Original artwork, not a still
Macbeth ‧ 1623
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The witch is announcing a guest by a prickle in her thumbs, and the guest is the murderer-king who has come to learn how safe he really is. The couplet has since become the standard horror cue: it titles Bradbury's carnival novel and is the line people reach for whenever something bad is clearly about to walk through the door.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for MacbethShow the scene
In Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1, the Three Witches gather round their cauldron in a cave, and the Second Witch senses a visitor before she sees him. She speaks the couplet, then tells the locks to open for whoever knocks. Macbeth walks in demanding answers about his future, and the witches conjure apparitions that warn him to beware Macduff, promise he is safe from any man born of woman, and finally show a procession of kings descended from Banquo. Ray Bradbury took the line for the title of his 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Sources (3)
- Macbeth on WikiquoteAct IVReference checked
- Macbeth (Wikipedia)Plot, Act IVReference checked
- Something Wicked This Way Comes (Wikipedia)IntroReference checked
Context reviewed
