Macbeth

" By the picking of my thumbs.....?

What is this line of the third witch means:

"By the picking of my thumbs

Something wicked this way comes"?

Asked by
Last updated by jill d #170087
Answers 1
Add Yours

The third witch is referring to an omen, as the pricking of a thumb was said to be a portent of evil. Thus, the pricking of the witch's thumb was considered a means of telling the future, and from the text we are to understand the future is bringing wickedness. The "pricking" might be either a painful or pleasurable feeling.

Source(s)

Macbeth