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All Site ContentMacbethAct 1Scene 3
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"in a sieve"
allusion
Act 1,
Scene 3
Lines 8-10

An explanation of the folklore reference “in a sieve” in Act 1, Scene 3 of myShakespeare’s Macbeth.

First Witch

But in a sieve, I'll thither sail,
And, like a rat without a tail,
I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do.

According to folklore, witches were able to sail in a sieve, a strainer with holes in the bottom. Witches could also transform their appearance. After sailing to Aleppo, this witch intends to disguise herself as a rat to sneak aboard the sailor’s ship. She’s “like a rat without a tail,” because  no part of the human body corresponds to that part of a rat.

(A Witch Sailing to Aleppo in a Sieve, Charles Turner, c. 1807)