And, which is worse, all you have done / Hath been but for a wayward son, / Spiteful and wrathful; who, as others do, / Loves for his own ends, not for you.
Act III, Scene 5
Context
Hecate scolds the three witches for involving themselves with Macbeth without consulting her. She dismisses Macbeth as unworthy of their efforts, calling him selfish and motivated only by his own ambition.
Analysis
Hecate's diction strips Macbeth of any grandeur: 'wayward son' reduces a king to a disobedient child, while 'spiteful and wrathful' are petty emotions, not tragic ones. The phrase 'loves for his own ends, not for you' reframes the entire supernatural plot—Macbeth isn't a chosen hero in a grand design but a user who mistakes manipulation for destiny. This positions him as doubly foolish: deceived by the witches and blind to his own selfishness.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Shakespeare undercuts Macbeth's tragic stature by having the witches themselves mock him as a pawn—if even the supernatural forces see him as a 'wayward son' acting out of petty self-interest, his ambition loses its grandeur and becomes almost pathetic.