Macbeth Supernatural Quotes

When the hurly-burly’s done, When the battle’s lost and won.

FIRST WITCH: When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
SECOND WITCH: When the hurly-burly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 1. The Witches meet at the beginning of the play to discuss their future meeting with Macbeth. Here Shakespeare uses the motif of weather to foreshadow future events. The thunder and lightning suggest that there will an upset in the order when they meet with Macbeth. The “hurly-burly” is also suggestive of revolt and chaos that Scotland will soon face.
Fair is foul, and foul is fair

Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 1. This couplet is chanted by the three Witches when they get together during a storm to talk about their future meeting with Macbeth. The incantation “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” is synonymous with the Macbeth drama. It sets the scene and tone for everything that follows in the play. It means that appearances can be deceiving and it foreshadows what will happen in the course of the play. What seems good will be evil, and what appears evil will be good. The words “fair” and “foul” are each a metaphor for the other. The “fog and filthy air” bad weather that accompanies the Witches suggests the moral uncertainty in Scotland and how characters are unable to distinguish between what is “fair” and “foul.”

Though his bark cannot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest-toss’d.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. The witch plotting revenge on a sailor knows that she cannot destroy his ship, but she can call up storms to disrupt his voyage. This shows that while the Witches can use their powers to influence events, they are not all-powerful and cannot completely control a person’s fate. Foreshadowed here is how the Witches will influence Macbeth through their prophecies, but cannot force him to act. Macbeth by exercising his free will and through his own actions will end up dooming himself.
Witches prophecy to Banquo

FIRST WITCH: Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
SECOND WITCH: Not so happy, yet much happier.
THIRD WITCH: Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. When Banquo asks the Witches to tell him his future, they make cryptic prophecies. The final one predicts that his descendants will be kings, but he will not. In saying how he will be lesser and greater than Macbeth, this may be suggesting that he won’t rise to the rank of Macbeth, but will enjoy greater honor and reputation. The Witches’ statement about Banquo being not as happy but happier than Macbeth is equally ambiguous. But it too can be explained by Banquo suffering a violent death yet not going through the mental torment of Macbeth before dying. There is a great deal of subtle foreshadowing here.

Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:
By Sinel’s death I know I am thane of Glamis;
But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. After hearing the Witches’ prophecies that he will be thane of Cawdor and later king, Macbeth orders them to stay. The Witches have sparked his curiosity and he wants to know more. This reflects the theme of Macbeth’s hunger for power. We also have dramatic irony, since the audience is already aware that King Duncan ordered the execution of the thane of Cawdor for treachery and bestowed the title on Macbeth.

Say, from whence
You owe this strange intelligence? or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. The theme of appearance vs reality, or things not being what they seem, is found in this passage. A questioning and frustrated Macbeth demands to know where the Witches got their information that he will be Thane of Cawdor and more importantly King of Scotland. He doesn’t understand how he can be Thane of Cawdor when the person in that position is still alive. Macbeth’s use of the aggressive adjective “blasted” shows how more interested he is the Witches’ predictions than his friend Banquo who has an entirely indifferent reaction. The Witches vanish just as Macbeth speaks these words.
have we eaten on the insane root That takes the reason prisoner - Banquo to Macbeth

Or have we eaten on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner?

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. When the Witches appear amid claps of thunder to make their prophecies and then suddenly vanish, Banquo questions his sanity. He wonders if he and Macbeth have ingested the root of a poisonous plant that brought on madness. This could be a reference to hemlock or henbane, plants that can induce a state of madness. In this passage Shakespeare personifies the word “root” by giving it human characteristics. Foreshadowed here are Macbeth’s later hallucinations about a dagger, Banquo’s ghost and apparitions while visiting the Witches.

And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray ‘s
In deepest consequence.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. Banquo shows himself to be much more cautious than Macbeth in reacting to the Witches’ prophecies. He calls attention to the danger of acting on the predictions of the evil “instruments of darkness,” as he metaphorically describes the Witches. They may be telling a little truth in order to gain their confidence, so that they can deceive and betray them into causing harm, he warns. This is foreshadowing of Macbeth’s fatal decision to kill King Duncan. This passage raises the question: do the Witches control people’s fate, or do people have free will to decide their own fate, regardless of what the Witches prophesy.

Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown’d withal.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5. In her soliloquy Lady Macbeth bids her husband to hurry home so that she can set in motion her plan to spur him to usurp the crown. She uses the metaphor “pour my spirits in thine ear” to describe how she will whisper words of evil and transfer her spirit into Macbeth, as if to possess him. She will use the courage of her woman’s tongue to rid him of everything that holds him back from the crown. Here we are seeing Lady Macbeth aligned with the Witches as the Fourth Witch. In a nod to the weird sisters she says that Macbeth has already been crowned by “metaphysical aid” and “fate.” Now that she views herself as future queen, she will stop at nothing to achieve her goal.

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; make thick my blood,
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5. This soliloquy spoken by Lady Macbeth after reading her husband’s letter is one of the most famous quotes in the play. The passage is an elaborate extended metaphor. Lady Macbeth appeals to the evil spirits from hell to fill her with cruelty and to metaphorically thicken her blood. She wants to block the flow of natural feelings of conscience and remorse, so that she can carry out the unthinkable deed of murdering the king. Calling on the spirits to strip her of her femininity and compassion, she desires to be transformed into the stereotypical ruthless male. Her ambition for power has set her on a course for evil.
take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers - lady macbeth

Come to my woman’s breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5. Lady Macbeth’s words touch on the theme of femininity and masculinity. She pleads with the evil spirits to take away her nurturing nature. She believes that womanhood hampers her from acts of violence and cruelty. Attempting to summon up the courage to kill King Duncan, she begs the spirits to metaphorically turn the milk inside her breasts into something poisonous. She wants nothing to stand in the way of her husband being king.

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!”

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5. There are many examples of light and darkness symbolism in Macbeth, this passage being one of them. Lady Macbeth calls on the night to cover up the sight of the knife when she carries out the murder of Duncan. The metaphor of a blanket is used to signify the dark. Personification is also employed – “knife see” and “heaven peep.” In her terrifying soliloquy the ambitious Lady Macbeth shows herself to be more ruthless than her husband. Her evil and her link to the Witches is emphasized by her reference to “hell.” Her ambition and desire to be queen know no bounds.

Great Glamis! worthy Cawdor!
Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter!

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5. Lady Macbeth’s first words to Macbeth on his return from bloody battle are not, as one might expect from a wife, words of endearment. Instead they are how the Witches addressed him. Lady Macbeth greets her husband by his titles. She is less interested in the fact that he has returned home safely and more in her own quest for power through his advancement. The link between Lady Macbeth and the Witches illustrates the theme of the supernatural in this passage.

There’s husbandry in heaven;
Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose!

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 1. An uneasy Banquo observes that the lights of heaven are shut off, foreboding the horrible crime that is about to happen. He uses the metaphor of “candles” for the stars. He also uses a simile to compare sleep to a heavy lead summonsing him, a sleep that eludes him because of “cursed thoughts.” He asks the powerful supernatural spirits to curb these thoughts. He doesn’t reveal what these thoughts are, but they are likely connected with the Witches’ prophecies. Banquo seems suspicious that something bad is about to happen. The passage foreshadows Duncan’s murder.

Witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate’s offerings, and wither’d murder.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 1. This quote from Macbeth’s soliloquy shows how much a once well-regarded warrior with a moral conscience has been corrupted by the malevolent influence of the Witches. Aligning himself with the supernatural, he believes that the murder of Duncan is like an offering to Hecate. Hecate is the ancient Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft, the moon and the night. Witches were said to have gathered in the woods at night to offer sacrifices to Hecate.

It was the owl that shriek’d, the fatal bellman,
Which gives the stern’st good-night.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2. Lady Macbeth hears an owl shriek at the time her husband is meant to be murdering Duncan. In a metaphor she compares the owl to a bellman or town crier. The “fatal bellman” was the night watchman who rang a bell at the door of a condemned prisoner to summon him for execution. According to medieval folklore, the owl’s screech foretold the death of a person. This passage is foreshadowing of Duncan’s death. It is also an example of the use of supernatural animal imagery to signal a disruption in the natural order of things.

Here’s a knocking, indeed! If a man were porter of hell-gate he should have old turning the key. Knock, knock, knock! Who’s there, i’ the name of Beelzebub? Here’s a farmer that hanged himself on the expectation of plenty.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 3. In what is popularly known as the Porter Scene, the drunken Porter answers a knocking at the gate of Macbeth’s castle, playing the role of a porter at the gates of hell. In his soliloquy he tells a knock knock joke about a farmer who hanged himself. The light-hearted interlude is meant to break the tension after the violent happenings at the castle. There is dramatic irony in the Porter’s words, because what he doesn’t know is that he is actually at the gates of hell after Macbeth’s murder of King Duncan at the castle.

The night has been unruly: where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i’ the air; strange screams of death,
And prophesying with accents terrible
Of dire combustion and confused events
New hatch’d to the woeful time. The obscure bird
Clamour’d the livelong night: some say the earth
Was feverous and did shake.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 3. The Scottish nobleman Lennox remarks to Macbeth how stormy it was the night before, with chimneys blown down, cries of death, terrifying voices prophesying fire and chaos, and the earth shaking. These supernatural occurrences and havoc in nature show how the natural order has been upset by the murder of the lawful King Duncan during the night. The earth and weather are reacting to an unnatural crime. This is an example of pathetic fallacy. We also see foreshadowing of the discovery and announcement of Duncan’s murder.

By the clock, ’tis day,
And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp:
Is ‘t night’s predominance, or the day’s shame,
That darkness does the face of earth entomb,
When living light should kiss it?

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 4. Scottish nobleman Ross speaks to the Old Man about the unnatural events that occurred at the time of King Duncan’s murder. They include darkness strangling the light of the sun during the daytime. This symbolizes the evil part of human nature overpowering the good side. Personification and metaphor are used effectively to illustrate how the skies reflect the upset in the natural order caused by the King’s murder.

A falcon, towering in her pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 4. The Old Man says this to Ross, as they discuss the strange phenomena that occur as a result of Duncan’s murder. The natural order appears to be reversed, with the Old Man describing how a falcon and bird of prey is killed by an owl. The owl’s ability to soar and take down the high flying falcon is symbolic of the ambitious Macbeth rising up to disrupt the natural order and kill Duncan. In this passage we see an example of the play’s supernatural theme.
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