Character- Witches Flashcards
Quotations + Grade 9 analysis
“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! / Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! / Hail to thee, that shalt be king hereafter!”
Act 1, Scene 3
-Triadic structure (rule of three) creates rhythm and power, elevating their speech to something spell-like and hypnotic.
-Dramatic irony: Two of these titles are already true—audience sees how close fate already is.
-Grade 9 Insight: Shakespeare makes the witches plant the seed of ambition, but they never tell Macbeth what to do. This preserves free will—Macbeth chooses to act on the prophecy.
Theme: Fate vs Free Will
“Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. / Not so happy, yet much happier.”
Act 1, Scene 3 – to Banquo
-Paradox: The witches speak in riddles—what seems contradictory actually reveals deeper truth.
-Insight: Banquo will never be king (lesser), but he will be morally greater and have descendants as kings.
-Grade 9 Insight: Shakespeare uses ambiguity to suggest that fate is open to interpretation, and characters shape their own response—Banquo lets fate unfold, Macbeth forces it.
Theme: Fate vs Free Will
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.”
Act 1, Scene 1
-Chiasmus (inverted structure): Mirrors the moral inversion in the play—good and evil are blurred.
-Foreshadowing: Warns the audience that appearances cannot be trusted.
-Grade 9 Insight: This line becomes a moral lens through which the audience sees the play. It shows that the witches represent moral chaos, setting up the theme of deception and illusion.
Theme: Appearance vs Reality
“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths…”
Act 1, Scene 3 – said by Banquo, about the witches
-Metaphor: “Instruments of darkness” = the witches, tools of evil.
-Insight: The witches speak truths, but use them to manipulate and mislead.
-Grade 9 Insight: Shakespeare explores how evil can disguise itself as honesty, luring people in with half-truths. The witches do not lie, but they do not warn either—deception lies in omission.
Theme: Appearance vs Reality
