The Role of the Witches in Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare some time between
1603 and 1606 and is set in Scotland around 1040. The time it was
written coincides with the reign of King James the First of England.
King James showed a great interest in witches and powers of the
supernatural and Macbeth was arguably written to impress the king in
what were violent times. Shakespeare used witches as pivotal
characters to create a catalyst for the action that was included in
the play. Another reason for him to use witches in this way is that it
is an attention grabber and will interest people, at the time Macbeth
was written people believed that witches had many powers, they were
thought to be able to change form into things like cats, owls and
other animals, they were thought to be able to change or influence,
and predict the weather and they were also thought to be able to bring
disease and misery upon people. It was thought that when witches
transformed they became incomplete animals and this is shown when the
first witch says "and like a rat without a tail". The witches are
introduced into the play immediately and this is a good attention
grabber and helps to set the mood of the play.
The powers of the witches are shown straight away, we are told of the
powers of the witches and how they can change the weather and predict
the future. These things aren't actually proven and the witches are
thought of to be equivocators. The witches are made to sound more evil
and witch-like by the fact they speak in a different way to the rest
of the characters in the play, most of the play is written in ...
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... in achieving a good
atmosphere and in creating the evil beings.
At the end of the play Lady Macbeth goes completely mad and commits
suicide, and Macbeth's nightmare comes true and he is informed that
Birnan Wood is moving towards him, Malcolm's army advances on
Dunsinane and Macbeth is finally shown up by the witches as the
prophecies he thought could never come true, have finally happened.
Macbeth is the only person who can be held responsible for his
downfall, he shouldn't have trusted the witches and have presumed
things so much, all shows that you shouldn't try and change the future
because it can't be done. The witches only brought out Macbeth's evil
side, but it was there to be brought out and it didn't really take a
lot. It shows that Macbeth was very self absorbed and was not really
loyal to his kingdom.
We have all heard the tales and seen the movies of evil witches cooking little kids up for supper. For the people of salem in 1692-1693 this was a reality. In the matter of less than a year more than two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and more than twenty were executed. In these historic events author Arthur Miller wrote a play about the people and events in this play there is a man, Reverend Hale is well versed in the study of witchcraft and has come to try and save the girls that have been gripped by the Devil. Miller has Hale change very much throughout the event of this play. In the beginning he believes that the Devil is at work in Salem, how ever near the climactic ending of this play he realises that this witch talk has gotten completely out of hand
They had no trouble believing that, because Parris had called Reverend Hale, (known for his studies in demonic arts), there must truly be witchcraft within the town. The play progresses and certain characters begin to develop; here is a community full of underlying personal grudges. Religion pervades every aspect of life. ' A man may think that God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now.
The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late
The Dramatic Impact of Witches on William Shakespeare's Macbeth The inclusion of witches in Macbeth heightens the dramatic impact of the play because in the time William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth many of the general public did not know to much about witches, so when witches were included in Macbeth many people were shocked which made the play more dramatic because many people did not expect witches to be included in the play. Also witches in Shakespeare's time were treated very poorly In some cases witches were pricked with a special needle to see if they were immune from pain so these type of cases heighten the dramatic impact of the play because the general public knew how witches were treated and how powerful they were. The introduction of witches at this time was particularly dramatic because people knew how vicious they were because at that time pamphlets were put on sale describing the lurid details of witchcraft trials, so people knew how vile witches were. This made it particularly dramatic because witches were really the centre of attention at that time as convicted witches were being executed so putting witches in a play would have been very dramatic.
if someone was a witch or not, they would tie the woman onto a ducking
The Role of Witches in William Shakespeare's Macbeth In Macbeth the witches make a huge contribution to the play and the way it comes across to an audience. The witches portray many themes in Macbeth, such as the theme of fate, and the way that they are supposed to have the power of changing someone's fate, and the way they can control people using their power. The witches also depict a theme of pure evil, and the way they treat others in the play shows this. Religion also is a big theme in Macbeth, references to the trinity, whether it is the unholy, or the holy trinity.
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
What would the world be like if no one felt guilt? If no one ever caught caught for their crimes? In Shakespeare's novel, Macbeth, the main characters commit crimes driven by their ambition. After committing the first crime Macbeth, the main antagonist is overwhelmed with guilt. His wife, Lady Macbeth plotted the first crime and was the main force pushing Macbeth to kill. In the end Macbeth is charged with the truth and Lady Macbeth kills herself both brought down equally from guilt. Guilt and fear of being found out causes anxiety and slow disintegration of the subconscious which leads to psychosis and therefore, because of insanity causes confession of crimes or suicidal thoughts.
Throughout the play the audience is able to, many years on, relate to the witch-hunts as in a real situation, due to the McCarthy communist. witchcraft events. The play is a parable for the McCarthy era, in. which similar witch hunts occurred targeting citizens as communists. rather than disciples of Satan.
The witches affect Macbeth’s life by first meeting him and telling him his future. They
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,
Powerful in nature and curious to the eye, the witches in Macbeth were hooks of fascination. One never knew what would come next when it came to the witches. They possessed a dark authority and supremacy unlike any other and the temptation to ignore them was unfeasible. They brought with them gloomy days and evil thoughts. The witches could draw you in and begin to almost play with your mind if you let them. This is what ultimately led to the down fall of Macbeth. Collectively, the witches in Macbeth acted as a catalyst for all of Macbeth’s actions.
of the 'evil' witches as he was sure that witches were out to get him
In the play it can be seen that there are various ways in which the
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is presented as an evil, cold-hearted person, but, when it comes to the actual act of committing the murder, Lady Macbeth does not commit murder. In the end, it is Macbeth who plunges the knife into Duncan’s heart. Lady Macbeth had planned the whole murder, brought the daggers, and even intoxicated the guards, but it is Macbeth who ultimately killed Duncan. After the crime is committed, it is Macbeth who collapses and Lady Macbeth who smears blood on the guards to complete their plan. From Lady Macbeth actions, it is readily apparent that she is physiologically and physical capable of committing murder, but why does she not? Lady Macbeth is unable to kill Duncan because of the 1600s notion of how a woman should be, Macbeth, being a man should, be the one to seek power, and Lady Macbeth’s feminine qualities forbid her to commit such a crime.