Macbeth: Key Quotes and Analysis for GCSE Literature
QUESTIONS WITH WELL VERIFIED ANSWERS
Witches - answer☑️✔️..[Thunder and lightning] When shall we three meet again In thunder,
lightning, or in rain? (Act 1 scene 1)
Weather disturbance - answer☑️✔️..Reflects evil and disruptive nature of witches which
creates a sense of doom.
Hurly-burly - answer☑️✔️..Strange language also heightens eeriness.
Fair is foul, and foul is fair - answer☑️✔️..Hover through the fog and filthy air. (1.1)
Trochaic tetrameter - answer☑️✔️..Used to heighten spooky and mysterious atmosphere and
further establishes supernatural theme.
Juxtaposition phrase - answer☑️✔️..'Fair is foul and foul is fair' alludes to how the witches
violate the natural order.
Double, Double, toil and trouble - answer☑️✔️..Fire burn and cauldron bubble (4.1)
Choral chants - answer☑️✔️..Reassert the horror of the witches through trochaic tetrameter
and rhyming couplets.
By the pricking of my thumb - answer☑️✔️..Something wicked this way comes.
Invisible connection - answer☑️✔️..Suggests that Macbeth and the witches have a strong hold
of evil on him.
,Dehumanization - answer☑️✔️..The use of the pronoun 'something' portrays Macbeth as
subhuman by the witches.
Macbeth's first line - answer☑️✔️..'So foul and fair a day I have not seen.' (1.3)
Parallel between Macbeth and witches - answer☑️✔️..Creates a connection that conveys
Macbeth's supernatural link with them.
Tell me more - answer☑️✔️..The use of the imperative 'tell' implies Macbeth's hidden desires
to become king.
This supernatural soliciting - answer☑️✔️..Cannot be ill, cannot be good (1.3).
Lawyerly arguments - answer☑️✔️..Shows how Macbeth tries to justify what is clearly a bad
idea.
Whose horrid image - answer☑️✔️..Doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my
ribs.
Against the use of nature - answer☑️✔️..Links to the Jacobean belief that regicide is an act
against natural order.
Shakes so my single state of man - answer☑️✔️..Function is smothered in surmise, and
nothing is but what is not (1.3).
Ambition growing - answer☑️✔️..The objectifying of the Prince of Cumberland as an obstacle
shows Macbeth's dehumanization.
, Stars, hide your fires - answer☑️✔️..Let not light see my black and deep desires (1.4).
Perverts Duncan's comparison - answer☑️✔️..Of nobility to stars, modifying the laudatory
language.
Burned in desire - answer☑️✔️..'Rapt in the wonder of it' (1.5).
Powerful verb 'burned' - answer☑️✔️..Hints at Macbeth's determination and eagerness for
power.
My dearest partner of greatness - answer☑️✔️..'Dearest' demonstrates how caring Macbeth is
towards his wife.
Noun 'greatness' - answer☑️✔️..Showcases how Macbeth upholds his wife to high standards.
Ingredience of our poison'd chalice - answer☑️✔️..Metaphor for their murderous schemes
which forms the 'poison' representing the evil caused by Macbeth's actions.
Chalice - answer☑️✔️..Metaphor for power and the crown, foreshadowing the bloodthirsty
reign leading to Macbeth's death.
Warning to Jacobean audience - answer☑️✔️..Stresses the importance of the divine right of
kings and the consequences of rebellion.
Ecclesiastical imagery - answer☑️✔️..Use of 'chalice' as a vessel for drinking blessed wine,
highlighting the sacredness of the object.
QUESTIONS WITH WELL VERIFIED ANSWERS
Witches - answer☑️✔️..[Thunder and lightning] When shall we three meet again In thunder,
lightning, or in rain? (Act 1 scene 1)
Weather disturbance - answer☑️✔️..Reflects evil and disruptive nature of witches which
creates a sense of doom.
Hurly-burly - answer☑️✔️..Strange language also heightens eeriness.
Fair is foul, and foul is fair - answer☑️✔️..Hover through the fog and filthy air. (1.1)
Trochaic tetrameter - answer☑️✔️..Used to heighten spooky and mysterious atmosphere and
further establishes supernatural theme.
Juxtaposition phrase - answer☑️✔️..'Fair is foul and foul is fair' alludes to how the witches
violate the natural order.
Double, Double, toil and trouble - answer☑️✔️..Fire burn and cauldron bubble (4.1)
Choral chants - answer☑️✔️..Reassert the horror of the witches through trochaic tetrameter
and rhyming couplets.
By the pricking of my thumb - answer☑️✔️..Something wicked this way comes.
Invisible connection - answer☑️✔️..Suggests that Macbeth and the witches have a strong hold
of evil on him.
,Dehumanization - answer☑️✔️..The use of the pronoun 'something' portrays Macbeth as
subhuman by the witches.
Macbeth's first line - answer☑️✔️..'So foul and fair a day I have not seen.' (1.3)
Parallel between Macbeth and witches - answer☑️✔️..Creates a connection that conveys
Macbeth's supernatural link with them.
Tell me more - answer☑️✔️..The use of the imperative 'tell' implies Macbeth's hidden desires
to become king.
This supernatural soliciting - answer☑️✔️..Cannot be ill, cannot be good (1.3).
Lawyerly arguments - answer☑️✔️..Shows how Macbeth tries to justify what is clearly a bad
idea.
Whose horrid image - answer☑️✔️..Doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my
ribs.
Against the use of nature - answer☑️✔️..Links to the Jacobean belief that regicide is an act
against natural order.
Shakes so my single state of man - answer☑️✔️..Function is smothered in surmise, and
nothing is but what is not (1.3).
Ambition growing - answer☑️✔️..The objectifying of the Prince of Cumberland as an obstacle
shows Macbeth's dehumanization.
, Stars, hide your fires - answer☑️✔️..Let not light see my black and deep desires (1.4).
Perverts Duncan's comparison - answer☑️✔️..Of nobility to stars, modifying the laudatory
language.
Burned in desire - answer☑️✔️..'Rapt in the wonder of it' (1.5).
Powerful verb 'burned' - answer☑️✔️..Hints at Macbeth's determination and eagerness for
power.
My dearest partner of greatness - answer☑️✔️..'Dearest' demonstrates how caring Macbeth is
towards his wife.
Noun 'greatness' - answer☑️✔️..Showcases how Macbeth upholds his wife to high standards.
Ingredience of our poison'd chalice - answer☑️✔️..Metaphor for their murderous schemes
which forms the 'poison' representing the evil caused by Macbeth's actions.
Chalice - answer☑️✔️..Metaphor for power and the crown, foreshadowing the bloodthirsty
reign leading to Macbeth's death.
Warning to Jacobean audience - answer☑️✔️..Stresses the importance of the divine right of
kings and the consequences of rebellion.
Ecclesiastical imagery - answer☑️✔️..Use of 'chalice' as a vessel for drinking blessed wine,
highlighting the sacredness of the object.
