Macbeth Quote Analysis

The witches reply to Macbeth's question about what they are doing, describing their spell in five words.

The witches' response is conspicuously bare—just five words where Macbeth's question was elaborate and urgent—creating an asymmetry that puts them in control of the exchange. By refusing to name the deed, they make it sound unspeakable, yet the vagueness also means Macbeth can project any meaning he wants onto it, which is exactly how their prophecies work: they tell him what he already desires to hear.

Use this to argue that the witches' power comes partly from what they don't say—the unnamed 'deed' becomes a blank screen for Macbeth's ambition, showing how the supernatural in this play works by exploiting the gaps in language.