... of the play are far more than Malcolm conceives, and the utter desolation they cause is the evidence of this. Despite these facts, Macbeth and his wife cannot rationalise their heinous deeds with any sense of logic. Ominously, Shakespeare opens the play in 'thunder and lightning ... The witches themselves are rebuked by their leader Hecate for their 'saucy and overbold' actions of daring to 'trade and traffic with Macbeth in riddles and affairs of death'. When they bluntly, and sequentially, offer him the information that he will be Glamis, Cawdor and &apos ... does it exc...

• Word Count: 1419
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate