MEET MACBETH

During the opening parts of The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is introduced through indirect characterization, such as when the Sergeant describes acts of gore committed by Macbeth during the battle. Another instance of indirect characterization occurs during his conversations with the Three Witches and Banquo. During the conversations he is revealed to be gullible, pensive and easily swayed. Three random women tell him he will be king;  he is at first shocked by this but then embraces it. After this encounter with the witches he begins to think deeply and discuss with Banquo how the three Witches gained that knowledge and how he will be the new king if the position is already occupied.

The most obvious instance of foreshadowing provided by the Witches is when they give Macbeth his prophecy about him becoming king. Another instance of foreshadowing is found here:

"A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap,

And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd:--

'Give me,' quoth I:

'Aroint thee, witch!' the rump-fed ronyon cries.

Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger:

But in a sieve I'll thither sail,

And, like a rat without a tail,

I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do."

Now, what the above text foreshadows is (very literally) that we will come across a woman who will somehow have control over a man, as apparent by the "chestnuts" on her lap, her munching and the appearance of a man (rat) without a tail, which can be interpreted as a phallic symbol. 

At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare introduces the theme without giving away the play. I'm referring to the Witches chant "fair is foul, and foul is fair." Through that chiasmus they are telling us that what to us appears as fair is actually foul and what to them appears as foul is actually fair. They are setting up a play in which things will never be good or bad, but a combination of the both. Things wont be black or white, rather shades of grey.

Shakespeare has thus far been very modest with his portrayal of Macbeth. The few bits of him he has given us have all been strictly indirect. Shakespeare creates a strong Macbeth in the battlefield but when he isn't in "warrior mode" he's actually very weak and gullible. When the Sergeant was describing Macbeth, Shakespeare used very precise language when describing the gory acts of violence perpetrated by Macbeth. Yet when Macbeth meets the Witches and they refer to him as king he is frightened. In this whole scene Shakespeare shows us a Macbeth that is easily frightened and convinced. These three random women told him he would be king and he believed it without much questioning. 

So far, Macbeth appears manipulated by women. The Witches told him something outrageous and he believed it. Right before this the Witches were talking about a man being manipulated by a woman through their interesting imagery of chestnuts and phallic symbols. So far, it appears as though this will be the story of yet another man manipulated by a woman.