Fair Is Foul and Foul Is Fair

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Although this sentence seems so unique, it was already an established poverb with a different wording.

In Edmund Spenser's The Feiree Queen, for instance, we see “then faire grew foule and foule grew
faire.” This was in the 1590s so before Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. We can say that Shakespeare was
inspired by Edmund Spenser.

The play begins with the appearance of the three witches, or “weird sisters”. The old english Word
“wyrd” or weird” means “fate”, which is the original name of the witches. The three witches call to mind
the three Fates in ancient Greek and Roman mythology. These goddesses determined how long each
mortal would live—one spinning the thread of life, another measuring it, and the third cutting it. From
here we can deduce that Macbeth's fate depends on the witches, and his life will be shaped by the things
the witches say. There is a connection between Macbeth's soul and the souls of the witches. His destiny
is bound up with their prophecies. We cannot trust anyone. As Macbeth trusted the Witches and he
made tragic mistakes.

In these words, there is a clue about the play. We can get the idea that the play is gonna be about
someone who will be bad and the bad will be good. Appearances can be deceiving, and what may seem
good or fair on the surface can be morally corrupt or foul underneath. Similarly, something that may
appear foul or evil can actually be fair or advantageous. The phrase embodies the play's exploration of
the blurred lines between good and evil and the characters' struggles with moral choices and their
consequences. In the first place, we see Macbeth as a brave, fearless, loyal soldier. However, as the play
continues, Macbeth turns into someone who is a ruthless murderer. It gives us a clear message: “ Do not
trust anyone, something you know as good might be evil.”

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