Macbeth Quote Analysis

The Third Witch names Macbeth as the person they plan to meet on the heath, in response to the First Witch's question about where their next meeting will take place.

Macbeth is introduced not through his own words or actions but as the object of the witches' intention, positioning him from the start as someone acted upon rather than acting freely. Shakespeare withholds any description of who Macbeth is or why the witches seek him, creating a gap that the audience must wait to fill. This delay makes the audience experience Macbeth's entrance in Act 1, Scene 3 as a fulfillment of supernatural design rather than coincidence.

Support a thesis that Shakespeare structures the play to make Macbeth's choices feel fated—by naming him before he appears and giving the witches the power to summon him, this line frames his first entrance as answering their call, which complicates later questions about whether he acts freely.