ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -At the end of Act 1, Scene 1, the three witches say ‘’Fair is foul and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. ‘’ Foul means bad or evil, and fair means good. To hover means to fly. So a literal translation of this statement could be ‘Good is evil and evil is good/Fly through the fog and dirty air.

Detailed explanation-2: -The actual meaning of the ‘fair is foul’ couplet is fairly straightforward. Essentially the witches are stating their upside down view of the world: what is good, or ‘fair’ to others is evil or ‘foul’ to them, and vice versa. The ‘fog and filthy air’ presumably refers to the type of environment in which they thrive.

Detailed explanation-3: -The phrase “Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair” (Act 1, Scene 1) is chanted by the three witches at the beginning of the play. It acts as a summary of what is to come in the tale. Shakespeare uses the phrase to show that what is considered good is in fact bad and what is considered bad is actually good.

Detailed explanation-4: -In thunder, lightning, or in rain? / When the hurly-burly’s done, When the battle’s lost and won. / That will be ere the set of sun. / Where the place? Upon the heath. / There to meet with Macbeth.” “Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air.” “All hail, Macbeth!