Act 1 Scene 1 Film Version of William Shakespeare's Macbeth

The witches do reassure him with the information that ‘none of woman birth shall harm Macbeth’ but this is not as straightforward as Macbeth thinks because of Macduff’s Caesarean Section. They witches have tricked Macbeth. I don’t think that Macbeth realises this danger: ‘Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee?’ The witches trick and tempt Macbeth by advising him to ‘seek no more’ on whether Banquo’s descendants will be kings. This only serves to command the witches to show him. The witches do with relish, to ‘grieve his [Macbeth’s] heart’ This makes Macbeth determined to alter fate.

They meet in foul weather and talk of "thunder, lightning" and "the fog and filthy air", giving the audience a first impression that Macbeth is a dark, dangerous play in which the theme of evil is central. Only once in the play are the three weird sisters called 'witches', instead they are called "old hags" and "elemental forces". Shakespeare describes the witches in this way to make them sound more evil so that the audience would dislike them more. Shakespeare used the witches and supernatural influences to present evil scenes and events. As witches were hated at the time that Shakespeare wrote the play, he used the witc... ... middle of paper ... ...h after Guy Fawks' attempt to kill King James I in 1605.

"... a very definition of the weird sisters - calling on them to unsex her to cram her with cruelty from top to toe..." (Bloom 29). This quote illustrates the connection between Lady Macbeth and the witches, showing us that they both participated in Macbeth's moral decline. Shakespeare, it seems, utilizes the symbol of the witches to portray the basic evil inherent in Lady Macbeth. One could not have worked without the other. If it were only the witches' prophecies, then Macbeth would surely not have murdered Duncan.

He senses mischief and misdirection in their tendency. He feels that there is a ulterior motive behind their what they are saying : " And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths; Win us honest tr... ... middle of paper ... ...and Macbeth, and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both meet their death. The greater part of the evil show in the women characters. Without the three witches and Lady Macbeth, the occasions would not have happened the way that they did. They are the most important main thrusts behind all the movement actually when they are not on the stage.

The Witches have malicious intentions and prophetic powers that entice Macbeth and captivate his mind. Although they have no power to compel Macbeth, the Witches appeal to Macbeth’s desires, eventually leading him to his tragic end. The most obvious interpretation of the Witches is to see them as manifestations of evil in the world. They exist to tempt and torment people, to challenge their faith in themselves and their society. The Weird Sisters work on Macbeth by equivocation, that is, by ambiguous promises of some future state.

If you sunk then you were innocent and if you floated you were a witch. In witches soliloquy there use of language and thinking aloud shows us the witches are bad but powerful. So far in the play we can see that Lady Macbeth (Macbeth’s wife) is controlling and a bit mad. Macbeth is planning to kill King Duncan but keeps being indecisive weather to or not. We no that Macbeth needs a lot of persuading by lady Macbeth to kill king Duncan but the three witches also took a part in it because if it was not for them he would have never told lady Macbeth about it.

The people in the Jacobean era believed in the strong presence of evil that plagued their world and specifically accused witches to be responsible for such evil. These influential beliefs can be seen as a common motif in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, where the witches have shaped Macbeth’s fate. Moreover the influence and fear of witches and witchcraft in Jacobean society has led to chaotic persecution of those associated with the practice and in Macbeth, the influence of witchcraft incited terror on one king and make decisions of an entire nation. The appearance and abilities of witches and witchcraft are motifs in Jacobean society and in Macbeth. In Jacobean society, a witch’s appearance were described as old, wrinkled, lean and deformed.

Shakespeare begins the play with the witches for several reasons. First, the fact that they are witches portrays many evil themes since witches are a universal symbol for an advocate of the devil. They themselves foreshadow malign events to come. For example, to add to the witches’ representation of evil, the clichéd background is that of thunder and lightening, which also represents wickedness and confusion. Shakespeare also uses the witches to give some background to the play; they decide to meet with Macbeth “when the battle’s lost and won”.

Ana Patricia Sánchez Calvo Lady Macbeth's Ironical Fate Evil is a deceiving force. It can help you reach your goals but evil's gains are always bitter and two-faced. In Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, the character of Lady Macbeth chooses the path of evil to fulfill her unscrupulous ambition; nevertheless, all that evil brings to her is madness and restlessness. Evil is a powerful force throughout the play; it influences the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, to commit heinous crimes in order to achieve power. The idea of evil is presented even at the beginning of the play, since the play starts with witches.

Macbeth seems to be under the witches spell. The witches only appear once but there words stay in his thoughts. Where as Banquo knows that the witches are evil and often seduce us with small rewards in order to cause our destruction, “to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles.” To conclude, Shakespeare opens the play with the witches to frighten, confuse and unsettle the audience, he also wanted to make a dramatic impact in the theatre. Furthermore, he wants to introduce the main themes of the play: Fate, Destiny, Illusion and Reality. Although the witches are only on stage for a short time they exert a powerful influence throughout the rest of the play.