Supernatural

Cards (12)

  • “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Act 1 Scene 1) Technique
    • Chiasmus & Paradox
    • the reversal of ideas mirrors the theme of moral inversion
  • “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Act 1 Scene 1) Analysis
    • Inverts moral order, setting the play’s theme of chaos.
    • Suggests things are not what they seem.
  • “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Act 1 Scene 1) AO3
    • Reflects the fear of witchcraft and subversion of natural order in the 1600s.
    • Jacobean audiences feared witches & saw them as agents of the devil.
    • This chant signals a world where moral order is upside-down — a terrifying concept in an era of divine right and strict morality.
  • “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Act 1 Scene 1) Character
    • Mysterious and threatening, they embody disorder.
    • The witches are not just mystical – they manipulate reality.
    • They set the tone for Macbeth’s journey into confusion and destruction.
  • “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Act 1 Scene 1) Effect on Audience
    • Unsettling
    • It builds dramatic tension, suggesting that everything will be corrupted.
  • “None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (Act 4 Scene 1) Technique
    • Prophetic Language / Paradox - sounds reassuring but is misleading
  • “None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (Act 4 Scene 1) AO3
    • Elizabethan audiences feared prophecy and manipulation.
    • The witches deliver ambiguous truths to trap Macbeth. Audiences at the time would see this as demonic trickery
  • “None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (Act 4 Scene 1) Character
    • They obscure fate with riddles, showing how fate can be deceiving
    • Macbeth takes it literally, giving him false confidence. His overreliance on prophecy is his fatal flaw (hamartia)
  • “None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (Act 4 Scene 1) Effect on Aud
    • Builds dramatic irony—we know this prophecy will twist and destroy him.
  • “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! ... Thane of Cawdor! ... that shalt be king hereafter!” (Act 1, Scene 3) Technique
    • Tricolon and Prophetic Tone – build Macbeth’s confidence in his ambition
  • “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! ... Thane of Cawdor! ... that shalt be king hereafter!” (Act 1, Scene 3) Context
    • Witches were believed to tempt people into sin, echoing Eve’s temptation
  • “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! ... Thane of Cawdor! ... that shalt be king hereafter!” (Act 1, Scene 3) Character

    • Dangerous manipulators who awaken Macbeth’s inner desires