Introduction During the charismatic play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses a number of techniques to develop many themes, including ambition, greed, and power. Shakespeare achieves this through careful manipulation of foreshadowing, character development, and irony. Foreshadowing Shakespeare uses the technique of foreshadowing to increase tension as the play becomes more intense. It's incredibly obvious that he's using the coven of witches as his main source of foreshadowing. It is when Macbeth meets the witches for the first time that they share their thoughts and revelations with him. When the witches first see Macbeth, they greet him with three names "Thane of Glamis", "Thane of Cawdor", and "King Hereafter", which foreshadow all the days to come. In the next scene the Thane of Cawdor is killed so Macbeth is confronted with the title, as he is next in line t...