The Tragedy of Macbeth

In plain English

When will we three meet again? Will it be during a thunderstorm, lightning, or rain?

What’s happening

The play opens with these three witches on a desolate heath. They are ending one meeting and already planning their next gathering. This opener immediately establishes the supernatural and chaotic tone of the play, framing the witches as agents who operate through and within violent natural disturbances.

Worth knowing

James I, who was Shakespeare's patron and the intended audience for this play, was deeply interested in—and terrified of—witchcraft, even authoring a treatise on the subject called 'Daemonologie' in 1597. The witches' association with stormy weather reflects contemporary beliefs that witches could control or predict the weather.

Playing the moment

The question of how to deliver these opening lines is one of the most debated in Shakespearean performance. The lines demand a vocal quality that is unsettling and otherworldly. Most modern productions favor a slow, deliberate, and almost seductive rhythm, but some traditional performances used a shrill, cackling delivery. The key is to make the 'when' feel like a genuine supernatural inquiry, and the tripartite weather choices ('thunder, lightning, or in rain') should be given a rising, accumulative energy that sounds almost like an incantation or a spell being cast.

In plain English

When the chaos and turmoil are over, when the battle has been both lost and won.

What’s happening

Witch 2 answers the first witch's question about timing with riddling ambiguity. The line establishes these creatures as figures who see beyond simple outcomes—'lost and won' is the same event from different perspectives. The witch is performing her role in the ritual, building momentum toward the meeting on the heath.

Worth knowing

The play was written shortly after the Gunpowder Plot (1605), and the 'hurly-burly' of rebellion and civil unrest would have resonated with contemporary audiences. James I, the new king, had a well-documented fascination with witchcraft.

Playing the moment

Most directors have the witches deliver these lines in eerie unison or in tight, rhythmic sequence. The delivery should feel incantatory—like completing a spell rather than answering a question. Savor the paradox in 'lost and won.' Some productions slow down on this phrase; others speed through it with a hissing, whispered quality.

In plain English

That will happen before sunset.

What’s happening

Witch 3 answers the opening question with confident immediacy—the meeting is hours away, not days. This line establishes the witches' supernatural knowledge; they know exactly when the battle will end. It cuts against the uncertainty of the first two witches' questions with startling certainty.

Playing the moment

Play the certainty. This witch knows something the others don't, or is willing to declare it. The line should land with an almost relishing quality—there's pleasure in the knowledge and in what's coming. The shortness of the line (8 syllables) creates a clipped, prophetic finality. Some productions have this witch step forward or separate from the group, claiming authority. Consider a pause after 'ere' to let the prophecy land—the battle ends at sunset, and with it, the world changes.

In plain English

Where will we meet?

What’s happening

The first witch has established when they will reunite (before sunset). Now she needs the location. This rapid-fire exchange of questions among the three witches builds an atmosphere of dark ritual and shared purpose. The first witch is eager, driving the planning forward with clipped, urgent questions.

Playing the moment

Keep this short and sharp — three clipped syllables that cut through the verse. The abruptness is deliberate: Shakespeare strips the grammar to its bones (omitting 'is') to make these creatures sound alien and purposeful. Some productions have the first witch already moving, already restless to leave, which the brevity of the line supports. Deliver it as demand, not idle curiosity — they have dark business to attend to.

In plain English

Out on the open moorland.

What’s happening

Witch 2 answers the first witch's question about their meeting place with swift certainty. The brevity mirrors the ritualistic, back-and-forth rhythm the witches establish — each supplying pieces of a shared plan. This is less conversation than incantation; the answer comes instantly, as if the location was already known.

Worth knowing

A heath is uncultivated, open wasteland — a landscape associated with wildness, exile, and the edges of civilization. For Shakespeare's audience, the heath would evoke danger and the presence of evil spirits. The choice signals that the witches operate in a space outside Christian order.

Playing the moment

Keep it short and certain — this is not deliberation but confirmation. Resist the urge to embellish. The power lies in the clipped, almost dismissive delivery. Some actors let a grin or dark anticipation flicker here, knowing the heath is where Macbeth's fate will seal. The speed of the answer should contrast with any weight you give to 'Macbeth' in the following line.

In plain English

We'll meet him there on the heath. That's where we'll encounter Macbeth.

What’s happening

The third Witch completes the scene's setup by naming their target. This is the first mention of Macbeth in the play, and it lands with the weight of a curse being placed. The Witches now know when, where, and who — the trap is set. The line should feel like a prophecy being sealed.

Worth knowing

James I, who watched this play, was obsessed with witchcraft and believed witches had tried to kill him via storm-raising. Naming Macbeth here links him immediately to demonic forces — the audience would understand this as spiritually damning before he even appears.

Playing the moment

This is the most important line of the scene — the name 'Macbeth' must land. Tradition holds that it should be delivered with a sense of grim satisfaction or dark relish. Many directors have the Witches say 'Macbeth' in unison or whisper it. The Royal Shakespeare Company's productions often treat this moment as the play's true point of no return.

In plain English

I'm coming, Graymalkin. She's calling to her familiar spirit, embodied as a gray cat.

What’s happening

The First Witch responds to a summons—likely from her familiar spirit or the other witches' familiars calling them to action. The brief exchange of familiar names creates an incantatory rhythm, building toward their collective departure. Each witch is tied to a specific demonic animal companion.

Worth knowing

Graymalkin was a common name for a gray cat ('malkin' being a diminutive of Maud or Matilda, often used for cats). In Jacobean England, familiars—animal spirits believed to serve witches—were a fixture of witchcraft belief and featured prominently in trials. King James I himself wrote about familiars in his Daemonologie (1597), making this detail politically resonant for Shakespeare's audience.

Playing the moment

Keep it brief and eerie—this is a throwaway line that should feel casual yet unsettling. Some actors deliver it affectionately to an unseen cat; others make Graymalkin a spirit only the witch perceives. The vocal quality should suggest intimacy with something inhuman. Match the clipped, ritualistic rhythm Polanski's 1971 film leans into this creepy domesticity.

In plain English

The toad spirit is calling us — let's go! Beautiful is ugly, and ugly is beautiful. Let's fly through the fog and filthy air.

What’s happening

All three witches speak in unison as they prepare to depart. Graymalkin (a cat) has already been called by the First Witch; now Paddock (a toad), another familiar spirit, signals it's time to leave. They head off to meet Macbeth, chanting their signature paradox that establishes the play's central theme of moral inversion.

Worth knowing

Paddock is an archaic word for a toad, here serving as a witch's familiar — a spirit in animal form. The cat Graymalkin and the toad Paddock reflect contemporary Jacobean beliefs about witches' familiars. The line 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair' echoes the historical association of witchcraft with the inversion of natural order.

Playing the moment

The first line should be quick and urgent — a summons answered. The second line is the most famous in the speech and should be delivered with unsettling conviction; it is the play's thesis statement. Many productions have the witches speak it in eerie unison, slowly, almost as a ritual chant. The final line should build in momentum, suggesting actual flight or disappearance. Consider varying volume: sharp and clipped on line one, measured and hypnotic on line two, then accelerating into line three.