Plot Summary
Act I, Scene III of Macbeth opens on a desolate heath amid thunder, where the three witches reconvene after their previous meeting. The First Witch recounts how she plans to torment a sailor whose wife refused to share chestnuts with her, demonstrating the witches' petty cruelty and supernatural reach. A drum signals the approach of Macbeth and Banquo, returning from their victory in battle. The witches perform a brief ritual charm before the two generals arrive.
Upon encountering the strange figures, Banquo describes their wild and withered appearance, noting they look unlike any earthly inhabitants. Macbeth commands them to speak, and the witches deliver their famous triple prophecy: they hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis (his current title), Thane of Cawdor, and finally as the future King of Scotland. When Banquo presses them for his own fortune, they answer in paradoxes—he will be "lesser than Macbeth, and greater" and "not so happy, yet much happier"—and prophesy that his descendants will be kings, though he himself will never reign. The witches vanish before Macbeth can demand further explanation.
Moments later, Ross and Angus arrive bearing news from King Duncan: Macbeth is to receive the title Thane of Cawdor, as the previous thane has been condemned for treason. The immediate fulfillment of the first prophecy stuns both men. Macbeth delivers his first great aside, wrestling with the implications of the witches' words and contemplating whether he might achieve the crown through fate alone or whether he must act—a thought that fills him with horror.
Character Development
This scene marks a pivotal transformation in Macbeth's character. The confident warrior who entered the heath becomes a man consumed by "horrible imaginings." His aside reveals that the thought of murder has already entered his mind unbidden, even as he recoils from it. Shakespeare shows us a man whose ambition exists before the witches speak—their prophecy merely unlocks what was already latent within him.
Banquo serves as Macbeth's moral counterpart throughout the scene. Where Macbeth is visibly shaken and enthralled by the prophecies, Banquo maintains a healthy skepticism, warning that "the instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles, to betray's / In deepest consequence." His caution highlights the choice Macbeth is already beginning to make.
Themes and Motifs
The scene introduces the play's central tension between fate and free will. The witches present what appears to be destiny, yet Macbeth's reaction reveals that human choice remains essential—he must decide whether to act on what he has heard. The appearance versus reality motif pervades the scene, from the witches' ambiguous forms to the prophecies' deceptive clarity. Banquo's clothing metaphor—"New honors come upon him, / Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould / But with the aid of use"—introduces the recurring borrowed robes imagery that questions whether Macbeth truly fits the roles thrust upon him.
Literary Devices
Shakespeare employs dramatic irony throughout: the audience already knows Duncan has condemned the Thane of Cawdor, making the witches' prophecy less supernatural revelation and more confirmation of events in motion. Macbeth's opening line, "So foul and fair a day I have not seen," creates a direct verbal echo of the witches' "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" from Act I, Scene I, binding him to them before they even speak. The witches' prophecies for Banquo are delivered in paradox and antithesis, while Macbeth's extended aside uses metaphor and personification—his "seated heart knock[ing] at my ribs"—to dramatize the physical toll of moral conflict.