Act 1 Scene 3, there is thunder when the witches meet again. The idea of them being evil is reinforced because in this scene because they are cursing a sailor. This suggests that Macbeth will also face a similar type of treatment. The mystery of the witches is increased in this scene because they know Macbeth is coming when the third witch tells the other two, ‘Macbeth doth come.´ This raises the question of how they knew he was coming and reinforces the link between Macbeth and the witches, which suggests to the audience that Macbeth is evil from the beginning of the play. This link is further reinforced when Macbeth´s first line using the same equivocal as the witches, ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen´.
Banquo is wary of the witches and does not really want to believe that they really because he says ‘That look not like th´ inhabitants o´ th´ earth´, which adds further to their mystery because they are described as being unnatural. However, the suggestion that Macbeth is somehow acquainted with them is again shown when he talks to them directly without fear and asks 'What are you?´ Nevertheless, this shows to an extent that Macbeth also saw the witches as being unnatural because he enquires about what they are but he does not appear to be afraid.
They then avoid this question and tell Macbeth his prophecies as though this was the purpose all along. Their prophecies give rise to the question whether they knew that he was already Thane of Glamis and the next Thane of Cawdor. This adds to the mystery of the witches and provides some more evidence of the suggestion that they were well acquainted with Macbeth.
After the witches have told Macbeth his prophecies, Banquo begins to ask about himself and is told with an equivocal that his children will be Kings but he will not. I believe that during this time Macbeth is thinking deeply about what he is told because as soon as the witches have finished telling Banquo, Macbeth becomes even more inquisitive. He says to them, ‘Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more´. This tells us that he has also picked up the fact that they are speaking equivocally because he says that their speech is imperfect. Nevertheless, he asks them to tell him more, which suggests that he understands the speech of the witches, reinforcing the idea that he is well-acquainted with them and understands them. He speaks to the witches without fear and says to them ‘Speak, I charge you´. However at this point they disappear, which reinforces the mysteriousness of them and suggests that even Macbeth cannot control them, giving us the impression that they are the most powerful characters in the play.
