In his new book On Evil, the academic Terry Eagleton revises his opinion of ‘The Scottish Play”
“Twenty years ago,” he says, “I mistakenly suggested that the three witches, with their ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ philosophy, were feminist visionaries who wanted to subvert the old - patriarchal – order of King Duncan.
“I now realise that nothing could be further from the truth. Once you become a member of the establishment, ALL subversion is destructive and negative. I now accept that these secret, black,& midnight hags were in fact nothing more than a bunch of nihilist bitches, I mean, witches.
“I would like to add that I am not, and have never been a member of the establishment.”
