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What is the dramatic impact of the witches in macbeth
What impact do the witches have on macbeth
What impact do the witches have on macbeth
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The Importance of the Theme of the Supernatural in William Shakespeare's Macbeth
The supernatural in Elizabethan times was seen as a very real threat
to society. The public thought that there were such things as witches
who could perform acts of the supernatural such as turning humans into
animals and causing changes in the weather. Any mention of the
supernatural in these times scared the public and many people, mainly
women, were executed on the thought that they were witches.
In the beginning of the play, as the 3 witches meet, they suggest
another time. "When shall we three meet again? In thunder lighting or
in rain?" In this they suggest 3 weather states that represent
darkness and which are usually associated with scary strange
happenings and are often something to do with the paranormal.
In act 2 scene 1 Macbeth hallucinates and an image of a dagger appears
before his eyes, " is this a dagger, which I see before me? Art thou
not a fatal vision?" Here the supernatural is represented in the form
of non-realistic images appearing before Macbeth as the witches have
had an affect on him maybe causing the hallucinations by creating
false imprints on his mind. When Macbeth sees the dagger his use of
language refers to death which relates directly do the witches as they
are associated with killing and intent to harm humans. The picture
that they have created in his mind is to kill the king therefore they
could be using Macbeth to perform one of their acts of evil.
In act three scene 4 Banquo's ghost starts haunting Macbeth in the
middle of a banquet after Macbeth has just recently ordered for the
murder of Banquo and his son...
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...beth and
that their evil doings are being carried out.
The supernatural plays a key role in the shaping of events in the play
as it brings out the evil of Lady Macbeth and using the powers of
persuasion forces Macbeth to go against his will to commit murder. It
is also far more interesting to have the involvement of witches in a
play as it adds in an air of mystery and tenseness to the audience as
it is something that scares them and Makes them remember the play
well. Shakespeare has been very clever in his use of the witches as
they appear at the right times and check that their evil is being
carried out. This almost gives the impression that they are watching
the story unfold and know everything about everyone involved and what
they have done, or will be required to do again adding to the
mysteries of the play.
Without a general supernatural stigma from the witches, the story would not be as interesting as it is and wouldn’t lay a clear foundation. The reader can enhance their experience by making predictions about the prophecies, thus grabbing the readers attention to continue to read. The role of supernatural is to also create suspense. Suspense of the prophecies gives the reader a sense of what’s to come next. In contrast this will make the reader have motivation to continue as it is a difficult text to understand. The following quote creates suspense as it shows the reader Macbeth is at decline point while constantly relying on the prophecies to save him The mind I sway by and the heart I bear. Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.
The witches also kept repeating a quote that has a lot of meaning. They continued to say “foul is fair and fair is foul.” (I.i.12) This means that what seems right isn’t really right and what seems wrong isn’t really wrong. So the whole play is about false faces and how someone who seems normal and innocent isn’t really. The witches also seem to be an illusion. They are in a way human like, but at the same time they are also fake. They talked to Macbeth and told him three prophecies, which caused him to become greedy and kill King Duncan. The first time they told him what they saw was in Act 1. They said
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there are several references to supernatural activity. This supernatural activity is very crucial to the storyline. Supernatural defined by Webster relates to an existence beyond the visible observable universe. The Three Apparitions are spoken of in Act IV of the play, but the supernatural is first introduced by the three witches in Act I. The three witches who speak the apparitions are the opening characters in Macbeth. After reading the book, I fully understand Shakespeare reasoning for including them in the story. Each of the three apparitions depicts a clue of Macbeth’s future.
The Importance of the Supernatural in Macbeth by William Shakespeare The supernatural is to play an essential part in the play 'Macbeth'; this is made clear from the first paragraph of the play, when the three witches are introduced. It is represented in many different forms, mainly: the witches, the dagger and the ghost of Banquo. Shakespeare's use of imagery and creative language in the play creates tension, fear and clearly displays the importance of the supernatural theme. At the start of the play, the supernatural is disguised in the form of nature, in this case a storm. Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to describe the strong force of nature- "Thunder and lightning - Enter three Witches.
One of them is the floating dagger: this was shown when Macbeth was changing his mind about killing the King: Duncan. This daggers was the supernatural way for pushing Macbeth to commit the murder. Shakespeare also uses the dagger to tell the audience that something bad as going to happen.This is shown: “Is this a dagger, which I see before me,/ The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee./ I have thee not, and yet I see thee still./ Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/ To feeling as to sight?Or art thou but / A dagger of the mind, a false creation” (II.I.41-46). The second supernatural that influence Macbeth actions is the Ghost of Banquo: the ghost appears because of Macbeth’s guilt conscience of killing his friend. Banquo was the only person he didn't kill by himself, and the guilt of being involved in his friend's death killed him. That is why he hires assassins to kill him to get rid of Banquo that was in his way. Macbeth doesn’t want Lady Macbeth to know what was going to happen after what she did by helping him kill Duncan:"What's to be done?/ Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck."(III.ii.51-52). In Act three, Scene two, Macbeth talks about his desire to die rather than live in this endless torment of guilt and sleepless nights.This is shown: “In the affliction of these terrible dreams/ That shake us nightly. Better be with the dead,/ Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Macbeth experiences his first strange encounter of the supernatural when he meets the three witches in Act 1, Scene 1. The witches greet Macbeth by saying "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!" (1.1). The witches insinuate the idea of power, and by doing that, push Macbeth to the next level of greed and evil that did not exist prior to the supernatural encounter.
The play begins with a supernatural scene, where the three witches meet and give many clues as to who they are or what they have control over,
to almost possess you is not a normal thing to do but the words do
The witches are the first characters we see in the play in Act one Scene one- A prologue of evil. They plan to meet Macbeth when the fighting has finished.
he is in a living hell. This hugely brings us to favouring this as a
When the play first opens we hear 3 strange witches standing in a field while it is thunder and lightening. They begin to chant spells and talk about their meeting with Macbeth as they vanish into thin air.
The witches in Macbeth are very important in the plot and develop certain aspects of the play. They make greater the theatrical experience with images of darkness, thunder and lightning that make Macbeth the tragedy it is. Their actions also add to the play, dancing round the cauldron and chanting ‘Double, double…’. Their appearance as ‘dark hags’ adds mystery to the play.
In the English Renaissance, there was a strong belief in the existence of the supernatural. Thus, the supernatural is a recurring aspect in William Shakespeare 's Macbeth and is an integral and important part of the plot. The role of the supernatural in Macbeth is to bring out emotional reactions within Macbeth that cloud his judgement, affecting his actions which ultimately leads to his downfall. This is demonstrated through the ambiguous prophecies of the witches, the supernatural phenomenon that Macbeth sees, and the apparitions that foreshadow how he will meet his end.
To conclude Shakespeare used the supernatural, to show how easily someone’s fatal flaw can be exploited to bring them to an end. This is extremely relevant to his audience at that time as well, no one knows, but Shakespeare could have been a non believer in the supernatural and wanted to show it as a figment of the mind, that can only result in insanity or he could have believed the popular opinion that the supernatural did exist and caused terror and evil throughout that period. Either way he wrote Macbeth in such a way to leave questions about the supernatural in peoples mind.
In the opening scene of the play, the entrance of the three witches depicts the first presence of supernatural in Macbeth. The presence of the supernatural forces of the witches was accompanied by the dark, gloomy and thunderous ambience, perhaps functioning as a foreshadowing of future events that involves evil, wickedness and darkness. This is important as it gives the audience an idea of what might happen later in the play. For example, we see that later on in the play, Macbeth turned evil and wicked, killing an old and honourable King Duncan and a loyal friend, Banquo. I take particular note of the significance of darkness as it was later used by Macbeth when he calls upon the "seeling Night" (Act III. Scene ii. Line 46) which `makes clear vision impossible', as a way to cover up his evil deeds. Foreshadowing of `evilness' which is also a theme in the play is also created when the witches, before leaving the first scene, cried in unison that "Fair is foul and foul is fair" (Act I. Scene ii. Line 11). This line suggests and gives the audience a foreshadow that ...