Macbeth and the Witches

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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.

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