Quotes

• Give 2 quotes for the witches' strange dialect.

  1.1: "fair is foul, and foul is fair

  1.3: "lost and won" & "lesser than Macbeth and greater".
• Analyse 1.1: "fair is foul, and foul is fair


  This is the first scene the audience will see which will shock them as they were most likely expecting some sort of iambic pentameter as this was a regular feature of Shakespeares' plays.

  The use of rhyming couplets highlights their unusual and unnatural behaviour

  This suggests that not everything is as it seems and there is no distinct line between good and evil. This later questions whether Macbeth is truly evil or if he just fell due to his ambitious hamartia and the prophecy of the witches.

  Chiasmus and palindrome suggest the witches are casting a spell

  Macbeth then echoes this in 1.3 saying, "so foul and fair a day I have not seen"
• Analyse 1.3: "lost and won" & "lesser than Macbeth and greater".


  Shakespeare establishes the Witches as a source of chaos and disorder. ○ This is evident as their interference causes the reversal of order. ○ Things that shouldn't be able to coexist begin to occur as the complex riddles of the Witches come to fruition. ● Paradoxical phrases are often used by Shakespare, when the Witches are speaking to demonstrate the ostensibly (seemingly true but not necessarily true) nature of their positive prophecies made to Macbeth.
• Give a 2-3 quotes for the inhumane nature of the witches

  1.3: "That look not like th'inhabitants o'th'earth"

  AND "strange intelligence"

  AND "imperfect speakers"
• Analyse these quotes

  The appearance of the witches is inhuman and this dehumanizes them as well as makes them seem out of place and supernatural.

  This further signifies their importance to the plot due to them standing out in their way of speech and their appearance
• Give a quote that suggests the idea that the witches were the cause of Macbeth's downfall


  3.5: "In riddles and affairs of death"
• Analyse 3.5: "In riddles and affairs of death"


  Riddles has childish and almost playful connotations which suggest that the witches prophecies were not real and perhaps they were just toying with Macbeth.
• Analyse "imperfect speakers"

  However, Macbeth listens to them and their prophecies anyway because he wants what they say to be true.

  They speak in riddles that are meant to be misunderstood and Macbeth chooses to ignore this as his greed for power overcomes him.

  Therefore, it could be argued that they are not controlling fate, rather they are allowing Macbeth to gain validation of the desires he already has.

  - Their words are vague and ambiguous because they are not a source of control but a source of temptation.

  - Macbeth interprets their speech to suit his pre-existing desires and therefore it could be argued that Macbeth twists their prophecies in order to further his own agenda of power.