We have scorch’d the snake, not kill’d it. / She’ll close, and be herself; whilst our poor malice / Remains in danger of her former tooth.
Act III, Scene 2 · Macbeth
Context
Macbeth responds to Lady Macbeth's reassurance by explaining why he cannot simply move forward. He uses the image of a wounded snake to describe their incomplete victory.
Analysis
Macbeth's verb choice—'scorch'd' rather than 'killed'—emphasizes heat and surface damage, evoking something that writhes and still lives beneath the burn. The snake metaphor then takes on agency: 'she'll close, and be herself,' as if the threat has its own will and capacity to regenerate. This gendering of danger as female and the anxious focus on the snake's 'former tooth' position Macbeth as paranoid and defensive, already imagining retaliation.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Macbeth's violence creates a feedback loop—this quote shows him viewing every action as incomplete, ensuring he'll always see new threats that demand new murders.