Chapter: ACT I. SCENE I.

An open Place. Thunder and Lightning.

[Enter three Witches.]

FIRST WITCH.
When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

SECOND WITCH.
When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.

THIRD WITCH.
That will be ere the set of sun.

FIRST WITCH.
Where the place?

SECOND WITCH.
Upon the heath.

THIRD WITCH.
There to meet with Macbeth.

FIRST WITCH.
I come, Graymalkin!

ALL.
Paddock calls:--anon:--
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.

[Witches vanish.]

 This very short scene immediately sets the dark, evil, somber mood of the entire play. Three witches have gathered in an open field near a battle site in Scotland during a dark thunderstorm. The three of them agree to meet again "upon the heath" to greet Macbeth, the main character of the play. At the end of the short scene, they all cry in their cackling voices, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair", which foreshadows the foulness of the play's plot and the difficulty of distinguishing between appearance and reality.

