The Three Witchs In Shakespeare's Macbeth

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In the play "The Tragedy of Macbeth" written by William Shakespeare, he uses the three witches to prophesize Macbeths journey through out the play. The three witches play a major role of foreshadowing for the entire play. They set the tone in Macbeth because of their prophecies and motivation for Macbeth 's actions. Although they only appear in the first and the third acts of the play there roles are vital. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses literary elements such as symbolism, irony and imagery to convey the overall use of foreshadowing in the play Macbeth.

In Macbeth symbolism is used to show what is yet to come in the future. In act one, scene three Macbeth is given the title Thane of Cawdor. In which the title Thane of Cawdor was taken …show more content…

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This is one of the main motives behind Macbeth 's actions and ideals. In act one, scene three Banquo begins to remember the witch 's prophecy which then leads Banquo to suggestively reasons whether or not Macbeth killed King Duncan to get the title of King of Scotland. One of the reasons Banquo is suspecting Macbeth of killing King Duncan was he was there to witness the prophecies of the witches in which they basically said that Banquo 's children will become Kings and that Macbeth will become king rather than Banquo. Banquo also knew that in order for Macbeth to become King he will have to go through a lot of people to get to that great nobility position. So in turn Banquo "stands as a kind of morality figure who is able to resist the witches ' temptation" (Ribner page 1). This means that in order for Macbeth to become a king truly he will in turn know has to know that he will have to go by any means into fulfilling his future. Where in Banquo 's case all he has to do is accept the fact that his children are going to be Kings. Mean while the witches give Macbeth another chance into the future by showing him a series of three apparitions. The first apparition of an arm head meant to be wearing of Macduff. Next the second apparition meant to beware of a child who did not come from a usual natural child birth. Then finally the third apparition Macbeth learns that he will never have one

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