Macbeth Power Quotes

Thought: The witches prediction that Macbeth will become monarch and that Banquo's heirs will be future kings sets the plot in motion. Up until this point, Macbeth doesn't seem to have kingly aspirations. In fact, he's just returning home from successfully defending King Duncan against Scottish traitors and the Norwegian King's armed forces.

This moment also lays the groundwork for Shakespeare's portrayal of the Stuart political myth. King James I of England (a.k.a. King James VI of Scotland) was the current monarch when Shakespeare wrote Macbeth (around 1606) and he traced his lineage back to Banquo, the man who "shalt get kings." We'll definitely want to keep an eye on how Shakespeare portrays James's supposed ancestor.

Thought: The first time Macbeth's thoughts turn to murdering King Duncan (in order to fulfill the witches' prophesy), he's terrified by his own "horrible imaginings." Murder in itself is enough to "shake" Macbeth but the idea of murdering a king (regicide) is particularly awful.

History Snack: Regicide was a pretty common occurrence in 11th century Scotland (the setting of Macbeth) but the idea of murdering a king would have been particularly startling for Shakespeare's 17th century audience. King James was a big fan of a theory called the "Divine Right of Kings," which said that monarchs were God's appointed representatives on earth and that rebelling against the monarch was an affront to God. James even wrote about it in The Trew Law of Free Monarchies (1598), where he claimed that "The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth; for kings are not only God's lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God's throne, but even by God himself are called gods."

Thought: When King Duncan names his son, Malcolm, the Prince of Cumberland, he's essentially naming him the heir apparent to the throne. (Note: At the time, Scotland was not a hereditary monarchy – it was elective so Duncan's technically out of line here.) At this point, Macbeth decides that Malcolm and King Duncan are a serious obstacle in his path to the throne – "The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step / On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, / For in my way it lies" (1.4.4).

Thought: As Macbeth deliberates about whether or not his plans to kill Duncan is justifiable, he notes that Duncan is a virtuous king so nobody in their right mind would say it's OK to murder him. In Shakespeare's major source for the play, Holinshed's Chronicles, King Duncan is a young and weak ruler and although Shakespeare makes Duncan into an older and benevolent king in Macbeth, he also seems to imply that Duncan is a bit too soft. Here, Macbeth describes him as "meek" and we already know that the king is way too trusting. It seems that Shakespeare sets up Duncan as the polar opposite of what Macbeth will become when he's crowned King. Is Shakespeare suggesting that a good monarch should inhabit a space somewhere in between "meekness" and tyranny? Or, is Duncan a model of ideal kingship?

Thought: After Macbeth murders King Duncan while the monarch sleeps (as a guest at Macbeth's castle), there's knocking at the castle's gates. Here, the drunken Porter (whose comedic antics inject a bit of levity into the play) imagines who could be knocking at such an hour. Here, he pretends there's an "equivocator" at the door. (Generally speaking, an "equivocator" is a person who speaks ambiguously or doesn't tell the whole truth.) This is likely a reference to Jesuit Henry Garnet, a man who was tried and executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 (an unsuccessful attempt by a group of Catholic extremists to blow up Parliament and King James I with a keg of gunpowder). Henry Garnet happens to be the guy who wrote the "Treatise on Equivocation," which encouraged Catholics to speak ambiguously or, "equivocate" when they were being questioned by Protestant inquisitors (so they wouldn't be persecuted for their religious beliefs). He also did a lot of "equivocating" when he stood trial.

Even though the Porter is joking, the jest comes at a significant moment in the play. Macbeth, as we've said, has just murdered Duncan. Dramatizing the murder of a king on stage was a pretty dangerous thing for Shakespeare to do, but the reference to the Gunpowder Plot is also a very clear condemnation of the crime Macbeth has just committed.

Thought: The day after King Duncan's murder, Ross notes that nature has responded, in an "unnatural" way, to the king's murder. Even though it's the middle of the day, darkness fills the sky, as though the sun ("the traveling lamp") has been "strangle[d]" by "dark night." Given that kings are frequently associated with the sun's power, this is an especially apt metaphor. Duncan's rule and his life have both been extinguished by Macbeth, who has committed the most "unnatural" act of all.

Thought: It's not long after Macbeth is crowned king that he's viewed as a "tyrant" who has deprived Duncan's son, Malcolm (who was named heir before his father's murder), of his "due of birth." As we've said before, Scotland was not, at this time, a hereditary monarch (it was elective) so there's a bit of a discrepancy here.

What to make of this? The play seems invested in asserting that the stability of the throne (and the kingdom) rests upon patrilineal succession (when the crown is passed from father to eldest son). Macbeth's crime, then, is not merely regicide – he's also disrupted the royal line, which must be righted before the play's end.

Thought: It seems that Shakespeare can't resist giving the English king, Edward the Confessor (c. 1003-1066) some props in this Scottish play. Malcolm has fled to England, seeking refuge from Macbeth and help from King Edward. The "pious Edward," of course, stands in contrast to the tyrant Macbeth and Edward's aid will play a major role in the restoration of political order in Scotland. A few lines later, Lennox prays that a "swift blessing" (help from the English army) will alleviate Scotland's "suffering" under Macbeth's "accursed" hand (3.6.3).

Thought: Macbeth is not pleased when the witches conjure a vision of eight kings, the last of which holds a mirror that reflects on many more such kings. These are Banquo's heirs, which will one day rule Scotland. One of the kings in the mirror happens to be holding two orbs, an obvious nod to King James. As we've said before, King James I of England (a.k.a. King James VI of Scotland) traced his lineage back to Banquo and, at his coronation ceremony in England (1603), James held two orbs (one representing England and one representing Scotland). Shakespeare seems to be flattering here, don't you think?

Thought: Shakespeare gives more props to King Edward the Confessor of England. This passage is an allusion to the "Royal Touch," a kind of laying on hands ceremony that was performed by English (and French) monarchs. It was thought to have been started by King Edward. The "wretched souls" referred to here by the Doctor suffer from Scrofula or, the "King's Evil," what we now know is a form of tuberculosis that affects the lymph nodes and skin. In a book called The Royal Touch, historian Marc Bloch writes that King James I (who sat on the throne when Macbeth was first written and performed) wasn't exactly thrilled about performing this ceremony – he thought it was superstitious and silly – but he did it anyway to make his subjects happy.

So, if King Edward can cure a nasty disease like Scrofula, just imagine what he can do to help cure Scotland of Macbeth…