macbeth essay about the three witches

Three Witches, Macbeth

The three witches are characters in Macbeth .

Macbeth begins with what is possibly the most theatrical opening stage direction of any play: Thunder and lightning, Enter three witches.

That sets the tone for the play, which is shrouded in darkness, fog, ‘filthy air’ and general foul weather. The language of the text is saturated with the kind of images that create that world. The witches – supernatural phenomena in this play – pervade the play with their presence, that hangs like a toxic cloud over the play.

Macbeth’s three witches as seen on stage

The weird sisters are a wonderful Shakespearean invention. They appear on the stage as characters and are played by actors, but they are not people. Shakespeare distances them from the people in the play by the way they use language. The human characters speak in Shakespeare’s usual mode of blank verse in iambic pentameter , whereas he gives the witches a strange, eerie incantatory verse in rhyming couplets. Their dialogue creates a mesmeric effect on the audience.

Moreover, although their intervention in Macbeth’s life is the most powerful dramatic device in the play, they do not participate with the human characters in the development of the drama. At the same time, there is the question as to whether they exist at all or are more like a personification of his ambition to become king, causing him to have the idea that he can if he can bring himself to kill the king.

So it would be pointless to try a character sketch of the witches. All one can say is that they appear on the stage as the source of evil – the kind of evil that can enter the soul of a good man, attack him at his most vulnerable point and produce the kind of chaos that leads to violence, murder, and war. Macbeth’s most vulnerable point is his ambition. They do not have human characteristics: they are more like machines programmed to create confusion and destruction.

Early in the play we see the witches talking about the evil things they have just done to human beings and we hear that they are now going to attack this very good man, favourite of the king, and national hero. And they do that. They approach him and tell him things about his immediate future – things that turn out to be true, which makes them believable – and they tell him that he will be king one day.

That plants the idea in Macbeth’s mind. They know that it’s already there, beneath the surface: all they are doing is bringing it to the surface, knowing that he will take the bait. They know that his weak point is his over-reaching ambition. From that moment on it is a decline from the height of heroism to the lower depths of villainy with the destruction of Macbeth’s very soul.

Top Three Witches Quotes

“When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

“Fair is foul and foul is fair Hover through the fog and filthy air.”

“I will drain him dry as hay: Sleep shall neither night nor day Hang upon his pent-house lid; He shall live a man forbid: Weary se’nnights nine times nine Shall he dwindle, peak and pine: Though his bark cannot be lost, Yet it shall be tempest-tost.”

“All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!”

“FIRST WITCH: Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d. SECOND WITCH: Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined. THIRD WITCH: Harpier cries ‘Tis time, ’tis time. FIRST WITCH: Round about the cauldron go; In the poison’d entrails throw. Toad, that under cold stone Days and nights has thirty-one Swelter’d venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot. ALL: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. SECOND WITCH: Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. ALL: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. THIRD WITCH: Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, Witches’ mummy, maw and gulf Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark, Root of hemlock digg’d i’ the dark, Liver of blaspheming Jew, Gall of goat, and slips of yew Silver’d in the moon’s eclipse, Nose of Turk and Tartar’s lips, Finger of birth-strangled babe Ditch-deliver’d by a drab, Make the gruel thick and slab: Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron, For the ingredients of our cauldron. ALL: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. SECOND WITCH: Cool it with a baboon’s blood, Then the charm is firm and good.”

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I would know these sisters three, for with their thoughts I must agree. Yet, ‘greements seem be quite hard, even with the noble Bard. Thus I strain and give me pause, whilst I do sharp’st my claws. Fair may be foul and fair may be fair, But need’st I breathe some cool fresh air! Thus my hurley burley ends and bid farewell to noble friends. (Sorry, but I couldn’t resist!)

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Essay: The Three Witches of Macbeth

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William Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth reveals the rise and fall of the tragic hero Macbeth through the development of the drama’s main characters. Throughout the plot of the story, each character undergoes a change in his or her initial nature. Specifically, Macbeth’s most potent developed trait is his integrity, or lack thereof. In the opening acts of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a noble and loyal warrior; however, as the drama unfolds, Macbeth’s ambition gets the best of him. In fact, this ambition is the effect of evil prophecies chartered by Shakespeare’s mysterious Three Witches, otherwise known as the Weird Sisters. Not only do these creatures add suspense to the play, but they prophecy the destinies of numerous main characters throughout. Shakespeare is not the first to use the term “Weird Sisters;” in fact, the term comes from Scottish writers through which the term is used as a fanciful name for the Fates of Greek and Roman Mythology. The expression traveled to Shakespeare in its appearance in Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles (“Weird Sisters.” Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica). Although these characters do not appear as much throughout the play, the Weird Sisters are the center cause of the characters’ cynical actions, with their foreshadowing of the future, making these supernatural characters significant to the plot of the play. Thus, the Three Witches of Macbeth play an important role in the development of the drama through evil foreshadowing, supernatural connection, character development, and indirect manipulation.

Evil Foreshadowing

In the opening acts of the play, Shakespeare introduces the demonic beings of the Three Witches by means of their evil foreshadowing. Through such sinister predictions, the witches have the means to prove their importance to the play’s plot. As the plot advances, the Three Witches’ prophecies unfold in evil ways through each of the characters. For example, the witches prove their being of the backbone of the play in the first act and scene upon predicting the rise and fall of Macbeth. Leaving the audience no doubt of the witches’ vindictiveness, Shakespeare uses the witchcraft hysteria to portray the Weird Sisters throughout the play. This portrayal of cruel and murderous to reveal the witches’ direct connection to evil (Atherton). In introducing the audience to what takes place throughout the tragic hero’s life, the Weird Sisters are capable of revealing the evil behind their prophecies.

Supernatural Connection

Throughout the play, the audience becomes evident of the odd connection between the epic hero Macbeth and the supernatural Weird Sisters. In fact, throughout the opening acts, this connection is made evident before the formal, or staged, temptation. Not only is this connection seemingly close, but it is also mysterious and sinister. For example, when the Three Witches chant “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” (Shakespeare line 10) Macbeth hears the chant in his mind via dense air. As Macbeth is not being directly spoken to, Shakespeare’s establishment of this connection happens by means of verbal echo, not dramatic confrontation. Moreover, the witches’ prophecies are heard through Macbeth in nearly every act and scene within. Despite their lack of appearance, the witches’ relevance remains in tact as Macbeth mirrors both the tone and tune of the Three Witches’ chants (Kranz). Thus proving the manner of the statements are just as significant as the meaning. The establishment of such an intimate supernatural connection suggests that the Weird Sisters are more important to the characterization of Macbeth than any other character in the play, emphasizing their significance to the Shakespearean Drama. Moreover, the witches’ connection with the epic hero Macbeth is further revealed through the act of inhabiting of his mind. As Macbeth awaits the murder of King Duncan, he begins to experience supernatural hallucinations. Specifically, Macbeth notices a floating dagger in mid air. In fact, Shakespeare writes, “… art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (lines 36-38). The dagger proceeds to lead him to the room in which Duncan and his servants are asleep. After Macbeth is in the room, the floating dagger prompts him to pull the dagger from his person. Not only do the Weird Sisters directly converse with Macbeth, but they inhabit his private, personal home (Jongh). As a result, the Three Witches are capable of assisting with the murder of Duncan by means of creating hallucinations throughout the mind of the already disturbed Macbeth. A person’s home is a sacred, private place in which they are safe and at peace. Therefore, the Weird Sisters’ connection with Macbeth unfolds further and becomes more personal as they enter his home, in a mental rather than physical manner, and assist Macbeth as he commits murder.

Character Development

In the opening act of the tragic play, Macbeth was noble and far from sinister; however, the Three Witches’ way of embracing evil ambition into the hero’s character reveals an ominous and devious Macbeth. Specifically, upon hearing of the prophecy, Macbeth is distant and does not wish to hear such evil nonsense. However, as part of the prophecy begins to prove true, Macbeth grows mad for power. For example, the Weird Sisters prophecy that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, then later king, and Banquo’s children will be the following kings. Soon after, Macbeth is titled Thane of Cawdor, leading him to believe the rest of the prophecy (“Macbeth” Merriam – Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature). With this new found fame, the character of Macbeth begins to develop more negatively with every act. As the plot advances, Macbeth divulges into a rather murderous being. In fact, in Act 2 Scene 2 the evil urgings of Lady Macbeth, his wife, unfold through Macbeth’s actions as the two successfully murder King Duncan to allow Macbeth to be crowned king, as the witches prophesied. In conversing with Lady Macbeth, Macbeth states, “I have done the deed…” (Shakespeare line 34). In this, Shakespeare is referring to the murder as the “deed.” Without the prophecy, Macbeth and his Lady would not have been compelled to commit murder. Furthermore, the noble way of gaining power in this time period would be a duel between the current leader and the person wishing to be crowned; however, the couple drunkens the king and his guards in order to murder Duncan in his sleep without a fight, proving the nobleness of Macbeth is no more, due to the Weird Sisters (“Macbeth” Merriam – Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature). Moreover, Macbeth proves his loss of nobility and integrity in the latter acts of the play as his madness for power urges him to order the murder of a former friend. In order to consolidate his power, Macbeth authorizes the murders of his friend, Banquo, after he becomes suspicious (“Macbeth.” Shakespearean Criticism). Specifically, Macbeth states, “…every minute of his being thrusts against my near’st life” (Shakespeare lines 116-117). Macbeth is no longer the noble warrior he once was, he is simply a paranoid murderer. By way of character development, the Three Witches are able to transform the tragic hero into a murderous individual with the evil ambition for power that no one can get in the way of, not even a former mentor, leader, or friend.

Indirect Manipulation

The Three Witches of Macbeth indirectly manipulate the play’s main characters by means of persuasion. Specifically, the witches indirectly control Macbeth’s actions by manipulating him into committing gruesome and murderous acts. As previously stated, the witches prophecy Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor and king. In order to gain said power, the witches establish that Macbeth must remove all competition, despite what he must do., without actually stating that he must murder his competition. Through this, the Weird Sisters successfully transform his beloved wife, as well as Macbeth himself. From the beginning of the play, the witches reveal the importance of Macbeth to their devious scheme in saying, “There to meet with Macbeth” (Shakespeare line 8). After this meeting takes place, the reader notices why Macbeth is the foundation of the evil scheme: The Three Witches are the brains, Macbeth is the muscle. Macbeth believes wholeheartedly in the prophecies and proceeds to tell his wife Lady Macbeth, who plans the murder of King Duncan for the night that he is staying at Macbeth’s castle (“Macbeth” Merriam – Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature). At this point, the witches have filled Macbeth’s lady with devious and evil ambition more than they have Macbeth himself. In fact, Macbeth would not have committed the murder without the urgings of his wife, in order to prove to be uncowardly. However, towards the end of the play, the audience becomes aware of Lady Macbeth’s guilt. After drowning in guilt at the thought of the crimes she and Macbeth had committed, Lady Macbeth kills herself (“Macbeth.” Shakespearean Criticism). By indirectly manipulating the loving couple to do their dirty work, the Three Witches indirectly deprive Macbeth of his wife without remorse. Without the supernatural beings’ prophecy, Lady Macbeth herself would not have planned unspeakable crimes in the name of promoting her husband’s power, leading to her guilt and death. After proving each of the prophecies true, the Weird Sisters indirectly lead Macbeth to his demise. The Three Witches come to Macbeth with a second prophecy in Act 1 Scene 1 of the play. The second of the Three Witches states, “laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth,” (Shakespeare lines 90-92). After gaining trust from Macbeth and visiting him frequently, the witches become the difference makers of the play. With a false sense of invincibility given by the Three Witches, Macbeth fearlessly battles Macduff. However, Macbeth learns that the last prophecy he was given came true, proving he was doomed to die, and he was slain. The seemingly unbreakable connection proves unbreakable as the Weird Sisters secondarily engineer the death of Macbeth. In conclusion, the Three Witches, or Weird Sisters, of the Shakespearean tragic play Macbeth play an important role in the advancement of the tragic play through various characterizations and actions. In fact, Macbeth would not be a tragedy at all without the Three Witches. At the beginning of the play, the Witches foreshadow the events that follow. For example, the Witches reveal to Macbeth that he will become the Thane of Cawdor. To his surprise, Macbeth hears the news of his promotion shortly thereafter, leaving him to believe the rest of the prophecy from the Weird Sisters: Macbeth will be king and Banquo’s children will follow suit. After hearing of this new found glory, Macbeth tells his wife Lady Macbeth; however, the couple is not aware that this prophecy is evil and will prompt them to commit numerous crimes in the name of power. First, Macbeth’s beloved wife is thrilled to plan the murder of the current King Duncan in order to solidify Macbeth’s position on the throne. Moreover, Macbeth’s connection to these demonic, supernatural beings proves intimate as Macbeth is the mirror image of the Weird Sisters’ words. In each act of the play, the Witches are seen, not physically, but through the statements made by Macbeth and the actions that follow. Specifically, in Macbeth’s home, the Witches appear as a spirit in the form of a hallucination in the mind of Macbeth. Furthermore, the connection of Macbeth and Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters, as well as the actions that follow suit amongst Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, develop their characters from noble and loyal to almost demonic and cynical. The two are compelled to commit murder more than once in hope of more power. Without the evil ambition brought forth by the Witches, the audience questions: Would the couple have murdered former friends? In actuality, the murdering of the several victims brought upon by such ambition throughout the play strategically leads to the downfall of them both. By prompting the couple to do what is indirectly asked of them, the Weird Sisters successfully arrange the death of Lady Macbeth, who kills herself due to guilt, and Macbeth, who is murdered in battle all the while believing he could not be harmed. All things considered, Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters are the foundation of the play Macbeth, creating the tragedy.

Works Cited

• Atherton, Carol. “Character Analysis: The Witches in Macbeth.” The British Library, 19 May 2017, www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/character-analysis-the-witches-in-macbeth. Accessed 6 Dec. 2018.
• Folger Shakespeare Library. “Macbeth.” Folger Digital Texts, www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/html/Mac.html. Accessed 18 Dec. 2018.
• Jongh, Nicholas de. “Witches Take over the Show.” Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Michelle Lee, vol. 128, Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center, https://link.galegroup.com/apps /doc/H1420097061/GLS?u=avlr&sid=GLS&xid=3939da03. Accessed 6 Dec. 2018. Originally published in Evening Standard, 18 Apr. 2007.
• Kranz, David L. “The Sounds of Supernatural Soliciting in Macbeth.” Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Michelle Lee, vol. 90, Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale group.com/apps/doc/H1420067030/GLS?u=avlr&sid=GLS&xid=afd2a59b. Accessed 3 Dec. 2018. Originally published in Studies in Philology, vol. 100, no. 3, Summer 2003, pp. 346-383.
• “Macbeth.”Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, (c) 2002 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.,https://link.gal egroup.com/apps/doc/A1489207 72/GLS?u=avlr&sid=GLS&xid=0da03ffc. Accessed 3 Dec. 2018.
• “Macbeth.” Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Michelle Lee, vol. 100, Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1410001759/GLS?u=avlr&sid=G LS&xid=b9e46624. Accessed 5 Dec. 2018.
• “Weird Sisters.” Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 16 Jun. 2011. school.eb.com/levels/ high/article/Weird-Sisters/68. Accessed 3 Dec. 2018.

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Macbeth - Act 1, scene 3

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Act 1, scene 3.

The three witches greet Macbeth as “Thane of Glamis” (as he is), “Thane of Cawdor,” and “king hereafter.” They then promise Banquo that he will father kings, and they disappear. Almost as soon as they are gone, Ross and Angus arrive with news that the king has named Macbeth “Thane of Cawdor.” Macbeth contemplates killing Duncan in order to become “king hereafter” as the witches have called him.

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The Witches

The witches - supernatural.

The play begins with the witches. This sets a supernatural theme from the start and puts the audiences (who hated and feared witchcraft) on edge. The witches are immediately shown to be evil characters.

'Weird sisters'

• The witches are also called the 'weird sisters' . This has roots in classical mythology: the three 'wyrd' sisters were the fates, who knew men's destinies.

Meeting Macbeth

• The audience see them planning to meet Macbeth. This suggests that nothing that happens is accidental.

Significance of the number three

• The witches often speak or work in threes.
• Throughout history, the number three has frequently been seen as a magical number.
• In Greek and Roman mythology, witches who talked about fates (the wyrd sisters) were in a group of three. In Norse mythology, there were also a group of three women who made predictions about the future.
• The Rule of Three is a pagan belief – it states that whatever energy witches put into the world will be returned to them three times.
• In Macbeth , the witches seem to be in a group of three, and speak in threes, to strengthen their power.

Cannot be controlled

• When the witches speak with Macbeth and Banquo, they only give them a little information.
• Macbeth orders them to stay, but they disappear: 'Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more.' (1,3)
• This shows that he cannot control the witches' actions (or his own fate).

• The spirits that the witches conjure (make appear by magic) are 'their masters' . This shows that supernatural beings or creatures control them.

Graymalkin and Paddock

• The witches talk about 'Graymalkin' and 'Paddock' (1,1).
• These are a cat and a toad. People believed that witches had animal helpers to help them do their wicked deeds.
• Shakespeare relates to these characters to show the audience that they are wicked creatures.

The Witches - Evil

The witches symbolise the evil of witchcraft in the following ways:

Relevance of the sieve

• The idea that one of the witches can sail in a sieve ( 'in a sieve I’ll thither sail' (1,3)) is related to the accusations made against the Berwick witches.
• These were a group of people accused of trying to harm King James I when he returned with his new wife across the North Sea.
• Shakespeare makes it very clear that these women embody (express) all the evil-doing associated with witches at the time.

Inhumane looking

• When Macbeth and Banquo first see the witches, Banquo doesn’t know what they are: 'What are these, / So withered and so wild in their attire, / That look not like th' inhabitants o' th earth, / And yet are on' t?' (1,3).
• The witches don't look human. Their clothing is 'withered' and 'wild' . This suggests that they don't live like normal members of society.

Ugly appearance

• Banquo struggles to identify whether they are women or not: 'you should be women / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so' (1,3).
• Their unconventional (not normal), even ugly appearance is perhaps to remind the audience of how unattractive witchcraft was. Women who practised it started to look inhumane.
• This shows Shakespeare conforming to the ideas of Jacobean England, where the supernatural was feared and seen as unnatural. Those who practised it were viewed as evil – the witches’ ugly appearance may echo this apparent inner-evil.

Disrupt the natural order

• The witches chant the line 'Fair is foul and foul is fair' (1,1). This shows that the natural order of things is already being disrupted and this will continue throughout the play.
• The natural order is disrupted because of the witches.
• Nature becomes harsher (lots of bad weather, like thunder and lightning), the God-appointed king is murdered, friendships are severed, children are killed before their parents (Macduff’s son is slaughtered in front of his mother), and Lady Macbeth takes her own life before her time.

• At the start of Act 1, Scene 3, the witches are talking about what they have been doing.
• The Second Witch says things like 'killing swine' - this suggests that the witch has been harming animals.
• The first witch says a story about how she plans to torture a sailor whose wife refused to share her chestnuts: 'Bit in a sieve I'll thither sail, / And like a rat without a tail, / I'll do, I'll do and I'll do' (1,3).
• Immediately, the witches are shown to be ruthless and evil – they harm things just because they can, or because they cannot get their own way.

The Witches - Casting a Spell

In Act 4, Scene 1, the witches meet to cast a spell. This scene is full of exotic and revolting ingredients, including parts of people's bodies and bits of unusual animals. The charm that they chant is one of the most famous parts of the play: 'Double, double toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble.'

Double meanings

• These lines show that the witches’ speeches (and their intentions) are full of double meanings – they are not what they appear, and they cannot be trusted.

Trochaic tetrameter

• Shakespeare usually writes in iambic pentameter, so this highlights the witches as unusual.
• This structure shows that the witches speak in a different way to everyone else and that they are doing something incredibly important, as they stress these harsh sounds and repeat the lines themselves.
• This moment is almost a threat to Macbeth – they are chanting and aiming their spell at him, and it is a powerful spell.

1 Literary & Cultural Context

1.1 Context

1.1.1 Tragedy

1.1.2 The Supernatural & Gender

1.1.3 Politics & Monarchy

1.1.4 End of Topic Test - Context

2 Plot Summary

2.1.1 Scenes 1 & 2

2.1.2 Scene 3

2.1.3 Scenes 4-5

2.1.4 Scenes 6-7

2.1.5 End of Topic Test - Act 1

2.2 Acts 2-4

2.2.1 Act 2

2.2.2 Act 3

2.2.3 Act 4

2.3.1 Scenes 1-3

2.3.2 Scenes 4-9

2.3.3 End of Topic Test - Acts 2-5

3 Characters

3.1 Macbeth

3.1.1 Hero vs Villain

3.1.2 Ambition & Fate

3.1.3 Relationship

3.1.4 Unstable

3.1.5 End of Topic Test - Macbeth

3.2 Lady Macbeth

3.2.1 Masculine & Ruthless

3.2.2 Manipulative & Disturbed

3.3 Other Characters

3.3.1 Banquo

3.3.2 The Witches

3.3.3 Exam-Style Questions - The Witches

3.3.4 King Duncan

3.3.5 Macduff

3.3.6 End of Topic Test - Lady Macbeth & Banquo

3.3.7 End of Topic Test - Witches, Duncan & Macduff

3.4 Grade 9 - Key Characters

3.4.1 Grade 9 - Lady Macbeth Questions

4.1.1 Power & Ambition

4.1.2 Power & Ambition HyperLearning

4.1.3 Violence

4.1.4 The Supernatural

4.1.5 Masculinity

4.1.6 Armour, Kingship & The Natural Order

4.1.7 Appearances & Deception

4.1.8 Madness & Blood

4.1.9 Women, Children & Sleep

4.1.10 End of Topic Test - Themes

4.1.11 End of Topic Test - Themes 2

4.2 Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.1 Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.2 Extract Analysis

5 Writer's Techniques

5.1 Structure, Meter & Other Literary Techniques

5.1.1 Structure, Meter & Dramatic Irony

5.1.2 Pathetic Fallacy & Symbolism

5.1.3 End of Topic Test - Writer's Techniques

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Exam-Style Questions - The Witches

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The three witches in Macbeth .

HOLINSHED CHRONICLES AND ITS CONTEXT TO WITCHES. THE ORIGIN OF THE WITCHES. WAYWARD AND WEIRD SISTERS IN CONTEXT.

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Shakespeare, the most canonical of canonical authors, has a voice that is a permanent part of our lingua franca. For the first time in literary and stage history, I have created an academic-creative hybrid which tackles English poetics versus Scottish poetics combined with an argument to include Hecate, who is important to Scottish mythology, along with Hecate’s two oft-excluded songs, wrapped up inside a new Scottish translation and adaptation. Many purists consider any non-Elizabethan English performance of Shakespeare’s works as blasphemous while some traditionalists argue that any new interpretation will fracture the canon. Against the backdrop of my translation, I will prove this is not true. Using First Folio of 1623, I have directly connected Shakespeare’s original work to the heartbeat of Scottish history, Celtic culture, and social thinking. As Walter Benjamin stated, new literary interpretations of older material “is the measure of a work’s afterlife. Every literary work is incomplete until it is translated . . . it is only through translation that it can truly come to life.” My fresh Scottish tongue translation, coupled with a strong Celtic-themed adaptation, of Macbeth will allow today’s audience an opportunity to discover new connotations that only de-contextualisation and re-contextualisation will permit.

Rachel Turner

The composition process of Shakespeare's plays are in no way linear, and Macbeth serves as no exception. Through analysis of multiple accounts and versions of the Scottish Play, this paper examines the three figures of the weird sisters, analyzing their traits and accounts of their performances and comparing them more closely to the ancient pagan figures of sibyls than to witches. Subsequent versions of the play and changing tastes in the Jacobean era transformed the three sisters' presentation into the witches we know to day, but more textual evidence of earlier iterations give the characters and entirely different and sibylline attitude.

Robert G . Mirică

Pallavi Paul

The objective of this paper is to introduce the social and political significance of witches during the Shakespeare's time and examine Shakespeare's use of the witches to affirm the " natural " monarchial and patriarchal order. This paper is going to examine the socio-cultural background of the 16th and 17th centuries from the perspective of popular beliefs regarding the Supernatural. The 'normality' of witchcraft beliefs is, indeed, worth emphasizing on. On one side, we have authors like Richard Baxter who, in The Certainty of The World of Spirits (1691) has excavated historical details of apparitions and witchcraft, and on the other side, we have critics who accept the play's witchcraft only as a form of psychological symbolism. However, witches and witchcraft practices were a scary reality of the 16th and 17th centuries in England. Witchcraft beliefs were, and still are very popular in many societies. Each period had its superstitions as well as specific attitudes. This reiterates that people have always believed in ghosts, spirits and witches as well as in individuals with abnormal powers and abilities. It doesn't indicate that " witches eat their own children, cause sickness, plague or famine, or have sexual relations with devils " but serves as evidence of the above. We have to take in account of the function of such beliefs, and more importantly, the description of the actual beliefs and how it functions within a particular cosmology. [Type text][Type text][Type text]

Cornelia Feraru

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The Three Witches and Macbeth – Essay

Antonious Mekheail

In many of Shakespeare’s plays there exists relationships between characters; these relationships in many cases influence the direction in which the play goes. For example, in the  “The Merchant Of Venice”  the elopement of Lorenzo and Jessica is what triggers Shylock’s rage and blind desire for revenge, which sets the stage and the necessary atmosphere that is required for the climax in the court scene. Likewise in Shakespeare’s  “Macbeth”  the everlasting relationship between Macbeth and the three witches is the foundation of the entire plot. When Macbeth meets the witches he views them as honest and believes on them quickly. The witches having established contact with the protagonist, indirectly affect and transform his beloved wife. Towards his demise Macbeth finally realizes how the witches have heinously betrayed him.

From the very start of the play the witches establish how important Macbeth is to their evil scheme:  “There to meet with Macbeth” . It is from this moment that a permanent link is established between Macbeth and the witches.  “A drum, a drum, Macbeth doth come” . The witches use extraordinary equivocatory language when speaking:  “hail to thee Thane Glamis/ hail to thee thane of Cawdor/ All hail Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter” . Macbeth is confused, he is the thane of Glamis but not of Cawdor, and he is not the king. When Macbeth receives news of his promotion he immediately believes in the witches’ prophecies:  “The greatest is behind-Thanks for your pains” .

Macbeth is also very fond of the witches as they awaken in him his dormant vaulting ambition to be king. He cannot forget the meeting that he had with them:  “My thought, whose murder is yet but fantastical, shakes so my very single state of man that function is smothered in surmise, and is but what is not” . Macbeth very quickly believes whole heartily without any shred of proof , it is unimaginable how the witches could manipulate one who is supposed to be  “Valliant” . Macbeth trusts in the witches to an extent that he stars to suspect people who are close to him, even his brother in arms:  “We would spend it in some words upon that business, if you would grant the time” . It is quite clear that Macbeth has become increasingly paranoid due to his evolving relationship with the three weird sisters.

Throughout the whole play the witches are in Macbeth’s mind corrupting him even further. Lady Macbeth is no exception:  “Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top full direst cruelty.” . Notice how Lady Macbeth uses the word crown, this shows that the witches, in form of spirits, have filled lady Macbeth with ambition more vaulting than Macbeth’s one. Under the influence the witches she is driven to extreme measures:  “Come thick night and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of Hell” . One would not have imagined that the witches’ power would have extended to influence humans to bow to the devil indirectly.

The witches may also appear in many different forms, this has already been witnessed by the audience:  “I come, Graymalkin”/ “Paddock calls” . When Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle the witches are present in a way. They are present in Lady Macbeth’s fake attitude towards the King:  “Your majesty loads our house: for those of old, and the late dignities heap’d up to them, we rest your hermits.” . It is noticeable that Lady Macbeth speaks somewhat like the witches in rhyme this shows the extent of the power of the three weird sisters and how solid their relationship is with the Macbeths.

The power of the witches does not cease to guide Macbeth further along the path of hell: “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.” . A deadly illusion is created before Macbeth in order to make sure that he does not sway from his hell-bound vaulting ambition to become king. This is the most solid proof yet that the relationship between Macbeth and the witches is the triggers the most important events in the play: the murder of the gracious king Duncan.

Having fully fulfilled the prophecy of the witches, the relationship between Macbeth and these ministers of evil continues to grow evermore leading Macbeth even closer to his demise:  “How now, you secret, black and midnight hags?” . Notice the normal, familiar, even demanding tone that Macbeth uses with the witches this emphasizes how close Macbeth and the witches are, or so does Macbeth think. The witches corrupt Macbeth even further by showing him three apparitions:  “Come high or low: thyself and office deftly show” .

The apparitions were the cornerstone of the witches’ evil scheme; they further trick and blind Macbeth from the truth making him think that he is invincible, and hence deceiving him:  “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth”/ “Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him” . It is here where we see the true face of the relationship between the witches and Macbeth as it really is: a deceptive, manipulating and equivocating one. This is never seen by Macbeth himself, which influences the story even more.

To show the audience how the relationship between Macbeth and the witches is important to the plot of the play he breaks down their relationship at the climax of the play:  “I looked toward Birnam, and anon methought the wood began to move” . The first brutal betrayal by the witches came at a time when Macbeth was already in turmoil due to the death of his partner in greatness. It is at this moment when an epiphany strikes Macbeth and shows him the true nature of the witches in which he placed so much of his trust:  “I pull in resolution, and begin to doubt the equivocation of the fiend that lies like truth” .

Even at when he is so near to his moment of death Macbeth still carries little belief of what the witches had previously told him:  “Thou wast born of woman; but swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn brandished by man that’s of woman born” . This proves how intact the relationship between Macbeth and the weird sisters was; even after discovering that they betrayed him Macbeth still clings to the one prophecy that he hopes to be true. This fool’s hope is ripped away by Macduff:  “Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped” . The solid, seemingly unbreakable relationship between Macbeth and the witches has finally broken down completely proving that it was futile from the start.

This play is no exception to the fact that relationships are important and affect the story of Shakespeare’s plays. If it was not for the doomed relationship between the witches and Macbeth the play might not have been a tragedy at all. This bond between Macbeth and these minsters of evil serves as the cornerstone of the entire play and a crucial catalyst to the plot. It could be said that the relationship was forged before the fatal meeting and started to decide the fate of the plot and of Macbeth.

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Three Witches in Scotland: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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Published: Mar 1, 2019

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