For Banquo’s issue have I fil’d my mind; / For them the gracious Duncan have I murder’d; / Put rancours in the vessel of my peace / Only for them; and mine eternal jewel / Given to the common enemy of man, / To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!
Act III, Scene 1 · Macbeth
Context
Macbeth lists everything he has sacrificed—his mental peace, Duncan's life, and his own soul—concluding that all these crimes will only benefit Banquo's heirs, not himself.
Analysis
The anaphoric repetition of 'For them…For them…Only for them' hammers out a rhythm of bitter irony, each phrase stacking up Macbeth's crimes as futile gifts to his rival's lineage. The metaphor of 'mine eternal jewel / Given to the common enemy of man' uses theological language (soul as jewel, the devil as enemy) to frame his damnation as a transaction—he paid with his salvation but will receive no return. This economic logic exposes how fully Macbeth's mind has collapsed ethics into cost-benefit analysis.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Macbeth's language reveals he still understands morality, but only as a price he's already paid—the anaphora here shows he resents not the crime itself but the lack of profit from it.