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Third Witch

The Tragedy of Macbeth · 12 speeches across 3 scenes

Third of three Weird Sisters; a witch who prophecies Macbeth's rise and fall.

Who they are

Witch 3 is part of the trio that sets the play's tragic events in motion. She contributes to the prophecies (hailing Macbeth as future king) and participates in the cauldron scene, reinforcing the supernatural forces that tempt and deceive Macbeth. Her role amplifies the theme of fate versus free will, though she, like the others, remains peripheral to the main action.

Playing them

Play her as a sharp, unruly counterpoint to the lead witches—quick, guttural, and slightly unhinged. Physicality should be jagged and feral; vocal quality can vary from a cackle to a whisper. The line 'Harpier cries ’Tis time' suggests a primal connection to the occult, so let her crackle with impatience. Avoid monotony: each scene demands a different energy (playful in 1.1, ominous in 1.3, maniacal in 4.1).

Appearance

Often costumed in tattered, weather-worn fabrics with a distinct mark or accessory (e.g., a third eye, crooked hand, or animal bone). Her makeup should be harsher or more chaotic than the others, implying deeper decay. Traditionally bears a prop like a staff or blade for stirring the cauldron.

Worth knowing

The Weird Sisters (from Old English 'wyrd,' meaning fate) draw on folklore of the Fates but were associated with witch panics in James I's reign. Shakespeare amplified their darkness from Holinshed's chronicles, where they appear as 'creatures of the elder world.'

Where they appear

Play Third Witch

Take the part and Yorick reads every other role aloud, following you line by line as you speak.

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Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.