Lady Macbeth's Key Quotes and Analysis
Ever wondered how Shakespeare created one of literature's most terrifying female villains? Lady Macbeth's quotes show us exactly how she breaks every rule of her time period.
"Unsex me here" is perhaps her most shocking line. The prefix 'un' shows she wants to strip away her femininity because she sees it as weakness. In Jacobean society, this would have been absolutely scandalous - women were meant to be gentle and obedient, not power-hungry and ruthless.
When she calls Macbeth "too full o'the milk of human kindness," she's actually criticising him for being too soft. The milk imagery connects to motherhood and femininity, suggesting she's frustrated that traditional gender roles are holding both of them back from achieving their ambitions.
Her command "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts" uses an imperative verb to summon supernatural forces. This shows she's willing to work with dark magic - something that would have terrified Shakespeare's original audience, who genuinely believed in witchcraft.
Key Point: Lady Macbeth represents everything a Jacobean woman wasn't supposed to be - ambitious, manipulative, and connected to the supernatural.
The famous line "look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't" perfectly captures her strategy. She's telling Macbeth to appear innocent whilst plotting evil underneath. This juxtaposition between flower and serpent shows how she's become the catalyst for Macbeth's downfall, pushing him towards murder through clever manipulation.
