ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -It is Banquo who first describes the Witches. His words in Act 1, Scene 3 depict the Witches as stereotypical hags – ‘withered’ and ‘wild’, unearthly beings (’That look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ Earth’) with ‘skinny lips’, chapped (’choppy’) fingers and beards (1.3. 40–46).

Detailed explanation-2: -Macbeth has been thinking about whether or not he should murder Duncan. He reaches the conclusion that the only thing that is motivating him (his ‘spur’) is ambition which he compares to a horse leaping over an obstacle (’vaulting ambition’).

Detailed explanation-3: -In Shakespeare’s well-known play Macbeth, the minor characters The Three Witches otherwise known as the three weird sisters, prey on Macbeth’s ambition to be king. They do so by pushing their supernatural power and understanding of others weakness to explain their prophecy and watch it unfold.

Detailed explanation-4: -Many of their predictions are ambiguous . The Witches are clearly unlike any other characters in the play. Their physical appearance, their style of speech, their actions and their apparent ability to predict the future sets them apart from the humans they seek to control.