DAVINA: Hello, everybody. My name's Davina. Welcome to our discussion of the tragedy of Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. Today we'll be talking with some of the main characters from the play, right here in the studio. And like the play itself, our conversation is sure to be exciting, surprising, baffling, and disturbing. You should prepare yourself to witness acts of blind ambition and savage violence to grapple with questions of fate and free will, and even to confront the meaninglessness of life itself. Hopefully, our interviews will encourage you to return again and again to Shakespeare's work, both as a literary text and as a masterpiece of the stage. So let's turn to the play. Macbeth was most likely written between 1603 and 1606, but the action takes place in 11th century Scotland, almost 600 years earlier. Shakespeare wrote the play partially as a tribute to James I, who was King of England during the time the play was written. Before James succeeded Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, he was already James VI, King of Scots, and believed himself to be a direct descendant of Banquo, one of the main characters in the play. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Perhaps we should start at the beginning. Shakespeare's play opens not with our hero, Macbeth, but with three weird sisters. For more on that, let's go to Ralph. 

RALPH: Thanks, Davina. And welcome to the show, everyone. Though, I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news. Our first guests, the witches, haven't made it to the studio. Turns out witches aren't the most reliable guests. 

[THUNDER] 

RALPH: But never fear. As the witches themselves say in this first scene, "fair is foul and foul is fair." So, perhaps you're disappointed that the witches can't be in studio with us—that's the foul part. But the good news is, we now have time for my slideshow about the history and importance of witches in the time of Shakespeare. You see, for Shakespeare's audience, witches were very much a part of the real world. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go ahead and start the slideshow. Oh. Oh, dear. No need to cut the lights, just cut to the PowerPoint. 

[THUNDER] 

RALPH: Oh. That's better. Oh, well, that was quite an entrance. You must be the witches. 

[HISSING] 

RALPH: Oh, sorry. I forgot. You don't like that word, witches. 

[HISSING] 

RALPH: Let's stick to the weird sisters. So, welcome to the show. I guess we'll have to skip my slideshow now. Unless the three of you might be interested? 

[THUNDER] 

RALPH: We probably don't have time. Yes, right. Let's talk about you. So according to my notes, there's a first weird sister, a second weird sister, and a third weird sister. So who's who? Are you sitting in order? 

FIRST WITCH: There's something in your beard. 

RALPH: I'm sorry? 

SECOND WITCH: Your beard. 

THIRD WITCH: There's something in your beard. 

RALPH: Oh, my. That's embarrassing. Thank you. 

THIRD WITCH: It's still there. 

SECOND WITCH: The thing in your beard. 

FIRST WITCH: Let me help you. 

RALPH: Oh. OK. Thank you. Ow. What the—What are you going to do with that? 

FIRST WITCH: It's gone now. 

RALPH: You're just trying to make me nervous. I have to warn you, I'm a man of science and I don't go in for superstition. 

FIRST WITCH: When shall we three meet again? 

RALPH: I'm sorry, did you just say meet again? We're just getting started here. 

FIRST WITCH: In thunder, lightning, or in rain? 

RALPH: Not so fast. You're here for an interview. And I have so many questions for you. About what you just said, for example. What do you mean thunder, lightning, or in rain? Don't those usually happen together? I mean, I know that witches have a practice of meeting in bad weather. We could have learned about that in my slideshow, by the way. But it's a little strange how you put it. 

SECOND WITCH: When the hurlyburly's done. 

RALPH: Ah. Now this one I'm ready for. Yes. According to my research, hurlyburly is a way to describe a kind of a commotion or tumult, and it's one of those neat words that sounds like the thing it describes—hurlyburly. 

SECOND WITCH: When the battle's lost and won. 

RALPH: Right. Now, this one, I have a question about. As you just pointed out, there is some kind of battle going on, though we're not sure exactly what it is yet. But it's confusing what you just said—"when the battle's lost and won." I guess most battles have a winner and a loser, and maybe that's what you meant. But the way you say it suggests that this one thing—a battle—can be both lost and won both at the same time, that one thing can be two things somehow. But it also seems that you might just have been referring to two different battles, that there's a battle being lost at the same time that there's being a battle won, and you're just being clever by referring to both battles with the single word, battle. Though, it's not clear at all, from what you say at least, what these different battles would be, or who's winning and who's losing. So, that's the perfect thing to clear up in an interview like this. 

THIRD WITCH: That will be ere the set of sun. 

RALPH: Oh, dear. We really need to slow down. So, ere the set of sun just means before sunset, which is pretty soon, presumably. What about my question about lost and won? I think it would help a great deal if we could just clear that up right now. 

FIRST WITCH: Where the place? 

SECOND WITCH: Upon the heath. 

RALPH: Oh, yes, a heath. So that's just an open field with some shrubs and grasses. 

THIRD WITCH: There to meet with Macbeth. 

RALPH: OK. Well, now we're talking. There's a lot to clear up here. So first of all, why are you going to meet with this Macbeth guy? He's involved with the battle, I assume. And did you three have something to do with this battle in the first place? 

FIRST WITCH: I come, Graymalkin. 

RALPH: We really just need to slow down for a second. But, let me point out to the audience that Graymalkin is a common name for a cat, and witches were thought to have familiars, it's the kind of spirit helper that could take the form of an animal. So, your familiar must be a cat? 

SECOND WITCH: Paddock calls. 

RALPH: Paddock? Uh-huh. So your familiar must be a toad? A paddock is just another name for a toad. There's actually quite a lot of information about familiars in my slideshow. So maybe this would be a good time to show that. 

THIRD WITCH: Anon. 

RALPH: Anon? All right. Let's see. I have a note about that as well. Anon means, something like, right now. But wait—do you mean show the slideshow right now? I suppose we could do that. 

WITCHES: Fair is foul and foul is fair. 

RALPH: Wonderful. Probably the most famous line from this play. You know, my research shows that Shakespeare's audience might have been familiar with a common phrase at the time—"fair without but foul within." Something can look nice on the outside but be rotten on the inside. But, what you just said is a little more of a paradox. What does it mean that fair is foul and foul is fair? Maybe we could dig into this one a little. 

WITCHES: Hover through the fog and filthy air. 

RALPH: Oh, that's right. Witches are supposed to be able to travel through the air, which I'd love to hear more about. And does the fog help with the flying part or does it just make it harder for people to see you? Oh, and I had a note here about filthy somewhere. Oh, yes. So filthy just means murky, or perhaps there—[COUGH] some smoke [COUGH] from the battle. Oh. Is this how it works? Huh. Well, not my greatest interview. But, foul is fair. Good thing I have a slideshow prepared. Oh, sorry. What's that? No, it's all ready to go—I guess we're out of time.