Thread by @GCSE_Macbeth

Very Good Value Quotes

#3: "Fair is foul and foul is fair." (1:1)

1/

Shakespeare uses the witches to state a theme in the play: the confusion of good and evil. Macbeth must turn from FAIR to FOUL. He must put on a fair mask while acting evilly beneath it.

The line between good and evil is very fine.

2/

Evil pollutes good things, turning then FOUL: Macbeth and LM are permanently damaged by their evil acts. The atmosphere in the castle changes after Duncan's murder. Unnatural events occur beyond its walls.

3/

It also suggests the onset of tyranny: the ability of Macbeth, when he takes power, to distort justice to his whims -- as in 4:2 Lady Macduff "to do good sometime accounted dangerous folly."

4/

The quote also introduces ambiguity about the witches have -- Macbeth's first words are "So foul and fair a day I have not seen", perhaps indicating that he is under their influence.

5/

It's also a quote about fate, linked to the genre of tragedy. What seems FAIR for M is in reality FOUL: the promise of the crown that leads to his death. When M echoes those words on the battlefield they remind us that power is often won or maintained through violent means.

6/

Indeed, they could also be suggesting something about the nature of human power and justice -- it must sometimes be asserted violently.

7/

It also introduces the juxtaposition of opposing ideas that becomes a key part of Shakespeare's language in the play, for example the light/dark imagery that is so pervasive.

8/

So all in all, a great quote to link to a wide range of ideas and arguments.

9/9