Lady Macbeth is Shakespeare’s ultimate power move in human form. She’s fierce, unapologetic, manipulative, and delivers some of the boldest lines in all of literature—with a side of wicked wit that would make a modern-day reality show contestant sweat.
In this post, we’re diving into 80+ unforgettable Lady Macbeth quotes, each laced with ambition, attitude, and a healthy dose of sarcasm. Whether you’re here to marvel at her manipulation or laugh at her dark descent into madness, there’s something in this collection for every literature lover with a love for layered villainy.
Ambition and Power-Hungry Persuasion
- “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promised.”
- “Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.”
- “Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear.”
- “Thou wouldst be great; art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.”
- “What thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win.”
- “Only look up clear; to alter favour ever is to fear.”
- “This ignorance is the bliss Macbeth needed to keep calm.”
- “I fear thy nature; it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness.”
- “He that’s coming must be provided for; and you shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch.”
- “You wait on nature’s mischief—you’re welcome.”
Manipulation Masterclass: Convincing Macbeth to Kill
- “Was the hope drunk wherein you dress’d yourself?”
- “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?”
- “Live a coward in thine own esteem?”
- “Screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.”
- “When you durst do it, then you were a man.”
- “What beast was’t then that made you break this enterprise to me?”
- “I have given suck, and know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me…”
- “I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out.”
- “Dash’d the brains out? Yeah, she went from 0 to murderous real quick.”
- “Leave all the rest to me.”
Her Most Iconic Moments (No Subtlety Included)
- “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here.”
- “Make thick my blood; stop up the access and passage to remorse.”
- “Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall.”
- “Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell.”
- “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.”
- “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements.”
- “That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold.”
- “A little water clears us of this deed.”
- “My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white.”
- “Infirm of purpose!”
Sarcasm and Snark in Her Dialogue
- “Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers.”
- “The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures.”
- “’Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.”
- “A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.”
- “These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad.”
- “What’s done is done.”
- “The fit is momentary; upon a thought he will again be well.”
- “You lack the season of all natures, sleep.”
- “Gentle my lord, sleek o’er your rugged looks.”
- “Be bright and jovial among your guests tonight.”
Controlling the Narrative Like a Queen
- “Things without all remedy should be without regard.”
- “What’s to be done?”
- “O proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear.”
- “Why do you make such faces? When all’s done, you look but on a stool.”
- “You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting with most admired disorder.”
- “Are you a man?”
- “Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once.”
- “I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and worse.”
- “You make me strange even to the disposition that I owe.”
- “You must leave this.”
The Downfall Begins: Guilt and Unraveling
- “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!”
- “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”
- “The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?”
- “Will these hands ne’er be clean?”
- “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”
- “What’s done cannot be undone.”
- “Here’s the smell of the blood still.”
- “To bed, to bed; there’s knocking at the gate.”
- “Hell is murky.”
- “Wash your hands, put on your nightgown.”
Reputation, Gender, and Irony in Her Words
- “Unsex me here.”
- “Take my milk for gall.”
- “Come to my woman’s breasts.”
- “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t.”
- “So much for maternal instinct.”
- “She talks big about murder… until it’s time to do the stabbing.”
- “Power couple goals? Only if you like murder and insomnia.”
- “She wore the pants—until the guilt took over.”
- “Lady Macbeth: where toxic positivity meets literal bloodshed.”
- “Don’t worry, she said. Leave it to me, she said.”
Death, Regret, and the Final Act
- “The queen, my lord, is dead.”
- “She should have died hereafter.”
- “Life’s but a walking shadow…”
- “There’s knocking at the gate.”
- “She has light by her continually; ’tis her command.”
- “More needs she the divine than the physician.”
- “Look after her; remove from her the means of all annoyance.”
- “She is troubled with thick-coming fancies.”
- “Heaven knows what she has known.”
- “She dies offstage, but her presence steals the whole play.”
Conclusion
Lady Macbeth is the kind of Shakespearean character you can’t look away from—powerful, poetic, and just the right kind of terrifying. These 80+ Lady Macbeth quotes capture her brilliance, madness, manipulation, and unraveling with both reverence and wit. Because even when she’s scheming murder, you have to admit… the woman had range.
Which of her savage lines hit hardest? Got a favorite moment that still gives you chills (or smirks)? Drop it in the comments.
Share this post with the Shakespeare fan in your life who loves strong women and stronger soliloquies. And next time someone says, “unsex me here,” just back away slowly.