with the help of Lady Macbeth and thus the bloodthirsty feud begins for power. Lady Macbeth has been depicted as a woman with an ambitious soul, a character strong and bold as well as evil.
The genius of Shakespeare created Lady Macbeth, a female character who had agency in the play and who had the power to even deceive her husband and manipulate him to kill King Duncan. Shakespeare has made this character iconic through her powerful and very famous Lady Macbeth quote.
You could also check out quotes from Macbeth, Lady Macbeth ambition quotes, and famous Lady Macbeth Quotes.
If you happen to be a fan of Shakespeare drama you may also go through 'Twelfth Night' quotes and King Lear quotes.
Macbeth Quotes For The Intelligent Souls
Lady Macbeth's quote covers the themes of madness, dreams, repentance, and prayers. Have a thrilling experience through these famous quotes.
1. “That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold,
What hath quenched them hath given me fire.”
-Lady Macbeth, Act Two, Scene Two.
2. “Tis the eye of childhood, That fears a painted devil.”
-Lady Macbeth, Act Two, Scene Two.
3. “Come you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here.”
-Lady Macbeth, Act One, Scene Five.
4. “Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry, ‘Hold, hold!’”
-Lady Macbeth, Act One, Scene Five.
5. “Look like th’innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t”
-Lady Macbeth, Act One, Scene Six.
6. “Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness.”
-Lady Macbeth, Act One, Scene Five.
7. “Yet who would have the thought the old man to have so much blood in him?”
-Lady Macbeth, Act Five, Scene One.
Lady Macbeth Manipulative Quotes
Macbeth is replete with mighty lines that are often used as idioms and excerpts in general conversations. In our collection of quotes from Lady Macbeth, you will find the famous quote, "Shall sun that morrow" where she prepares Macbeth for the murder. Amuse yourself with some very dark and witty lines, from Lady Macbeth quotes.
8. “O, never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue. Look like th’ innocent flower,
But be the serpent under ‘t.
-Lady Macbeth, Act One, Scene Five.
9. “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.”
– Lady Macbeth, Act Four, Scene One.
10. “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. “
– Lady Macbeth, Act Five, Scene One.
11. “Things without all remedy should be without regard: what’s done, is done.”
– Lady Macbeth, Act Three, Scene Two.
12. "My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white."
-Lady Macbeth, Act Two, Scene Two.
13. "Thou wouldst be great
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it."
-Lady Macbeth, Act One, Scene Five.
14. "To bed, to bed. There’s knocking at the gate. Come,
come, come, come, give me your hand. What’s done
cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed. "
-Lady Macbeth, Act Five, Scene One.
Lady Macbeth Quotes On Guilt And Power
As the play runs Lady Macbeth after receiving her husband Macbeth's letter about the three witches and their prophecies, was thrilled by the prospect of becoming a queen. She immediately acted upon by calling the "spirits" to "unsex" her and turn her "womanly" attributes into masculine ones, so that she might be "cruel" enough to kill King Duncan herself.
Relish these lines from Lady Macbeth quotes act 1, a woman who swayed from power to guilt.
14. "I have given suck, and know
How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me
I would, while it was smiling in my face
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums
And dashed the brains out."
-Act One, Scene Seven.
15. "All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crowned withal."
-Lady Macbeth Monologue, Act One, Scene Five.
16. "The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. "
-Act One, Scene Five.
17. "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. "
-Act One, Scene Five.
Lady Macbeth Power Quotes
The evil genius Lady Macbeth often emasculated her husband as a means of manipulation. She started to despise all things feminine and termed femininity as a sign of weakness.
However, after the death of King Duncan, her sanity declines, she starts sleepwalking and hallucinating which leads her to take her own life.
Macbeth is a play where you see love, fear, murder, and yet it is so much more than that.
Shakespeare's one of the best works on tragedy is Macbeth, here are few lines that resonate such as Lady Macbeth quotes about killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth sleepwalking quotes, Lady Macbeth masculinity quotes, Lady Macbeth blood quotes, and Lady Macbeth quotes about guilt.
18. "But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we’ll not fail."
-Act One, Scene Seven.
19. "You murd’ring ministers,
Whatever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature’s mischief."
-Act One, Scene Five.
20. "What cannot you and I perform upon
The unguarded Duncan? What not put upon
His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt
Of our great quell?"
-Act One, Scene Seven.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for lady macbeth quotes then why not take a look at The Tempest quotes or 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' quotes.
Main image credit: Nigel Jarvis / Shutterstock.com
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