The Three Witches are evil and powerful woman who have the supernatural spirit. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”(1.1.11) The Witches are telling us that there is good and evil, nothing is as it seems. The Witches tell Macbeth that he will be the thane of Cawdor and second that he will be King of Scotland. This puts Macbeth in a position where the Witches tell him to do something about his future, even if it means betraying his own King. “All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
In other words the kingship won’t stay in Macbeth’s line with his kids being after him. To remedy this, Macbeth decides to send murderer to Banquo and Fleance so they cannot take the kingship from him. And Macbeth becomes bloody and bloody. Second, Macbeth is evil, because he continue his evil action although he really didn’t like what he did. Immediately after murdering Duncan, Macbeth experiences a combination of remorse and panic.
His immediate appointment of Macbeth to replace Cawdor will eventually mean his own death. The witches too betray Macbeth by tempting him with prophecies, which turn out to be false. It is only at the conclusion of the play when Macbeth has been defeated that he realizes how the witches have operated,’ these juggling fiends…that palter with us in a double sense.’ Macduff demonstrates a deep sense of loyalty by fleeing to England and organizing an army to defeat Macbeth. As a result of his act of heroic loyalty to his country his family are brutally slaughtered. Lady Macbeth manifests a misguided loyalty to her husband.
The paradox of ‘’fair is foul and foul is fair’’ is evident within the theme of good and evil in relation to the witches. Their prophecies provide truthful outcomes, though they are twisted, and easily manipulate Macbeth into believing that he is invincible ‘’none of
Like a foul for one can be fair for the other. It is a paradox that signifies that there is no significant of good and bad things as their role can be reversed. This quote is predicting the evil that will cloud Macbeth’s judgements. 2. What is the significance of Shakespeare beginning the play with the witches?
The witches are possibly linked as the “charms” seem to influence Macbeth and he begins to echo “foul and fair”. Whenever Macbeth seems at his most inhumane he uses rhyming couplets for example, “knell that summons…to heaven…hell” is used before killing Duncan in act 2 and “fight…heaven…find it out to-night” before killing Banquo in act 3.
2) Explain the meaning of the witches line “fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Act 1, scene 1, line 11) * The line ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ is an exploitment of opposites. It’s difficult to understand and could mean a few different things. The witches are referring to their appearance in this quote as they’re foul looking and believe they’ll become fair (good-looking) after the battle. 3) What conclusions can we make about Macbeth from the descriptions we have of him in Act 1, scene ii? Find examples from the text.
The remark made by Banquo and the title of Hecate states that Shakespeare intends to use repulsive-looking women, mistakenly having beards, to render that women are predominately evil. Instead of using evil wizards with even longer beards, Shakespeare omits the fact that men are generally the cause of hostility because of their aggression. The witches’ supernatural powers give them a higher, more dangerous rank than men because they control the fate of the characters and their prophecies come true. They meet up with Macbeth hailing him, “Thane of Glamis” then “Thane of Cawdor” and “… shalt be king hereafter” (I. iii. 46-48).
Macbeth betrays King Duncan because the witches told him he will become king. He also betrays his friend Banquo because the witches gave him predictions that can affect Macbeth. The three weird sisters betray Macbeth because he wants things to go his way. In “Macbeth”, Shakespeare demonstrates that betrayal is lead by unreasonable decisions that cause bad consequences. Macbeth
They are very mischievous and play upon the weaknesses and ambitions of Macbeth. The witches prophecies spark Macbeth’s ambitions, just as the witches knew they would. They make Macbeth question Banquo when they prophesies that Banquo’s offspring will be king. “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater./ Not so happy, yet much happier./Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:/So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!.” This leads Macbeth into ordering the murders of Banquo and Fleance. The witches then manipulate him to believe he is immortal by telling him “laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (Act 4, scene 1 lines 86-88).