"Double, double toil and trouble / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble"
In this famous quotation from the play, the three witches are gathered around their cauldron as they predict Macbeth's future. This scene immediately imbues the play with a dark and sinister mood, while also showcasing how the supernatural will figure into the rest of the plot. The witches' incantation is frequently quoted due to its rhymed couplets and sing-song rhythm.
"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!"
In this famous quotation, Lady Macbeth expresses her desire to become more cruel so as to complete the murder of King Duncan alongside Macbeth. She asks for the spirits to "unsex" her, suggesting that in order to take part in Duncan's murder, she must dispel with femininity altogether. This quotation remains famous because it highlights the play's exploration of gender and power.
"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."
After asking to be stripped of her femininity, Lady Macbeth appears to have gotten her wish as she delivers this disturbing but telling speech. Here, she attempts to prove how cold-hearted she can truly be by admitting that she would have murdered her own child. This quotation also reveals that Lady Macbeth had had a child at some point, despite not having any children in the present. This speech adds depth to Lady Macbeth's character while foreshadowing her formidable behavior for the rest of the play.
"If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well / It were done quickly."
This quotation introduces an extended soliloquy by Macbeth in which he puzzles over whether he should murder Duncan. He speaks here in the conditional tense, which underscores his uncertainty and doubts over the task that lies before him. By the end of the speech, he has all but decided not to go through with the murder, but Lady Macbeth will convince him otherwise.
"Is this a dagger which I see before me, / This handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. / I have thee not, and yet I see thee still."
In this quotation, Macbeth imagines a dagger in front of him that is not really there. This instance marks the first time that Macbeth has a hallucination, suggesting his descent into stress-induced madness. It also reflects the play's overall interest in portraying the supernatural as a formidable force.
"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine."
After Macbeth murders Duncan, he runs into Lady Macbeth and attempts to clean his hands of Duncan's blood. Here, he expresses his anxiety that the blood will not come off, using a metaphor for the guilt he feels over what he has done. Macbeth is crippled by shame and does not foresee any relief.
"To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus."
These are the words that Macbeth speaks after he has become king. Here, he devalues the simple act of becoming king (especially given the action he had to take to get there), and emphasizes that it is only a meaningful title if he can maintain it. Macbeth thus expresses anxiety and paranoia that he is unsafe in the position, which ultimately leads to his decisions to have more potential inheritors murdered.
"For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind / For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered."
Here, Macbeth expresses his worry that the murder of Duncan was not worth the guilt he feels, as the witches have prophesied that it is Banquo's sons who will eventually take over the throne. This quotation emphasizes Macbeth's desperate state that eventually predicts his downfall. It also highlights the play's interest in patrilineal succession, as Macbeth has no heirs, like Banquo, to continue his line after his death.
"Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold / Thou hast no speculation in those eyes."
When Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost, he attempts to convince himself that Banquo is not really there. In doing so, he admits that he is descending into madness with yet another hallucinatory experience. This quotation also underscores the guilt Macbeth feels over having called for the murder of Banquo and his sons.
"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."
These are the final lines that Lady Macbeth speaks in the play. Her nervous cadence and erratic repetition suggest her own descent into a mad state, as she can no longer think clearly or logically. Instead, she retreats "to bed," suggesting that she has lost the strength and fervor she carried in earlier acts of the play.
