act iv, scene i a house in forres. in the middle, a boiling cauldron...

Act IV, Scene i

A house in Forres. In the middle, a boiling cauldron Thunder. Enter the three WITCHES

FIRST WITCH Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd. SECOND WITCH Thrice and once the hedge-pig whin'd. THIRD WITCH Harpier cries. 'Tis time, 'tis time. FIRST WITCH Round about the cauldron go. In the poison'd entrails throw. Toad, that under cold stone Days and nights has thirty-one Swelter'd venom, sleeping got, Boil thou first i' th' charmed pot. ALL Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. SECOND WITCH Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake. Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and howlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. ALL Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

"brinded" = a variation on branded (here, branded as if with fire and so having a brindled or streaked appearance) "hedge-pig" = hedgehog "Harpier" = This may be the familiar (unnamed in Act I, Scene i) to whom the Third Witch has earlier called "Anon." The name Harpier is probably derived from Harpy. In Greek myth, the Harpies were ugly bird-women who prophesied sad destinies and were famed for their viciousness and their snatching of food. There were three: Aello ("storm-swift"), Celaeno ("the dark"), and Ocypete ("the swift wing"). "'Tis time" = time to begin the ritual brewing of the "charmed pot"

"cauldron" = pot in which the concoction is brewed "entrails" = guts "Swelter'd" = emitted (as sweat) "sleeping got" = taken while it was sleeping

"Fillet of a fenny snake" = slice ("fillet") of a swamp snake ("fenny"—adjective form of fen, a bog) "Adder's fork" = forked tongue of a snake ("adder"). Note that the forked-tongue is an effective symbol of equivocation. "blind-worm" = slow-worm (a legless lizard) "howlet" = baby owl

THIRD WITCH Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, Witches' mummy, maw and gulf Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark, Root of hemlock digg'd i' th' dark, Liver of blaspheming Jew, Gall of goat, and slips of yew Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse, Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips, Finger of birth-strangled babe Ditch-deliver'd by a drab, Make the gruel thick and slab: Add thereto a tiger's chaudron, For the ingredience of our cauldron. ALL Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. SECOND WITCH Cool it with a baboon's blood. Then the charm is firm and good. Enter HECATE and three other witches HECATE O well done! I commend your pains. And every one shall share i' th' gains. And now about the cauldron sing, Live elves and fairies in a ring, Enchanting all that you put in. Music and a song: "Black Spirits," etcetera Exeunt HECATE and the three other witches

"mummy" = medicine (used for both evil and good purposes; concocted as liquids or powders derived from dead bodies) "maw and gulf" = stomach and throat "ravin'd" = overstuffed with food "Root of hemlock digg'd i' th' dark" = Night was believed to be the time when witches must gather poisonous herbs and roots. Recall that Banquo speaks in Act I, Scene iii of the "insane root," which is a reference to hemlock or henbane, possibly deadly nightshade. "blaspheming" = God-cursing "Gall of goat" = Gall is bitter stomach fluid (recall that, in her invocation of the "murd'ring ministers," Lady Macbeth invites the evil spirits to "take [her] milk for gall"). The goat is traditionally associated with excessive sexual desire. "slips of yew / Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse" = cuttings of yew branches, sliced off ("sliver'd") on the night of a lunar eclipse (and therefore a decidedly dark night). The yew tree is a symbol of death (and resurrection) and was believed in Shakespeare's age to be poisonous. "Turk and Tartar" = These cultural figures commonly stood, in Elizabethan reference, as standard figures of the heathen (a person, or a group of people, that does not embrace the Christian faith). "birth-strangled babe" = stillborn infant, strangled by the umbilical cord "Ditch-deliver'd by a drab" = (the infant) delivered in a ditch, with a slut ("drab") serving as the midwife "slab" = sticky "Add thereto a tiger's chaudron" = to that ("thereto") add a tiger's entrails ("chaudron") "ingredience" = Note: not ingredients (the plural noun), but ingredience (a collective noun)

Here is more of Middleton's meddling (probably). It is seldom included in productions of Macbeth.

SECOND WITCH By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. Open, locks, Whoever knocks! Enter MACBETH MACBETH How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is't you do? ALL A deed without a name. MACBETH I conjure you by that which you profess, Howe'er you come to know it, answer me. Though you untie the winds and let them fight Against the churches; though the yesty waves Confound and swallow navigation up; Though bladed corn be lodg'd and trees blown down; Though castles topple on their warders' heads; Though palaces and pyramids do slope Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure Of nature's germens tumble all together, Even till destruction sicken; answer me To what I ask you. FIRST WITCH Speak. SECOND WITCH Demand. THIRD WITCH We'll answer. FIRST WITCH Say if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths Or from our masters? MACBETH Call 'em. Let me see 'em. FIRST WITCH Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten Her nine farrow. Grease that's sweaten From the murderer's gibbet throw Into the flame.

"By the pricking of my thumbs" = In this moment, the Second Witch does not prick her thumbs to draw blood. Rather, she feels a sudden pain in them. A superstition common in the age was that the sudden and unexplainable sensation of pain (a "pricking") in any part of the body was a sign of bad fortune approaching. "Open, locks, / Whoever knocks" = This witch's invitation—to one who seeks to be invited—may be derived from a New Testament passage that emphasizes the responsibility of the individual to bring about his own salvation by choosing it out of his or her own will (though, of course, the idea can be easily inverted, foul for fair, and applied to one who wishes to be damned instead). The passage is from the Gospel of Luke (11: 9 - 10). Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Yet again is emphasized the dominant idea that humans do not have their destinies forced on them. They make their own choices and thereby shape their own "fates." Incidentally, recall that the Porter's speech and his dark game (in the opening of Act II, Scene iii) are founded also on the action of knocking.

"I conjure you by that which you profess" = I call on ("conjure") you by the evil that you practice ("profess"), however you have knowledge of it (by the devil) "let them fight / Against the churches" = literally (against the buildings) and abstractly (against the institution) "yesty" = frothy (because stirred up by high winds) "Confound" = frustrate; bring trouble to "navigation" = shipping "bladed" = unripe "lodg'd" = laid flat; beaten down "warders'" = keepers'; watchmen's "slope" = bend "nature's germens" = the seeds of all natural things "till destruction sicken" = until destruction itself is sick (because so much has been destroyed)

"our masters" = the spirits we serve

"nine farrow" = litter of nine piglets. Apart from the unnaturalness of a sow that devours her own litter, which in itself is suitable to the witches, the image is consistent with earlier representations of Lady Macbeth as a demonic parody of motherhood and with the motif of abused innocence. "sweaten" = been sweated "gibbet" = gallows "office" = function "deftly" = skillfully

ALL Come, high or low. Thyself and office deftly show! Thunder FIRST APPARITION, an armed head MACBETH Tell me, thou unknown power— FIRST WITCH He knows thy thought. Hear his speech, but say thou nought. FIRST APPARITION Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough. Descends MACBETH Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks. Thou hast harp'd my fear aright. But one word more— FIRST WITCH He will not be commanded. Here's another, More potent than the first. Thunder SECOND APPARITION, a bloody child SECOND APPARITION Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! MACBETH Had I three ears, I'd hear thee. SECOND APPARITION Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth. Descends

"nought" = nothing

"harp'd my fear aright" = guessed ("harp'd") my fear correctly

"apparition" = vision; specter. In Shakespeare's theatre, the apparitions would rise out of the trapdoor in the stage floor. "armed" = armored (a battle helmet)

"a bloody child" = in keeping with the motif of abused children / innocence

"none of woman born" = no one who has been born from a woman. Notice how this prophecy appears to contradict the first (that Macduff is to be feared).

MACBETH Then live, Macduff. What need I fear of thee? But yet I'll make assurance double sure And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder. Thunder

THIRD APPARITION, a child crowned, with a tree in his hand

What is this That rises like the issue of a king And wears upon his baby brow the round And top of sovereignty? ALL Listen, but speak not to't. THIRD APPARITION Be lion-mettl'd, proud, and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are. Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him. Descends MACBETH That will never be. Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his earthbound root? Sweet bodements, good! Rebellious dead, rise never, till the wood Of Birnam rise, and our high-plac'd Macbeth Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart Throbs to know one thing. Tell me, if your art Can tell so much, shall Banquo's issue ever Reign in this kingdom? ALL Seek to know no more.

"I'll make assurance double sure / And take a bond of fate" = I'll make double sure and guarantee ("take a bond") that fate keeps its word "Thou shalt not live" = Macbeth addresses Macduff in apostrophe. "That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies" = so that I may tell my fear it is false "And sleep in spite of thunder" = Thunder was often thought to be the voice of God, reminding evildoers of their crimes and warning them to repent.

"tree" = branch (a symbol of kingship; a primitive version of the king's scepter) "issue" = child "the round / And top of sovereignty" = a crown

"be lion-mettl'd" = be made of the very substance ("mettle") of a lion (therefore, be brave) "chafes" = is angry "frets" = complains "conspirers" = conspirators; plotters of treason "until / Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill / Shall come against him" = till the forest of Birnam marches up the hill toward your castle at Dunsinane "impress" = compel; enlist (as a soldier) "bodements" = prophecies "Rebellious dead, rise never" = those dead who would rebel against Macbeth (those whom he has slain) will not rise out of their graves "Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath / To time and mortal custom" = shall live out his natural life and experience natural death (according to "mortal custom") "Banquo's issue" = the children of Banquo and their descendants

MACBETH I will be satisfied! Deny me this, And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know. Why sinks that cauldron? And what noise is this? FIRST WITCH Show! SECOND WITCH Show! THIRD WITCH Show! ALL Show his eyes, and grieve his heart. Come like shadows. So depart.

A show of eight kings, the last with a glass in his hand; BANQUO following

MACBETH Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo. Down! Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs. And thy hair, Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first. A third is like the former. Filthy hags! Why do you show me this? A fourth! Start, eyes! What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom? Another yet! A seventh! I'll see no more! And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass Which shows me many more, and some I see That two-fold balls and treble scepters carry. Horrible sight! Now, I see, 'tis true, For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me, And points at them for his. Apparitions vanish What, is this so? FIRST WITCH Ay, sir, all this is so. But why Stands Macbeth thus amazedly? Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprites And show the best of our delights. I'll charm the air to give a sound, While you perform your antic round, That this great king may kindly say, Our duties did his welcome pay. Music. The WITCHES dance and vanish

"Start, eyes" = let my eyeballs jump out of their sockets "glass" = looking-glass; mirror "gold-bound brow" = forehead circled by a crown "crack of doom" = end of the world (doomsday) "two-fold balls and treble scepters" = symbols appearing in English and Scottish heraldry "the blood-bolter'd Banquo" = Banquo with his hair knotted and tangled with coagulated blood "points at them for his" = gestures to show that they are his descendants

This passage is probably another interpolation of Middleton's.

MACBETH Where are they? Gone? Let this pernicious hour Stand aye accursed in the calendar! Come in, without there! Enter LENNOX LENNOX What's your grace's will? MACBETH Saw you the weird sisters? LENNOX No, my lord. MACBETH Came they not by you? LENNOX No, indeed, my lord. MACBETH Infected be the air whereon they ride, And damn'd all those that trust them! I did hear The galloping of horse. Who was't came by? LENNOX 'Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word Macduff is fled to England. MACBETH Fled to England! LENNOX Ay, my good lord. MACBETH [Aside] Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits. The flighty purpose never is o'ertook Unless the deed go with it. From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. And even now, To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done. The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to the edge o' th' sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool. This deed I'll do before this purpose cool. But no more sights! Where are these gentlemen? Come, bring me where they are. Exeunt

"pernicious" = evil

"thou anticipat'st my dread exploits" = you see (in advance of my response) the fearsome ("dread") actions I would carry out "The flighty purpose never is o'ertook / Unless the deed go with it" = a person's intention can never be as swift ("flighty") as he intends it unless he performs his action as soon as he thinks of it "The very firstlings of my heart shall be / The firstlings of my hand" = the first conceptions of my heart (my desires) shall appear in the same moment as my actions ("of my hand"). Note again the idea of evil acting as a virtually mindless force, of its being "thought and done" so simultaneously that no "thought" seems to occur at all. "surprise" = take by surprise "trace him in his line" = are his descendants "No boasting like a fool" = no more will I simply announce my exploits (to myself or anyone) "This deed I'll do before this purpose cool" = I'll act before I have time to change my mind. Consider how different is this Macbeth from the Macbeth who once took the time to let his "purpose cool," when he had momentarily persuaded himself that killing Duncan was a "firstling of [his] heart" that he needed to abort. "sights" = apparitions