witches

• 'fair is foul, and foul is fair'
• Second apparition [a bloody child]


  Symbolic of childbirth

  Ironic that Macduff is not born of woman
• Third apparition [a child crowned with a tree in his hand]


  • Malcom will be king - rightful heir
  • He came up with the idea of the branches
  • Order will be restored in Scotland
• Hecate: security is mortals chiefest enemy 


  Macbeth's belief that he is untouchable will ultimately result in his downfall.
• Key quotes


  "your face my thane is like a book"
• The Witches capitalise on the obvious intentions and ambitions of Macbeth, as demonstrated through this simile
• The Witches can be argued to simply be a catalyst to Macbeth's inevitable fulfillment of his ambition for power: his demise
• The Witches are described as

  "imperfect speakers"
• 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
• 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
• Shakespeare establishes the Witches as a source of chaos and disorder
• 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
• Their use of language to tempt and control bears connotations of satanic imagery and the snake in the Garden of Eden
• They are female and so this is the only way women can have power
• The serpent used untrustworthy language to tempt Eve, in the Garden of Eden, through twisting what God had said and claiming he didn't want them to become like him; the fruit wasn't really forbidden
• The oxymoronic language used by Shakespeare reflects Macbeth's confusion in the audience, who would be similarly ambivalent towards the actual meaning of the prophecies, as they too cannot understand the oxymorons
• This works to cultivate intrigue and build tension
• Things that are accepted as foul seem fair to Macbeth, like regicide (killing the King)
• Macbeth who was fair becomes foul, himself
• This juxtaposing comment further works to reassure the confusing and illogical nature of the Witches, and the theme of the Supernatural in general
• This suggests their introduction to the characters, especially Banquo and Macbeth will be chaotic
• Links to Banquo's later comment : "you should be women/And yet your beards forbid me from to interpret / That you are so."- The witches clearly, work beyond the natural laws of physics and biology