Ghosts. Witches. Floating daggers. Shakespeare’s Macbeth isn’t just a tragedy—it’s a full-blown supernatural thriller with drama, murder, and cryptic rhymes galore. But what if we looked at all that eerie energy with a bit of a smirk?
This post dives into over 80 supernatural quotes in Macbeth—each one paired with a witty, sarcastic, or humorous twist that’ll have you cackling like the Weird Sisters themselves. From spooky visions to overdramatic guilt trips, this collection proves that even Shakespeare’s darkest lines can light up a laugh.
Witches, Prophecies, and That Cauldron Life
- “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble.”
- “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”
- “Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.”
- “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!”
- “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!”
- “All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!”
- “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.”
- “Not so happy, yet much happier.”
- “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.”
- “Seek to know no more.”
Ghostly Guest Appearances and Hauntings
- “Thou canst not say I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me.”
- “Avaunt! and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!”
- “Thou hast no speculation in those eyes which thou dost glare with!”
- “If trembling I inhabit then, protest me the baby of a girl.”
- “The times have been that, when the brains were out, the man would die, and there an end.”
- “This is the very painting of your fear.”
- “Unreal mockery, hence!”
- “You make me strange even to the disposition that I owe.”
- “What man dare, I dare.”
- “Hence, horrible shadow! Unreal mockery, hence!”
Visions, Hallucinations, and Macbeth’s Mental Breakdown
- “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?”
- “Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going.”
- “Mine eyes are made the fools o’ the other senses.”
- “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.”
- “Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight?”
- “There’s no such thing: It is the bloody business which informs thus to mine eyes.”
- “Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse the curtain’d sleep.”
- “Witchcraft celebrates pale Hecate’s offerings.”
- “Thou sure and firm-set earth, hear not my steps.”
- “Whiles I threat, he lives: Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.”
Lady Macbeth’s Creepy Moments and Mind Games
- “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.”
- “These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad.”
- “A little water clears us of this deed.”
- “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”
- “Out, damned spot! out, I say!”
- “Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”
Macbeth’s Guilt, Paranoia, and Death-Fueled Meltdowns
- “Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!’”
- “Macbeth shall sleep no more.”
- “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
- “This my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine.”
- “O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!”
- “Let the earth hide thee!”
- “I am in blood stepped in so far.”
- “Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.”
- “It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood.”
- “I have almost forgot the taste of fears.”
The Supernatural and Fate (or Just Poor Decisions)
- “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.”
- “Come fate into the list, and champion me to the utterance!”
- “And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths.”
- “What’s done cannot be undone.”
- “The heavens are angry.”
- “Heaven rest them now!”
- “When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain?”
- “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.”
- “This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good.”
- “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly.”
Foreboding, Omens, and Vibes from Beyond
- “There’s husbandry in heaven; their candles are all out.”
- “It was the owl that shriek’d, the fatal bellman.”
- “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan.”
- “Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.”
- “The obscure bird clamour’d the livelong night.”
- “Tis unnatural, even like the deed that’s done.”
- “Dark night strangles the travelling lamp.”
- “A falcon, towering in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d.”
- “Suspicion of the deed doth shake so my single state of man.”
- “Infected be the air whereon they ride.”
Supernatural Beings and Their Sassy Dialogue
- “Show his eyes, and grieve his heart! Come like shadows, so depart!”
- “Beware Macduff; Beware the Thane of Fife.”
- “None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.”
- “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him.”
- “Be bloody, bold, and resolute.”
- “He will not be commanded: here’s another, more potent than the first.”
- “Seek to know no more.”
- “Something wicked this way comes.”
- “The charm’s wound up.”
- “By the pricking of my thumbs…”
Witch Energy and Shakespearean Sass
- “Witchy vibes: always showing up with fog, rhymes, and unsolicited life advice.”
- “The witches were basically Macbeth’s hype squad… with chaos.”
- “They stirred the pot—literally and narratively.”
- “Prophecies so vague they should come with a user manual.”
- “Witchcraft meets stagecraft. Shakespeare knew drama.”
- “The original girl gang that didn’t believe in subtlety.”
- “They didn’t cast spells. They cast plot twists.”
- “Witches: the ultimate side characters who controlled everything.”
- “They weren’t evil—just excellent at delivering existential dread.”
- “Nothing says ‘fun’ like a trio of rhyming doom bringers.”
Conclusion
Supernatural forces in Macbeth don’t just drive the plot—they haunt it, twist it, and stir it into the ultimate Shakespearean soup of fate and fear. But through all the darkness, there’s room for a little wit. These 80+ supernatural quotes in Macbeth remind us that even the most chilling lines can spark a smile when you add a touch of sarcasm and a clever twist.
Which quote gave you chills—or chuckles? Share your favorites in the comments, or add your own wickedly funny take on Shakespeare’s spooky side.
Pass this along to your fellow lit lovers, theater kids, or anyone who loves a good ghost story with a sense of humor. And remember—beware the witches… but enjoy their rhymes.