ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAMINATION 2026 MACBETH
IMPORTANT QUOTES AND ANALYSIS QUOTATIONS ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
Examination Level: Secondary / Pre-University (GCSE / A-Level
Equivalent)
Spring Semesters Exams
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair."
~ witches
- foreshadowing, setting the mood of the supernatural
"Let not light see my black and deep desires."
~ Macbeth
- After Duncan announces that he will name his son Malcolm the next king, Macbeth hopes his
disappointment doesn't show. He must find a way to prevent Malcolm from becoming king.
"Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full of the milk of human kindness."
~ Lady Macbeth (referring to Macbeth)
- She fears that Macbeth is too kind to go through with killing Duncan.
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,"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't."
~ Lady Macbeth (speaking to Macbeth)
- This is just before King Duncan's arrival at their castle. Macbeth's wife wants him to act nice to
Duncan's face, and hide his evil intentions.
"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!"
~ Lady Macbeth
- calling on the spirits to take away her feminine, weakness and fill her with evil because she
wants Duncan dead.
"But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we'll not fail."
~ Lady Macbeth
- before they kill Duncan, she is reassuring Macbeth that everything will work out if he fixes his
courage firmly in place.
"False face must hide what false heart doth know."
~ Macbeth
- He has decided he will go along with Lady Macbeth's plan to kill Duncan. Telling himself that
he must put on a false pleasant face to hide his false, evil heart.
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,"Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done't." (referring to Duncan)
~ Lady Macbeth
- She would've killed Duncan herself but as he was sleeping he looked like her father.
"What hands are here? Ha: they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this
blood clean from my hand?"
~ Macbeth
- looking at his hands after he has just killed Duncan. He wonders if all of the water in the ocean
could wash the blood off his hands.
"Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand?"
~ Macbeth
- Hallucinating that he sees a dagger before he kills Duncan.
"Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and I fear
Thou play'dst most foully for't."
~ Banquo (referring to Macbeth)
- meaning: well now you have everything that you were promised by the witches. I just fear that
you did something bad to get it.
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, "He's here in double trust. First, as I am his kinsman and his subject... then, as his host."
~ Macbeth (referring to King Duncan)
- Listing reasons why he shouldn't kill Duncan. Duncan trusts Macbeth for two reasons: he is his
kinsman/subject, and his host.
"A little water clears us of this deed."
~ Lady Macbeth
- After killing Duncan, she tells Macbeth that all they have to do is wash their hands and they
will be cleared of their sin.
fair is foul and foul is fair
Act 1, Scene 1 - Witches - paradox - supernatural
O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman
Act 1, Scene 2 - Duncan - bloodshed is revelled in - brutality a virtue
So foul and fair a day I have not seen
Act 1, Scene 3 - Macbeth - opening line - paradox similar to witches - potential for
supernaturalness
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IMPORTANT QUOTES AND ANALYSIS QUOTATIONS ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
Examination Level: Secondary / Pre-University (GCSE / A-Level
Equivalent)
Spring Semesters Exams
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair."
~ witches
- foreshadowing, setting the mood of the supernatural
"Let not light see my black and deep desires."
~ Macbeth
- After Duncan announces that he will name his son Malcolm the next king, Macbeth hopes his
disappointment doesn't show. He must find a way to prevent Malcolm from becoming king.
"Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full of the milk of human kindness."
~ Lady Macbeth (referring to Macbeth)
- She fears that Macbeth is too kind to go through with killing Duncan.
1|Page
,"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't."
~ Lady Macbeth (speaking to Macbeth)
- This is just before King Duncan's arrival at their castle. Macbeth's wife wants him to act nice to
Duncan's face, and hide his evil intentions.
"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!"
~ Lady Macbeth
- calling on the spirits to take away her feminine, weakness and fill her with evil because she
wants Duncan dead.
"But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we'll not fail."
~ Lady Macbeth
- before they kill Duncan, she is reassuring Macbeth that everything will work out if he fixes his
courage firmly in place.
"False face must hide what false heart doth know."
~ Macbeth
- He has decided he will go along with Lady Macbeth's plan to kill Duncan. Telling himself that
he must put on a false pleasant face to hide his false, evil heart.
2|Page
,"Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done't." (referring to Duncan)
~ Lady Macbeth
- She would've killed Duncan herself but as he was sleeping he looked like her father.
"What hands are here? Ha: they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this
blood clean from my hand?"
~ Macbeth
- looking at his hands after he has just killed Duncan. He wonders if all of the water in the ocean
could wash the blood off his hands.
"Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand?"
~ Macbeth
- Hallucinating that he sees a dagger before he kills Duncan.
"Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and I fear
Thou play'dst most foully for't."
~ Banquo (referring to Macbeth)
- meaning: well now you have everything that you were promised by the witches. I just fear that
you did something bad to get it.
3|Page
, "He's here in double trust. First, as I am his kinsman and his subject... then, as his host."
~ Macbeth (referring to King Duncan)
- Listing reasons why he shouldn't kill Duncan. Duncan trusts Macbeth for two reasons: he is his
kinsman/subject, and his host.
"A little water clears us of this deed."
~ Lady Macbeth
- After killing Duncan, she tells Macbeth that all they have to do is wash their hands and they
will be cleared of their sin.
fair is foul and foul is fair
Act 1, Scene 1 - Witches - paradox - supernatural
O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman
Act 1, Scene 2 - Duncan - bloodshed is revelled in - brutality a virtue
So foul and fair a day I have not seen
Act 1, Scene 3 - Macbeth - opening line - paradox similar to witches - potential for
supernaturalness
4|Page
