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Foreshadowing
Explanation and Analysis—Win Us To Our Harm:
In Act 1, Scene 3, Banquo warns Macbeth to be wary of the Weird Sisters' prophecy:
Banquo: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray ’s
In deepest consequence.
Banquo is paradoxically suggesting that, although the prophecy itself is genuine, the witches' intentions in delivering it may be dishonest. They have accurately predicted that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, but Banquo reasons that this prediction may be an "honest trifle" intended to win Macbeth over so that he takes the rest of the prophecy at face value without considering its possible consequences.
This warning echoes the Weird Sisters' earlier paradoxical statement, "Fair is foul and foul is fair." Although the witches seem to be telling the truth and foresee mainly positive events, Banquo argues that they may be attempting to manipulate Macbeth toward some unfavorable end. The witches notably do not specify whether the events they predict will come to pass no matter what, or whether Macbeth must actively participate in their fulfillment.
Banquo, of course, is eventually proven right, and his words foreshadow the events that occur later in the play, when Macbeth fails to consider that the Weird Sisters' prophecies may have a hidden meaning. The promises that no man of woman born can harm Macbeth and that Macbeth will never be vanquished until Birnam Wood walks to Dunsinane are technically "honest," in that they are not untrue, but their ambiguous wording makes them easy to misinterpret. Macbeth, who is by this point paranoid and desperate, fails to think critically about the wording of these prophecies and falsely believes that he is invincible, even though the Weird Sisters are actually predicting his destruction.
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