Greenblatt's Use Of Witchcraft In Macbeth

Greenblatt is correct in claiming that Shakespeare used witchcraft as a means of creating drama in his play. The “imaginative energy” of witchcraft produced “powerful theatrical effects” when combined with an important concept called enargeia, which is “the liveliness that comes when metaphors are set in action, when things are put vividly before the mind’s eye, when language achieves visibility” (Greenblatt 122). According to Greenblatt, Shakespeare mastered the art of enargeia through the use of witchcraft in Macbeth in order to evoke a powerful effect in the reader. Such an effect is produced through imagery and dialogue in the play. Dialogue comes into play when the three witches speak. They often speak in riddles and rhymes, and this contributes to their mysterious and supernatural nature. It is as though the witches are saying a spell, and the audience does not know exactly what it means, which makes them more threatening. An example of these riddles is “fair is foul, and foul is fair, hover through the

They repeat “double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble” (Shakespeare 4.1.35-6). Like the first example, this one also evokes the demonic nature of the witches. The audience is able to visualize the witches crouched over cauldrons in this scene uttering this spell, and they are clearly able to see witchcraft in action. The witches are also given “a vital theatrical enargeia” when they repeat “I’ll do, I’ll do, I’ll do” (Shakespeare 1.3.10). Here, the audience believes that the witches are capable of causing harm when they repeat this. According to Greenblatt, there hold a “malevolent energy” here, which is supported throughout the play by the ominous language of the witches (Greenblatt 124). The witches’ dialogue adds to their foreboding nature and allows the audience to visualize a very supernatural