Act 1 Scene 1 Key Quotations


THEWITCHESWhen the battle's lost and won THEWITCHES Fair is foul, and foul is fair


Commentary 


This short scene sets the dark tone of Macbeth. The threatening figures of the witches combinedwith the violentweather create an air ofmenace. Thewitches’ reference to the ‘battle lost and won’ establishes this as a time of war. It also illustrates how the witches often speak in riddles. Here, the witches suggest that Macbeth is about to win on the battlefield but his capacity for violence will also lead to his own downfall; Macbeth’s initial triumph will eventually give way to disaster.


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The witches’ paradoxical chant, ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’, neatly expresses how they encourage moral confusion by rejecting normal values. This is reflected in the ‘fog and filthy air’, the witches’ natural element, which will obscure vision and confuse.


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The witches’ ability to predict the future is displayed when they foresee that the battle will finish, ‘ere the set of sun.’ This is when they plan to meet Macbeth. Clearly his future is intertwined with these agents of evil.


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An audience in Shakespeare’s time would have believed in the power of witchcraft. When Macbeth was first performed, King James I ruled England and Scotland. James I’s book Daemonologie described and condemned the practice of witchcraft and he personally supervised witch trials. Shakespeare wroteMacbeth with the intention of flattering James I.


Questions


1. What evidence is there in this scene that the witches can predict the future? 2. What effect does the weather referred to in the scene have on the overall mood?


3. (a) The witches often speak in riddles. Find two examples of contradictory statements in this scene.


(b) What do you think theses contradictory phrases mean?


4. If you were staging this scene, what props, set design and music/sound effects would you use, if any? Explain your ideas by referring to the scene.


Macbeth


6


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