Foul is Fair and Fair is Foul: The Paradoxical Nature of the Three Witches in Macbeth Destiny Salter 12th Grade

The nature of the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a controversial subject. Mildred Tonge suggests in her essay Black Magic and Miracles in Macbeth that the witches represent women that serve a dark power, most likely Satan, or even that they are a form of Satan himself (Tonge, p. 1). Other critics propose that the three are a figment of Macbeth’s imagination—apparitions he conjured to provide justification for killing Duncan, a thought that he had harbored long before the play began. However, careful observation of the text suggests that the witches are far more connected to humanity than they at first appear. Though not illusions of Macbeth’s mind, nor evil beings in and of themselves, the three witches are outside manifestations of human vice, which appear for the purpose of providing temptation to the unwary, giving voice to their secretly abhorrent desires.

The witches make notable appearances twice in Macbeth, both in Act 1 Scene 3 and in Act 4 Scene 1—two crucial times in the title character’s development. The first time they arrive, it is to accost Macbeth and Banquo on their way back from war. It is at this point, when Macbeth is arguably more powerful than at any time before in his life, that the witches...