The Witches and Hecate Act 1 Quotations Flashcards
Analyse the quotation - “we _____ meet _____”
Three, again
This introduction to the witches foreshadows their return to plague Macbeth with the temptations of evil and demonstrates that they will be crucial in attempting to change the contemporary natural order. This could be an attempt from Shakespeare to appeal to James I since he wrote a book about witches and renforcing the concept that witches pose a threat to Kings and need to be dealt with.
Analyse the quotation - “____ won son”
Done
This rhyming triplet foreshadows their different way of speech that they posses throughout the play. Contextually, this could indicate their role as demons and further imply their lack of humanity.
Analyse the quotation - “Fair is ____ and foul is ____”
Foul, fair
This utilisation of chiasmus foreshadows their role in influencing Macbeth into believing the natural world is flawed and that in fact what would be considered righteous they claim is evil. This further implies the witches’ duplicity and lack of humanity. The witches could be a manifestation, biblically, of Matthew 7:15.
Analyse the quotation - “Give me _____ I”
quoth
This imperative indicates that the witches do not posses patience, one of the seven heavenly virtues, and this could be attempt by Shakespeare to indicate how they will tempt the righteous into commiting sin, through Macbeth.
Analyse the quotation - “_____ shall neither _____ nor day”
Sleep, night
The repeated motif of ‘sleep’ is seen to be symbolic of peace, therefore the witches are demonstrated here as being antagonistic towards peace. Since peace would be likened to God and virtues desired by God from a contemporary view, this would juxtapose the witches and God’s kingdom, indicating the witches’ link to the devil. Moreover, their connection with Macbeth therefore foreshadows his downfall.
Analyse the quotation - “____ I have a pilot’s _____”
Here, thumb
The possesive utilised here demonstrates the witches power over humans, since they can easily cause humans harm. Since the witches are a metaphor for evil, this could be symbolic of the struggle of humans with sin, since the devil was sent to earth after being sent out of heaven.
Analyse the quotation - “They _____ sisters”
weïrd
This adjective links to the Anglo-Saxon pagan goddess Wyrd, who was the goddess of destiny. This foreshadows the witches’ role in changing the natural order and revealing Macbeth’s fate in half truths to him.
Analyse the quotation - “Inhabitants ____ earth”
o’th
The pronoun here indicates that mortal beings (humans) at Shakespeare’s time feared demons and witches, like James I who wrote Daemonologie, and demonstrating their lack of connection to humanity and thus their link to the devil.
Analyse the quotation - “_____- forbid me to ______-“
Beards, interpret
The noun utilised here indicates that, similarly to Lady Macbeth, a connection to sin and satan causes a lack of feminity, since traditional feminity and masculinity is a virtue valued by God from a contemporary viewpoint. The idea that they are losing their gender amd sexuality could link to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, whereby those who forgot how to act were destroyed. This foreshadows Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s downfalls later in the play, as Lady Macbeth is presented as more dominant.
The fact that Shakespeare pokes fun, almost, at the fact that they have beards shows his attempt to flatter King James, as not seeing the supernatural as a major threat and seeing them as laughable would have been sentiment King James would have agreed with.
Analyse the quotation- “All ____ Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of ______ that shalt be ____ hereafter”
Hail, Cawdor, King
The usage of the time phrase here demonstrates how the witches have powers beyond human understanding and foreshadows their ability to manipulate, similarly how Adam and Eve were tempted by the tree of knowledge with the possibility of reaching beyond human capability.
