act 5

• scene 8

  • realisation for macbeth that he has been tricked
  • "and be these juggling fiends no more believed, that palter with us in a double sense"
  • prophecies that once gave him confidence have deceived him
  • "juggling fiends" are the witches
  • prophecies are supernatural as they are knowledge of the future which is beyond the human realm of understanding
  • they are deliberately ambiguous and misleading
  • macbeths downfall is directly linked to his belief in and reliance on the supernatural prophecies