Mcbeth Annotated Text Act I Sene I

Macbeth Annotated Text

Act I Scene I

A desert place
Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches.

First Witch. When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

Second Witch. When the hurlburly’s (tumult, confusion) done,
When the battle’s lost and won.

Third Witch. That will be ere (before) the set of sun.

First Witch. Where the place?

Second Witch. Upon the heath.(moorland)

Third Witch. There to meet with Macbeth.

First Witch. I come Greymalkin. (grey cat)

Second Witch. Paddock (toad) calls.

Third Witch. Anon! (I shall come at once, my spirit)

All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.

Important notes

The witches are indifferent to both good and evil. However, they love acts of crime and maliciousness usually hated by the majority of human beings. They are bereft of any sense of morality or uprightness. They love to fly through foggy and filthy air.

Critical Analysis of the Scene

This brief scene consisting of only twelve lines, exposes the readers to the theme of malevolence. The eerie atmosphere points to a bloody battle being raged and the wholeheartedness of the witches to meet the central character of the tragedy, Macbeth. The scene anticipates Macbeth’s moral fall, and the all pervasive role of the supernatural enacted by the witches and the hostile weather. The two lines “When the battle’s lost and won” and “Fair is foul and foul is fair” indicate to more such contradictory and inscrutable elements in the later parts of the drama.

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