The paradox "Fair is foul, and foul is fair," expresses some of the many themes of Macbeth. There are several different ways in which these words can be interpreted.

The first time we hear the statement is in the opening scene when the witches say the exact line "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" and Macbeth himself repeats it later almost precisely in Act 1 Scene 3:

"So fair and foul a day I have not seen"

Which suggests a link between Macbeth and the sisters, though the interesting thing is that he hasn't even met them yet, although they have already conspired to meet with him. They lure him with fair means, by telling him a small truth, to a foul end. Banquo suspects this, but Macbeth ignores his warnings.

The witches themselves seem to be the embodiment of the foul part of the phrase. At the time, people were very superstitious about witches, believing they were evil and should be burned. They would obviously assume the witches to be evil and untrustworthy. During this time, Guy Fawkes had tried to overthrow the English king, but had failed. However, Macbeth succeeded in acquiri

That no compunctious visitings of nature

Their exact meanings are never clear and even their appearances are confusing, as Banquo states:

At first, she calls upon evil spirits to help her convince Macbeth to take the necessary steps so he can become king. She recites an incantation which makes her seem like the witches have influenced her as well as Macbeth. She asks for all her womanly qualities to be removed and replaced with evil. In the beginning she is the stronger of the two, even going so far as to call for the smoke of hell to hide her knife, as if she was going to murder Duncan herself. She shows no trace of remorse after the murder of Duncan, and demonstrates scorn towards her husband because he feels so guilty.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lady Macbeth, Th'effect Act, Foul Fair, Malcolm Donnalbain, Lady Macbeth's, Guy Fawkes, Lady Macduff, Lesser Macbeth, Macbeth Fair, Thane Cawdor, fair foul, lady macbeth, act 1, act 1 scene, 1 scene, foul fair, fair foul foul, foul foul, scene 3, foul foul fair, murder duncan, 1 scene 3, macbeth's rule, act 2 scene, act 2,
Approximate Word count = 1873
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)