As I did stand my watch upon the hill, / I look’d toward Birnam, and anon, methought, / The wood began to move.
Act V, Scene 5
Context
A messenger arrives and hesitantly reports what he witnessed while standing watch: Birnam Wood appeared to be moving toward the castle, though he struggles to believe his own eyes.
Analysis
The messenger's hedging language—'methought,' 'began to'—captures the cognitive dissonance of witnessing something that shouldn't be possible. He can't commit fully to what he saw, instinctively softening it into uncertainty. This mirrors the audience's own experience throughout the play: we've watched supernatural events unfold but, like the messenger, we're never entirely sure where reality ends and illusion begins, keeping us suspended in the same epistemological crisis that has plagued Macbeth.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Shakespeare distributes the uncertainty created by the supernatural across multiple characters, not just Macbeth—even minor figures like this messenger become unreliable perceivers, suggesting the witches have destabilized reality itself, not just one man's mind.