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1. 
   gbeatty Teacher
   College - Freshman

   eNotes Editor

   On the most basic level, it means that things are reversed.

   To expand on that a little bit, it means two related things in general. First, it means that things that are good will become bad and things that are bad will become good. Second, it means things that look pretty ("fair") will become ugly ("foul") and things that are ugly will become beautiful.

   The witches are referring first to themselves. They look ugly, but the predictions they offer are beautiful to Macbeth.

   They are then referring to the entire world of the play. If you look at Duncan's first lines, at the start of scene 2 in Act I, the normal humans are operating in a world where appearances honestly and accurately represent reality. Likewise, Macbeth is tagged as praiseworthy by the soldier's report—and he deserves it.

   However, as soon as Macbeth meets the witches, everything changes. He hears great predictions, but they lead him to evil actions. He starts lying and deceiving, and no longer can anyone trust anyone else's face to reveal his or her character.

   Greg

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/macbeth-text/3346

   http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/894

   http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/act-summary-analysis

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   Posted by gbeatty on Thursday February 15, 2007 at 10:13 AM