Something wicked this way comes (quote)

Something wicked this way comes ( German therefore Something evil comes ) is a quote from the first scene of the fourth act of the drama " Macbeth " by William Shakespeare .

context

The scene in question takes place in a cave. Three witches gather around a cauldron with simmering witches' potion. They are expecting a guest, King Macbeth of Scotland , who seeks advice from the witches. The "evil" in the quote is Macbeth himself, who at this point in the plot has already become a traitor and murderer.

Original :	German translation ( Frank Günther ):
Second Witch By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. [Knocking] Open locks, Whoever knocks! [Enter Macbeth] Macbeth How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags? What is't you do?	Second witch When your thumbs itch, someone bad comes over. [There is a knock.] Door, be free, whoever it is. [Enter Macbeth] Macbeth Well, you secret black midnight brood, what are you doing?

(Excerpt from "Macbeth 4th act, 1st scene" by Shakespeare)

The quote is as popular saying common in the English language. You want to express that you have a premonition or fear something bad.

reception

The idiom is very popular in literature, film, and pop culture :

The American writer Ray Bradbury used the phrase as the title of a novel published in 1962 (German-language title: The evil comes on quiet feet ), in which the inhabitants of a quiet American small town come under the ominous influence of a magical ringmaster.
Based on the Bradbury novel, the Disney studios shot a film with the same title in 1983 (German title: The evil comes on quiet feet ). The script was written by Ray Bradbury himself and the director was Jack Clayton . Actors were u. a. Jason Robards , Pam Grier and Jonathan Pryce .
Agatha Christie names a novel in her Beresford series, alluding to the quote: By the Pricking of My Thumbs (German title: Loud lovely old ladies ).
Something Wicked This Way Comes is the title of an album by the power metal band Iced Earth that was released in 1998 .
The original quote was used in the song Double trouble in the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban . The quote is also used as a text board in the trailer.
The quote was used in the song Book of Thel by Bruce Dickinson .
In the derived form Something Wicked This Way Burns , the quote is the title of a fictional film about Mr. Burns , a character in the comic series " The Simpsons ".
A South Park episode (season 8, episode 9) is called Something Wal-Mart This Way Comes in the original English , the German episode is based on the German title of Bradbury's novel: The evil comes on Wall-Mart's feet .
The American thrash metal band Nuclear Assault called their 1993 album Something Wicked . The title song contains the text line: "Something wicked this way comes".
On the album Welcome to the show by the British band Barclay James Harvest from 1990 you can find the song Lady Macbeth , which contains the lyrics: "By the pricking of my thumbs / Something wicked this way comes".
Tupac Shakur recorded the track "Something wicked this way comes" in his music album " 2Pacalypse Now ". The same did the metal bands Wednesday 13 on "Calling All Corpses" and Lordi on " To Beast or Not to Beast ".
The Herbaliser , a British band, released the album Something Wicked This Way Comes in 2002 .
Woods of Birnam released the title Something Wicked This Way Comes on their album Searching for William in 2017 .

supporting documents

^ William Shakespeare: Macbeth . Bilingual edition. 10th edition. dtv , Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-423-12484-3 , p. 123 ff . (English: Macbeth . London / New York 1984. Translated by Frank Günther ).

[1] William Shakespeare: Macbeth . Bilingual edition. 10th edition. dtv , Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-423-12484-3 , p. 123 ff . (English: Macbeth . London / New York 1984. Translated by Frank Günther ).