Macbeth - The Witches Character quotes

The Witches Quotes

 ‘Thunder and lightning’
 Pathetic fallacy – establishes the witches as powerful puppet
masters (‘the instruments of darkness’) who can use dark magic to
cause disorder in the natural order
 Sets an ominous mood, since stormy, dark weather is typically
symbolic of destruction

 ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’
 Paradox
 Reveals witches’ evil and manipulative nature
 They see ‘foul’ deeds as ‘fair’ and ‘fair’ deeds as ‘foul’
 They cause havoc and invert the Christian moral order
 Cause characters (Macbeth) to mix up what they think is good and
bad

 ‘Hover through the fog and filthy air’
 Fog clouds Macbeth’s vision
 Mirrors their deception and reinforces their connection with
obscuring and darkness

 ‘Sweltered venom…like a hell broth boil and bubble’
 Hell imagery
 ‘Venom’ symbolises poison – like ‘gall’
 Highlights Macbeth’s impending doom and eternal damnation
 Intoxicating and deceiving Macbeth as they falsely claim ‘none of
women born shall harm Macbeth’

 ‘When shall we three meet again?/In thunder, lighting or in rain’
 Pathetic fallacy – chaos and intimidation – foreshadowing trouble
that is going to come

 Banquo calls them ‘the instruments of darkness’
 The witches are agents of disorder and chaos
 Evil, wicked, negative
 ‘darkness’ is a tool to hide actions – Macbeth kills Duncan at night
– ‘blanket of darkness’