First Witch
Hail!
Second Witch
Hail!
Third Witch
Hail!
First Wich
Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Second Witch
Not so happy, yet much happier.
Third Witch
Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!
First Witch
Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!
The supernatural attributes surrounding the sisters both lead and mislead Macbeth and Banquo, but whether they directly control the events surrounding their deaths is left as one of the play’s biggest mysteries. What we can confirm, however, are the hints and implications of otherworldly occurrences hidden in their trochaic, chiasmic talk, including here their herald-like cries of “Hail!” to the empty mist, suggesting the existence of spirits they call on to “hail” the two thanes. Their paranormal prophecies continue; when they call Banquo “lesser”, they do so not just to referring to the titles each thane will obtain, but because they also see his lack of ambition and - his own hamartia - his hesitation. Where Macbeth will actively grasp the crown with his own hands, Banquo will die alone as a result of this inactivity (despite fearing Macbeth “played’st most foully for ’t.” and, through this inactivity, leaving Macbeth uncontested on the throne and enabling his tyrannical reign). Whilst he will be “lesser” and “not so happy”, the witches also prophecise Banquo’s “happier” future. The first two paradoxes are puzzling, but the third gives some clarity to them: he will “get kings” through Fleance (a nod to James I’s supposed descent from Banquo, establishing a Divine Right – albeit one oddly predicted by witches who James would have considered in league with the devil). Banquo’s “greater” and “happier” future will only be true in death, in the joys of his offspring becoming king and – unlike Macbeth - in preserving the sanctity of his soul.
- Ken