Macbeth Group

Question:

bobanina
bobanina
Student
High School - 12th Grade

What body part do the witches have in Act 1 of Macbeth?

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Posted by bobanina on Tuesday February 17, 2009 at 10:11 AM and tagged with act 1, characters, macbeth, witches.

Answers:

  1. mwestwood
    mwestwood Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    Best answer as selected by question asker.

    In Act I of "Macbeth" as the witches meet on the battlefield, they discuss the evil and disruption they have caused.  The first witch has had a disagreement with a sailor's wife because she would not give her any of the chestnuts that she has been eating.  This action angers the witches, so they decide to torture the woman's sailor husband by creating a terrible windstorm.  The first witch brags that she will "drain him dry as hay," depriving him of any rest.  Then, she shows the others what she has:

    "a pilot's thumb,/Wracked as homeward he did come" (ll.28-29) 

    This is a bone that she will use as a charm. 

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/act-one

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    Posted by mwestwood on Tuesday February 17, 2009 at 10:31 AM