First of all this scene immediately establishes the mystery of atmosphere and horror, and introduces the underlying forces that will control the actions of the play. Immediately with the introduction of “thunder and lightning” and the appearance of the witches, a sense of evil and supernatural is conveyed.

The witches have been shown with enormous power beyond to that of ordinary mortals. They know what exactly is happening. They can predict correctly what the result of the battle will be and their enigmatic and mysterious speech clearly show what we, ordinary mortals, cannot even imagine. We can only imagine from their words that a battle is going on and one will be victor and the other will be vanquished. We can also imagine that they will next meet in a heath, where they will meet Macbeth. But their very concise words, “When the battle’s won and lost”, certainly imply more than what we understand. This very concise phrase may mean that “winning” and “loosing” are really indistinguishable, and also mean that what appears to be success is nothing but failure, which Macbeth realizes through the movement of the play. Besides, the phrase again points out to one the principal themes of the play symbolizing a “pitch and toss” game to be played with good and evil

Again, The witches have shown their interest in Macbeth, who, at this moment, is an undefined character, but their association with Macbeth cannot bring any good for him because the horrible creatures – as described by Banquo in the third scene of the First act – introduces a certain atmosphere of evil.

The first scene is also highly suggestive of an atmosphere of guilt, which certainly helps to arise the mind of the audience to realize the creation of atmosphere of horror, crime and punishment, which pervades all through the play. The witches are not ordinary witches according to popular belief and superstition as the Weird Sisters are the agents of fate, and they control, guide and mislead human beings to a very grave and tragic end. Thus, as soon as the witches show their interest in Macbeth, we are immediately aware that they are going to administer an evil influence upon Macbeth. The audience expects a deluge of horror, guilt and punishment and the anticipation is not at all baseless.

The first line of the closing couplet, in an epigram and paradox, of the scene “Fair is foul and foul is fair” is certainly a hint of their belief and principle, which immediately suggest that what is fair, i.e. good and honorable, for human beings is “foul”, i.e. evil, to them and what is “foul” in human being, is “fair” to them. It also means secondarily that appearance is deceptive, i.e. what appears to be “fair”, is not always so. In the First Act of the play, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have appeared to be noble to all and sundry but, in reality, they are just the opposite, so is the Macbeth’s castle in Inverness.

Article Posted By : prajwal316  On February 10, 2013lView All Articles

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shakespear , drama