Macbeth and the Witches

People call Macbeth a monster. But Shakespeare’s trick is sharper than that: he shows you a man who can still choose—and then shows you the exact moment he starts outsourcing his choices to ambition, marriage, and prophecy.

Macbeth—thane, hero, newly honored… and about to discover that wanting something is not the same as deserving it.

Now to most of you in the United States, the word THANE might be unfamiliar. It simply means a basically a Scottish noble—a trusted local lord who holds land from the king and, in return, owes loyalty and military service.
So when you hear “Macbeth, Thane of Glamis” (and later “Thane of Cawdor”), think:

Title + job: a high-ranking lord
Power base: he rules an area/estate for the king
Obligation: he’s expected to fight for the king and keep order
Status: important, but below the king (not royalty)

So you can think of “Thane” as “Lord.”
Macbeth is Lord of Glamis, then gets promoted to Lord of Cawdor.

In other words, “A thane is a king’s landholding lord—part governor, part military commander.”

The play begins with the three witches, and it just makes common sense to begin by interviewing them. Notice how the witches don’t “force” Macbeth—but they weaponize suggestion: they speak in a way that makes Macbeth supply the missing steps. They plant a framework (“you are destined”), then let his ambition build the staircase.

But first let me briefly quote from the very beginning of the play where the three witches - also known as weird sisters - speak

FIRST WITCH 
When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
SECOND WITCH 
When the hurly-burly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.
THIRD WITCH 
That will be ere the set of sun.
FIRST WITCH 
Where the place?
SECOND WITCH  Upon the heath.
THIRD WITCH 
There to meet with Macbeth.
FIRST WITCH  I come, Graymalkin.
SECOND WITCH  Paddock calls.
THIRD WITCH  Anon.
ALL 
Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air.

Transcript

Welcome to conversations with Shakespeare - part of celebrate creativity. Today we start examining what is supposed to be the most popular Shakespearean play in schools in the United Kingdom - and that would be Macbeth.

People call Macbeth a monster. But Shakespeare’s trick is sharper than that: he shows you a man who can still choose—and then shows you the exact moment he starts outsourcing his choices to ambition, marriage, and prophecy.

Macbeth—thane, hero, newly honored… and about to discover that wanting something is not the same as deserving it.

Now to most of you in the United States, the word THANE might be unfamiliar. It simply means a basically a Scottish noble—a trusted local lord who holds land from the king and, in return, owes loyalty and military service.
So when you hear “Macbeth, Thane of Glamis” (and later “Thane of Cawdor”), think:

Title + job: a high-ranking lord
Power base: he rules an area/estate for the king
Obligation: he’s expected to fight for the king and keep order
Status: important, but below the king (not royalty)

So you can think of “Thane” as “Lord.”
Macbeth is Lord of Glamis, then gets promoted to Lord of Cawdor.

In other words, “A thane is a king’s landholding lord—part governor, part military commander.”

The play begins with the three witches, and it just makes common sense to begin by interviewing them. Notice how the witches don’t “force” Macbeth—but they weaponize suggestion: they speak in a way that makes Macbeth supply the missing steps. They plant a framework (“you are destined”), then let his ambition build the staircase.

But first let me briefly quote from the very beginning of the play where the three witches - also known as weird sisters - speak

FIRST WITCH 
When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
SECOND WITCH 
When the hurly-burly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.
THIRD WITCH 
That will be ere the set of sun.
FIRST WITCH 
Where the place?
SECOND WITCH  Upon the heath.
THIRD WITCH 
There to meet with Macbeth.
FIRST WITCH  I come, Graymalkin.
SECOND WITCH  Paddock calls.
THIRD WITCH  Anon.
ALL 
Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air.

HOST (George):
Now Before we meet Macbeth the hero, Shakespeare introduces something stranger: three figures who speak like riddles and schedule meetings with thunder. He doesn’t start with a king. He starts with a question:
What happens to a human conscience when the universe starts talking back?

Tonight I’m interviewing the witches—not to decide whether they’re “real,” but to understand what they do: how they turn language into temptation, and temptation into a plan.

This is where Shakespeare begins—Act 1, Scene 1. Three witches. Short scene. And the key line is basically a mission statement: they’ll meet Macbeth.

Macbeth: Thane of Glamis (true), Thane of Cawdor (soon true), “king hereafter.”

Banquo: “lesser than Macbeth and greater,” “not so happy, yet much happier,” and he’ll father kings.

And that’s the engine of the tragedy: once Macbeth hears “king,” his mind starts supplying methods.

And I hope We’ll also peek at Act 4, Scene 1 later, because Shakespeare brings the witches back to show what their “information” turns into when Macbeth is already committed.

HOST:
Before you speak prophecy, let’s be blunt. Are you supernatural beings? Are you symbolic? Are you hallucinations? Are you political satire?
How do you respond, WITCH 1

WITCH 1 (cool, amused):
We are what the play needs us to be:
a storm outside… and a storm inside.

HOST:
That’s poetic. I don’t want poetic. I want practical. In the first scene you do three practical things:
You appear before Macbeth appears—so the audience is primed to read the world as unstable.
You speak in compressed, memorable paradox—so the language sticks like a burr.
You set an appointment with Macbeth—so the audience anticipates a collision.
So let’s call it: you’re not “backstory.” You’re the opening argument. Is that true Witch two

WITCH 2:
Arguments don’t need knives.
They need ears.

HOST:
Good. Because the question is: why do your words find Macbeth’s ear so quickly?
When u speak, you speak in riddles and opposites. You make moral categories slippery. That famous “fair is foul” idea—whether you mean it literally or not—teaches the audience that the play will punish certainty.

Now in Act 1, Scene 3, you don’t say, “Kill Duncan.” You do something cleverer: you offer Macbeth a title he wants and let him fill in the route.

WITCH 3:
We speak the seed.
Men grow the forest.

HOST:
Exactly. You also give Macbeth something that feels like proof. Because within the same scene, Ross arrives and announces Macbeth is now Thane of Cawdor. So the prophecy doesn’t sound like fantasy—it sounds like a pattern.

Let’s make this teacher-proof:

Step one: you say “Cawdor.”

Step two: the world confirms “Cawdor.”

Step three: Macbeth concludes “therefore king.”

This is how persuasion works: you give one verifiable truth to earn belief in the unverified promise.

Banquo hears the same thing… and doesn’t implode
Banquo is the control group. He hears prophecy too. But he responds differently. He’s curious, wary, even half-joking—yet he doesn’t start plotting murder in the same breath.
So witches: if your words are identical, why is the result different? What do you think, WITCH 1?

WITCH 1:
Because we don’t create ambition.
We locate it.

Let me comment on your plans - you witches 
don’t force Macbeth to do anything—what they do is make his ambition feel like fate. They plant a suggestion, and Macbeth builds the staircase.

Let me say that again, because it’s the key to the whole play: prophecy isn’t a chain. It’s an invitation. The witches offer a future, and Macbeth supplies the method.

Think of it like striking a match in a room full of dry paper. The witches are the match. Macbeth’s ambition is the dry paper. You can’t blame the match for the fire if the room wasn’t already ready to burn.

Remember - The witches invite; Macbeth chooses.”
They don’t command murder; they make murder sound inevitable.”
“Their magic isn’t some kind of fancy lightning—it’s language.”

“They offer the crown; Macbeth invents the knife.”
“The prophecy doesn’t make him king. It makes him impatient.”
“Ambition hears what it wants and calls it destiny.” - and it can be said that is even true with the political situation in the United States today.

And here are several phrases that help to explain the entire play  
“Prediction is not permission.”
“The witches light the match; Macbeth supplies the fuel.”
“He calls it fate so he won’t call it choice.”

HOST (George):
Before Shakespeare gives us Macbeth, the hero… he gives us the witches.
Not Macbeth. Not the king. Not a battle.
Three strange voices in a storm.

And Shakespeare does that for a reason: because this play is going to ask one simple question, over and over:
What happens to a human being when a dangerous idea sounds like destiny?

Let me say that in plain English— The witches don’t make Macbeth do anything. They make Macbeth feel like what he already wants is “meant to happen.”

And when something feels “meant to happen,” people stop calling it a choice. They start calling it fate.

And when you call it fate, you can do almost anything—
because you don’t feel responsible anymore.

That’s the engine of Macbeth.
That’s the engine of the witches.

And I’m going to say that again, because your listener is driving and doing dishes and halfway listening:
The witches aren’t handcuffs. The witches are a whisper.
A whisper that says: You’re special.
A crown is waiting for you.
This isn’t just a wish—this is your future.

Now—let’s meet them exactly where Shakespeare meets them.

We start with Act 1, Scene 1. The witches appear, they speak briefly, and they say one thing that matters like a drumbeat:

They will meet Macbeth.

Then we go to Act 1, Scene 3, where they actually meet Macbeth and Banquo and give the predictions.

And later—just a quick glimpse—we’ll peek at Act 4, Scene 1, because Shakespeare brings the witches back to prove something:
their “predictions” don’t calm Macbeth down.
They make him worse.

So: Act 1 Scene 1, Act 1 Scene 3, and a taste of Act 4 Scene 1.

That’s our map.

HOST:
Witches—let’s start with the obvious.
You get the opening scene.
Not Macbeth. Not Duncan.
Why?

WITCH 1 (dry, confident):
Because we are not background.
We are the climate.

HOST:
Yes. And “climate” is the perfect word.
Shakespeare isn’t telling us, “Here are three spooky characters.”
He’s telling us, “Here is the kind of world you’re entering.”

A world where:
language is slippery
moral labels reverse
and temptation speaks first
And your famous idea—“fair is foul, foul is fair”—isn’t just poetry. It’s a warning sign.

Let me say this simply:
The witches begin the play to train your ears.
To make you suspicious of neat answers.
To make you ready for confusion.
To make you ready for a man who will talk himself into murder.

The witches come first because Shakespeare wants the audience to breathe in the poison before Macbeth does.
You feel the air change.
Then you watch what that air does to a human mind.

And I’ll say it another way—
Shakespeare introduces the witches first so that when Macbeth later says something “crazy,” we already know the world is tilted.
We’ve seen the tilt.

So this isn’t “complicated.”
It’s actually very simple.
Shakespeare is handing you the rules of the game.

HOST:
Now—here’s the question that some people have a problem with.
Do the witches force Macbeth to do evil?
Witches—do you make him do it?

WITCH 2 (almost laughing):
We do not drag.
We do not shove.
We do not hold the knife.

HOST:
Right. And that’s the point I want the listener to feel in their bones:
The witches do not create Macbeth’s ambition. They trigger it.
Let me repeat that in the plainest possible way:
Macbeth is not a puppet. Macbeth is a man.
And a man can be tempted—without being controlled.
Now again, shorter—so it sticks:

Prophecy is not a chain. Prophecy is a spark.

And again, with an image—because images are what people remember:
The witches strike the match. Macbeth decides whether the room burns.

The witches don’t make Macbeth wicked. They make wickedness feel reasonable.

That is Shakespeare being easy.
He’s showing you how temptation works.

Temptation rarely says, “Be evil.”
Temptation says, “You deserve it.”
Temptation says, “It’s meant to be.”
Temptation says, “Everyone would do it.”

That’s not supernatural.
That’s human.

ACT 1, SCENE 3: THE PREDICTIONS 
HOST:
Now we arrive at Act 1, Scene 3.
Here’s what happens, plainly:
You greet Macbeth and Banquo, and you give Macbeth three labels:
Thane of Glamis — already true
Thane of Cawdor — about to become true
King hereafter — the dangerous one

Now let me slow down and do this in a way a distracted listener can follow.
The witches earn trust with something that becomes provable.
Cawdor comes true quickly.
So Macbeth’s mind goes: “If that’s true… maybe the crown is true.”
That is persuasion.

And I’ll repeat it because repetition is the whole point:
One true prediction makes the next prediction sound inevitable.

And again:

Once Macbeth sees one prophecy “work,” he starts treating the witches like a calendar of his future.

And again—different angle:

The witches don’t need to be “powerful.” They only need to be “right once.”

That’s how scams work.
That’s how manipulation works.
That’s how self-deception works.

Now—here’s the part that makes Shakespeare easy:

Macbeth’s mind reveals itself immediately.
He begins imagining murder.
Shakespeare doesn’t hide it.
He shows you the gears turning.
So if someone tells you, “Macbeth is hard,” you can say:
No, it’s not hard. Shakespeare puts the psychology right on the table.

Let me say that again,
Shakespeare is easy when you remember: he shows you the thought process. He does not require you to guess it.

THE CONTROL GROUP: BANQUO
HOST:
Now here’s how we know the witches are not magical remote control devices:
Banquo hears prophecies too.

Same witches.
Same storm.
Same moment.

But Banquo doesn’t start plotting murder.
And that’s crucial.
Let me say it plainly:
If the witches were controlling everyone, Banquo would be controlled too.

In other words, Banquo proves Macbeth has a choice.

Now again, with a simple image:
Two men stand in the same rain. One gets wet; one says, “This weather is dangerous.”

Banquo is cautious. Macbeth is hungry.
And witches—this leads to a very practical conclusion:
Your power depends on what you find in the person you meet.

WITCH 3:
We do not build the desire.
We point at it.

HOST:
Exactly. That’s the line. And I’m going to say the idea again—because I want you to “get it”:
The witches do not insert ambition into Macbeth. They identify it—and then they flatter it.
And I’ll say it again:
The witches don’t create the fire. They find the tinder.

They find the weak spot—and they press it with words.
Words.
Not ropes.
Not chains.
Words.

That’s Shakespeare.
That’s human behavior.

HOST:
Now, if you really want to understand the witches, you need one simple word:
Equivocation.
It means: speaking in a way that sounds clear…
but is actually slippery.
It’s like a promise with a trapdoor.
And the witches do this constantly.
They say things that can be heard in more than one way.

The witches talk like fortune cookies with teeth.
They speak in sentences that are true—but not in the way you think.

They don’t lie. They twist.
And again—because this is the core skill of the witches:
They give Macbeth a meaning he wants—and they let him ignore the meaning he needs.

This is why Shakespeare starts the play with them.
Because the play is about how language can mislead you…
especially when you want to be misled.

HOST:
Now we jump ahead briefly—because it proves our thesis.

In Act 4, Scene 1, Macbeth returns to the witches and demands more knowledge.

Notice that: he comes back.

He’s no longer an observer.
He’s a customer.
And what do the witches give him?
Predictions that sound like safety.
Things that make him feel invincible.
And what happens to an ambitious man when he feels invincible?

He gets reckless.
He starts doing stupid things that he cannot possibly accomplish.
He gets cruel.
He stops hesitating.

And the later prophecies in the play don’t calm Macbeth down. They remove his brakes.

Again,
Prophecy becomes permission.
He mistakes riddles for armor.

The witches don’t just predict Macbeth’s future. They shape his confidence—and his confidence shapes his violence.

That’s not abstract.
That’s cause and effect.
And we're even seeing that politically today.

Think of the witches are a dramatization of temptation.
Not temptation as a command—temptation as a story you tell yourself.
They offer Macbeth a story: “You are destined.”
And the minute Macbeth believes that story, he begins to behave like a man who has permission to rush destiny.

And I’ll repeat that—because repetition is the lesson:
The witches give Macbeth a story. Macbeth turns the story into a plan.

Again:

They offer a future. He invents the shortcut.

Again:

They speak the headline. He writes the crime.

That’s Shakespeare being easy.
It’s not complicated.
It’s human.

HOST:
If you remember nothing else from this episode, remember this:

The witches don’t make Macbeth evil. They make evil feel like destiny.
And when evil feels like destiny, a man stops saying “I chose it”
and starts saying, “It was meant to be.”

That’s the trap.
That’s the play.

“Prediction is not permission.”
Prophecy is a spark, not a chain.”
“They strike the match; Macbeth supplies the fuel.”
“They offer a crown; he invents the knife.”
“Ambition hears what it wants and calls it fate.”
“The witches don’t drag him. They flatter him.”
“One true prediction makes the next one dangerous.”

And most importantly, The witches are not the hand that stabs.
They are the voice that makes stabbing become inevitable.

So Shakespeare begins with the witches because he wants you to watch something simple:

A man hears a promise.
And the promise doesn’t just sit there.
It starts working inside him.

And the audience learns, right away, that the scariest “supernatural” force in this play isn’t thunder or spells.

It’s the way a human mind can take a few words—
king hereafter—
and turn them into a private obsession.

Let me say that one last time, because I want you to reach that “aha” moment:

Macbeth isn’t hard. Macbeth is clear.
The witches give Macbeth an idea.
Macbeth repeats the idea to himself.
And repetition turns the idea into a reality.

That’s how the witches work.
That’s how Macbeth falls.
And that’s why Shakespeare starts exactly where he starts.

Next episode, we meet Macbeth in full—right after the prophecy—
and we watch him do the most human thing in the world:
he tries to call his desire “fate” so he won’t have to call it “choice.”

And if that sounds complicated—no.
It’s the simplest thing Shakespeare ever wrote.
And he wrote it so that anybody listening—driving, folding laundry, washing dishes—
could still understand it.

Because once you understand the witches…
you understand the whole play.

“The witches do not say ‘kill Duncan’—Macbeth supplies that.”

So here’s the uncomfortable question Shakespeare puts in our lap: if someone told you your dream was “destined,” would that make you more patient—or would it make you feel entitled to take it?


Sources Include:  The Norton Complete Works of William Shakespeare, The Essential Shakespeare Handbook, Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying the Works of Shakespeare by Isaac Asimov, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom, The Globe Guide to Shakespeare, The Plays, The Productions, The Life, Shakesfear and How to Cure It, by Ralph Cohen, and ChatGPT four.

Thank you for listening to celebrate creativity and conversations with Shakespeare.