Macbeth's wife. Unlike her husband, she has no reservations about murdering Duncan in order to make Macbeth King of Scotland. She believes that a true man takes what he wants, and whenever Macbeth objects to murdering Duncan on moral grounds, she questions his courage. Lady Macbeth assumes that she'll be able to murder Duncan and then quickly forget it once she's Queen of Scotland. But she discovers that guilt is not so easily avoided, and falls into madness and despair.
Lady Macbeth Quotes in Macbeth
The Macbeth quotes below are all either spoken by Lady Macbeth or refer to Lady Macbeth. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Simon & Schuster edition of Macbeth published in 2003.
Act 1, scene 5
Quotes
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, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall.
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, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall.
Related Characters:
Lady Macbeth (speaker)
Related Symbols:
Blood
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under it.
But be the serpent under it.
Related Characters:
Lady Macbeth (speaker), Macbeth
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, scene 7
Quotes
Macbeth: If we should fail.
Lady Macbeth: We fail?
But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we'll not fail.
Lady Macbeth: We fail?
But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we'll not fail.
Related Characters:
Macbeth (speaker), Lady Macbeth (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, scene 2
Quotes
Nought's had, all's spent
Where our desire is got without content.
Where our desire is got without content.
Related Characters:
Lady Macbeth (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, scene 1
Quotes
Out, damned spot! out, I say!
Related Characters:
Lady Macbeth (speaker)
Related Symbols:
Sleep
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Macbeth LitChart as a printable PDF.
Lady Macbeth Character Timeline in Macbeth
The timeline below shows where the character Lady Macbeth appears in Macbeth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, scene 5
At Inverness, Lady Macbeth reads a letter in which Macbeth tells her of the witches' prophecy. Lady Macbeth worries...
(full context)
A servant enters with news that Duncan will spend the night, then exits. Lady Macbeth says Duncan's visit will be fatal, and calls on spirits to "unsex me here… and...
(full context)
Macbeth enters, and says Duncan will spend the night and leave the next day. Lady Macbeth says Duncan will never see that day. She counsels Macbeth to look like an "innocent...
(full context)
Act 1, scene 6
Lady Macbeth warmly greets the King and the thanes, though Macbeth is nowhere to be seen.
(full context)
Act 1, scene 7
Lady Macbeth enters, asking where he's been. Macbeth tells her they won't murder Duncan. She questions his...
(full context)
Macbeth asks what will happen if they fail. Lady Macbeth assures him they won't fail if they have courage. She outlines the plan: she'll give...
(full context)
Act 2, scene 1
Offstage, Lady Macbeth rings the bell to signal that Duncan's attendants are asleep. Macbeth goes to murder Duncan.
(full context)
Act 2, scene 2
Lady Macbeth waits in agitation for Macbeth to do the deed. She comments that had the sleeping...
(full context)
Lady Macbeth soothes him and tells him to wash his hands, but notices he's still carrying the...
(full context)
Lady Macbeth returns, her hands now as bloody as Macbeth's. But she's calm, and identifies the 'mysterious'...
(full context)
Act 2, scene 3
...and Lennox ask what happened, then run to Duncan's chamber. Banquo, Malcolm, and Donalbain wake. Lady Macbeth enters, pretending not to know what happened, and expressing horror when Macduff tells her of...
(full context)
...he was so furious that they had murdered the Duncan that he couldn't control himself. Lady Macbeth faints.
(full context)
Act 3, scene 1
Macbeth enters, with other thanes and Lady Macbeth . He asks Banquo to attend a feast that evening. Banquo says he will, but...
(full context)
Act 3, scene 2
After sending a servant to fetch Macbeth, Lady Macbeth , waits, and muses that she has what she desires but isn't happy.
(full context)
Lady Macbeth reminds him to be "bright and jovial" at the feast. Macbeth tells her to act...
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Act 3, scene 4
Lady Macbeth calls to Macbeth and asks him to return to the feast and sit. But Macbeth...
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Lady Macbeth tells the thanes not to worry, that since childhood Macbeth has suffered fits. She pulls...
(full context)
The ghost reappears and Macbeth, terrified, starts shouting at it. Lady Macbeth tries to play down her husband's strange behavior. The ghost again disappears. Macbeth is amazed...
(full context)
Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth : "Blood will have blood" (3.4.121), and asks what Lady Macbeth makes of the fact...
(full context)
Act 5, scene 1
...A doctor and a gentlewoman wait. The gentlewoman called the doctor because she has seen Lady Macbeth sleepwalking the last few nights, but she refuses to say what Lady Macbeth says or...
(full context)
Lady Macbeth enters, holding a candle, but asleep. Lady Macbeth keeps rubbing her hands as if to...
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The horrified doctor and gentlewoman watch as Lady Macbeth then relives conversations with Macbeth after the murder of Banquo and hears an imaginary knocking...
(full context)
Act 5, scene 3
He asks the doctor about Lady Macbeth , then commands that the man cure her. In an aside, the doctor says that...
(full context)
Act 5, scene 5
...lack of fear. Suddenly, a woman cries out. Seyton investigates, and returns with news that Lady Macbeth has died. Macbeth gives a speech about life: "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow / Creeps...
(full context)