“Fair is foul, foul is fair,

Hover through the fog and filthy air.”

Location- Act 1 Scene 1 line 9-10

Speaker- Three witches together.
Sense contained- Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is a tragedy of the triumph of evil:
we are in a world of moral anarchy, symbolized by the withered beings, to
whom “foul is fair.” This creates the paradox which in the principle of the play.
It foreshadows the deception of Macbeth, in that the prophecies of witches
might lead him to greatness, but they would destroy him instead. It is the
reversal of conventional values which is the central significance of Satan. From
the world of order, the order of the world of disorder can only be a conjecture.
From the world of thesis, the world of antithesis cannot be judged- for ‘fair’,
fair is fair but for ‘foul’, foul is fair. Throughout the play Macbeth oscillates
from fair to foul and foul to fair thus becoming a hell hound with his
conscience. Macbeth is the victor and the vanquished. The message of the
witches is fair to Macbeth, but foul to Banquo. Although he is told that his sons
would be kings, Banquo is able to see through the witches’ enticing lies and
warns Macbeth to be careful with the words he has just heard. But Banquo’s
warnings do not do much to dissuade Macbeth from pursuing such a perverted
path because he had the sight of evil within himself. The witches pronounce
Macbeth’s emotional climate and perhaps there is a hint of action in that
“hover”. With the mention of “fog and filthy air” it denotes the weather is not
favorable rather hostile to men, most disagreeable. It symbolizes evil running
rampant obtaining its mastery over all things. From the perspective of usage of
literary device- It is a very good use of consonance “f”, as fair, foul, foul, fair
shows mastery of the playwright.
“Shakes so my single state of man
That function is smothered in surmise,
And nothing is, what is not.”

Location- Act 1 Scene 3 line 142-144

Speaker- Macbeth aside (This line is uttered as an aside after the witches have
given the prophecy that Macbeth will be Thane of two lands and also King)
Sense contained- Human nature is conducted in terms of the divine pyramid
hierarchical order of providential, political and personal. Man is a universe in
miniature, a microcosm that is sympathetically connected to the macrocosm.
Thus when Macbeth’s “single state of mind” is shaken when his hand which
should bow in a gesture of obedience to Duncan, grab the dagger to decide his
destiny, there is a corresponding disruption in the other two. Even though it’s
just a fantasy so far, the mere thought of committing murder shakes Macbeth up
so much that he hardly knew who he was anymore. His ability to act is stifled
by his thoughts and speculations, and the only things that mattered to him were
things that didn’t really exist. He is confused by the equation of reality with
fantasy and is uncertain of what to do. Nothing is real to him except his
imaginings which seem wild and out of place. Witches are appearing out of
nowhere, he is being awarded titles he didn't expect, and the crown is within his
grasp. It's all moving so fast and is so exciting, but has deadly and wicked
potential. If he does indeed become king, Macbeth realizes that something that
is not at present true must take place. Therefore, what exists now will become
"what is not." He is "smother'd in surmise" as he deliberates, and is disturbed by
his "fantastical" contemplation of regicide as a means of hurrying what is
apparently destined to happen. The audience is made privy to Macbeth's state of
mind from the first. He registers both through his body and in language of
powerful emotional affect, as in his reaction to the Sisters’ prophecies.
“Yet do I fear thy nature,
It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness”

Location- Act 1 Scene 5 line 15-16

Speaker- Lady Macbeth
Sense contained- Lady Macbeth says this line right after reading a letter from
Macbeth. In the letter Macbeth informs Lady Macbeth of the witches prophecies
of him becoming king, so Lady Macbeth is overjoyed but then she thinks to
herself that she has to do everything in her power to make the prophecy come
true because Macbeth isn't as ruthless as she is. She feels that he is too kind by
nature to do what needs to be done in order to become king. According to her,
Macbeth wants to be powerful. She also knows her husband is ambitious, but
she is afraid that he doesn't have the "illness", or the unscrupulous disregard for
goodness, to act heinously and kill Duncan to gain the crown for himself. The
first half of the prophecy has already come true, and Lady Macbeth is in a hurry
to make sure the second half comes true too. As fluids go, Lady Macbeth is
more inclined to murderous blood than nurturing milk. Lady Macbeth further
plans to persuade her husband in doing what is fit to achieve his desires.
Shakespeare pictured Lady Macbeth as the fourth lady responsible for the
playing with the mind of Macbeth, the other three being the weird sisters (three
witches).
“Bring forth men children only”

Location- Act 1 Scene 7 line 61

Speaker- Macbeth
Sense contained- Macbeth says that may Lady Macbeth only give birth to male
children, because her fearless spirit should create nothing that isn’t masculine.
Macbeth is compelled to tell her to give birth to only male child her strong and
brutal resolution. Macbeth means to say that in her strong and cruel disposition
she seems to lose her feminine qualities, that is why, she can only give birth to
male child. Macbeth's poetical imagination is very much genuine. And Lady
Macbeth's strong personality and active mind are well-revealed here. It also
somewhat shows that he is less of a man because he allows his wife to act as the
stronger man. Macbeth wishing only male children on his wife is what she
wanted when she called for the spirits to take her femininity, and it is received
like a compliment. He sees bold masculinity as heroic and daring, while she
uses it for cruelty and brutality. After this remark he immediately turns around
and goes along with her plan, suggesting that the mention of children showed
his ambition and need to continue the bloodline through sons. It seems that
Shakespeare continues to create an absolute male culture which dominates all
facets of the play, even the possible offspring of Lady Macbeth. There is no
room in the play for motherly love or young daughters.