Known as the weird sisters, the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth are architects of ambiguity that continue to captivate audiences. Despite their few appearances in the play, their influence permeates the course of action in the play. They are a sinister force that preys upon human weakness and forces a profound interrogation of fate versus free will. From the very beginning of their appearance amidst thunder and lightning, the witches establish themselves as agents of chaos. Their famous chant, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” sets in motion a course of action that would overturn the status quo of things in the realm. They deliver a prophecy that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and then King. Instantly, their prophecy ignites the latent desires in Macbeth's heart to proclaim the crown for himself. Thus, they do plant seeds of dark desire inside him through manipulation, but they don't directly control Macbeth's fate. They present him a tantalising future, yet they remain conspicuously silent on the means of its realisation and don't dictate action to achieve it. This ambiguity is strategic. They are catalysts, not creators, of evil. Then, do the witches control fate, or do they merely foresee it? The play suggests a complex ambiguity. Their prophecy is unequivocally poignant. Macbeth does become Thane of Cawdor instantly after their meeting.However, Shakespeare is careful to illustrate that the realisation of their vision depends entirely on human choice. Banquo receives a similar prophecy that his sons will be kings; however, his reaction to the prophecy is different. Full of suspicion, he warns Macbeth that “The instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s / In deepest consequence.” Thus, Banquo recognises the trap, while Macbeth willingly walks into it. Clearly, the witches mirror the inner nature of those who listen to them. They expose Macbeth’s thirst for the crown. Later on, when Macbeth commits regicide and violates the Divine Right of Kings, they offer new prophecies designed to breed in Macbeth a false sense of security. The apparitions assure him that “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” and that he will be safe until “Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane”. These prophecies are classic examples of equivocation, a practice associated with witchcraft in Jacobean England. They tell a technical truth while weaving a deliberate lie. All in all, the Weird Sisters are the engine of the course of action in the tragedy. The prophecies they deliver to Macbeth unleash the chaos which engulfs the play. The witches trigger the desires latent in the heart of its protagonist. They are more of engines of psychological manifestations than supernatural forces and prophets of an unchangeable destiny. The witches thus are the tools Shakespeare employed to investigate the human psychological depths. While the witches reveal the outcomes, it's left to the choice of the character to realise such outcomes. In the play, it's Macbeth's actions, not the witches' prophecies, that murder the king and usurp the throne. Thus, characters control their destinies, even though fate plays a poignant role.