Double, double, toil and trouble Why Should I Care

Why Should I Care?

Seriously? This is maybe the most famous line in Macbeth. Plus, we just straight up love this scene. It's super creepy and all the more delightful for it.

But if you don't love it as much as we do, maybe this will strike your fancy: these lines are all about something we've all wanted to do at some point: see the future.

We're not talking about where you want to go to college, or what awesome job you'll land when you're done. We're talking full-on, super specific deets about what your life will be like. How successful will you be? Will all your dreams come true?

What if someone could tell you? Wouldn't you want to talk to her? That's exactly what's going on here. Macbeth is so thirsty for info about the future that he forgets what's going on all around him. He will do anything to hear what the witches have to tell him about his life, even if knowing the truth might rain down all kinds of bad news on him.

But the catch is: these witches be crazy! They're strange and they chant. They cook with random parts of animals we probably don't want to be eating in the first place. So the question is: Can you trust them?

Macbeth sure seems to. But we think he could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he had stuck to the facts and the present. What do you think? Shmoop amongst yourselves.