Macbeth- Important Quotes Analysed
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Macbeth- Quotes
Macbeth
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me”
No sooner do three witches proclaim Macbeth future king of Scotland than Macbeth starts thinking up bloody business. While his ambition gets ahead of his conscience, Macbeth is still frightened by his own "imaginings" of murdering the present king, Duncan (who's a relative, no less). The murder is as yet merely a fantasy ("fantastical"), but the fantasy is powerful enough to "smother" Macbeth's "function"—his normal grip on reality. For Macbeth, "nothing is/ But what is not": nothing is real to him but what is imaginary.
Macbeth's weak defence against his imagination is the hope that if destiny ("chance") will have him to be king, then destiny will do the dirty work, and he won't have to lift a finger. Chance may crown him without his stirring in his own service. But notice the subjunctive mood of "may": chance may take care of the business, but then again, Macbeth may still have to do it himself.
“I have no spur, To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, And falls on th'other. . . .”
Macbeth, trying to rationalize his impending murder of King Duncan, continues his great "If it were done" soliloquy. Unfortunately, as Macbeth has just explained to himself, there's no real justification for the crime—Duncan is his relative, a meek and pious man, a good king, and, furthermore, a guest at his castle. All this argues against so bloody a deed, which will appear unjustifiable to mortal and divine eyes alike.
Therefore, Macbeth has no "spur" to prick on his intent,—no motivation to inspire the murder. Continuing the horse metaphor, he can only draw on "vaulting ambition": an intense desire for power. His desire vaults even beyond its intrinsic limits ("o'erleaps itself") to land on "th'other" (the other side)—probably, to land somewhere unknown and beyond reason.
“If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly. If th'...
Macbeth
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me”
No sooner do three witches proclaim Macbeth future king of Scotland than Macbeth starts thinking up bloody business. While his ambition gets ahead of his conscience, Macbeth is still frightened by his own "imaginings" of murdering the present king, Duncan (who's a relative, no less). The murder is as yet merely a fantasy ("fantastical"), but the fantasy is powerful enough to "smother" Macbeth's "function"—his normal grip on reality. For Macbeth, "nothing is/ But what is not": nothing is real to him but what is imaginary.
Macbeth's weak defence against his imagination is the hope that if destiny ("chance") will have him to be king, then destiny will do the dirty work, and he won't have to lift a finger. Chance may crown him without his stirring in his own service. But notice the subjunctive mood of "may": chance may take care of the business, but then again, Macbeth may still have to do it himself.
“I have no spur, To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, And falls on th'other. . . .”
Macbeth, trying to rationalize his impending murder of King Duncan, continues his great "If it were done" soliloquy. Unfortunately, as Macbeth has just explained to himself, there's no real justification for the crime—Duncan is his relative, a meek and pious man, a good king, and, furthermore, a guest at his castle. All this argues against so bloody a deed, which will appear unjustifiable to mortal and divine eyes alike.
Therefore, Macbeth has no "spur" to prick on his intent,—no motivation to inspire the murder. Continuing the horse metaphor, he can only draw on "vaulting ambition": an intense desire for power. His desire vaults even beyond its intrinsic limits ("o'erleaps itself") to land on "th'other" (the other side)—probably, to land somewhere unknown and beyond reason.
“If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly. If th'...