Macbeth
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= Unstressed syllable
|'So foul | and fair | a day | I have | not seen'| 1 2 3 4 5 foot
However, when the Witches speak the verse is changed. It is changed to trochaic tetrameter. The stress is on the first syllable of the foot as opposed to the second.
Chanting rhythm:
| 'Hubble | bubble | toil and | trouble' | 1 2 3 4
I think Shakespeare does this on purpose to show how the witches are different from the rest of the cast. They seem to invert the natural order of things in the play.
In the tragedy "Oedipus Rex" there is a chorus who speak in verse. The chorus is made up of a number of gentlemen who either: 1. Each say a line, or thereabouts, of a sentence. 2. The whole chorus chants a sentence in unison. This meets Aristotle's requirement of song. In "Macbeth" the witches are a form of chorus. In Scene 4 Act 1 the three witches speak as follows:
1st WITCH "Speak." 2nd WITCH "Demand." 3rd WITCH "We'll answer." This is similar to the chorus in Oedipus Rex as each witch chants part of a line to make up a whole. They also ...
