Explore the Role of the Witchesin the play Macbeth.
Eliyahu Lopez
English Literature
Coursework
Macbeth
Explore the
Role of the Witches
in the
play Macbeth.
In this assignment I am going to explore whether the witches influenced Macbeth sufficiently to cause him to commit murder, treason and regicide, or whether Macbeth was capable of committing these crimes on his own and the witches only made this happen a little earlier and a little more certainly. I will then explore the Elizabethan audience, their superstitions, and how they would react to the character of the witches as seen in Macbeth.
I will also explore the dramatic devices in the play:
. The witches power in prophesising the future.
2. The letter from Macbeth to his wife.
3. The floating dagger revealing his hallucinations.
4. The dramatic nature of Banquo's ghost appearing on the banquet.
5. The movement of the forest and how it affects Macbeth's frame of mind.
Historically, the witches have been seen as evil beings that gain evil powers from the devil to use during their lifetime, in return for their souls when they die. In the United Kingdom, man's belief in witches and the supernatural was very strong during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Laws were passed by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James I prohibiting witchcraft and making the practise punishable by death.
Witches were used as scapegoats in Elizabethan society. During the years 1580-90 there was a famine and rebellion throughout the land, 160 witch trials took place in south-east England alone. In the years 1620-30, there was relatively little famine only 25 trials took place, the Civil War then broke out in 1642, the number of trials rocketed to 75.
If the crops failed or if an animal was sick, people would automatically suspect that a witch was involved because the people at this time had very little medical or scientific knowledge to explain these occurrences.
The majority of witches executed were old women who lived alone, if they kept any sort of animal for company, e.g. a cat, than people could claim that the animal was a "familiar", an evil spirit given to the witch by the devil and the woman would be tried. Shakespeare shows that these women are witches, because in Act 1, Scene 1 the witches call their familiars:
"I come Greymalkin!"
"Paddock calls!"
"Anon!"
People believed that witches fed their familiars on their own blood through a mole or a birthmark. During trial the "witch" would be searched for such a mark, or even tortured into a confession.
James I was terrified of witches, who he believed destroyed his ship "The Tiger" and tried to kill him. The populace would follow the example of their monarch and as a result people hated witches and were horrified by the accounts they heard.
The effect that the witches would have had on the Elizabethan audience would have been phenomenal. The audience would be filled with fear and awe every time the witches appeared on stage, and they would be shocked to see Macbeth consulting with witches, which was an act punishable by death at the time.
Shakespeare uses numerous special effects where the witches are concerned. This is especially true of the four scenes where the witches directly appear, scenes Act 1 Scene 1, Act 1 Scene 3, Act 3 Scene 5 and Act 4 Scene 1. In all four cases, thunder precedes the three witches, almost as though nature is protesting against the witches' presence.
I will now analyse the four scenes in which the witches can be seen to directly influence the play.
In Act 1, Scene 1, the very first stage action in Macbeth reads:
"Thunder and lightning, enter three witches."
After this scene the witches vanish into the mist. Shakespeare is associating the witches with the negative aspects of the weather in order to confirm to the audience that the witches are indeed evil and he is also hinting at their ability to change the weather at their own will, or in other words to control nature. This is also mirrored with their ability to see in to the future, the witches say:
"When shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightning, or in rain?"
This phrase has a double meaning. It could mean that the witches can see into the future and can therefore predict when it will rain, and when it will not, or that they can control the weather, and are deciding what weather they should conjure up when next they meet. If the witches are capable of controlling nature, then surely they could be held responsible for further mishaps in nature, for example, the day being "strangely dark" in Act 2, Scene 4.
The lightning would have been chemical flashes, possibly gunpowder, which would also account for the thunder. The witches vanish at the end of the scene through a trap door in the stage, which would have definitely impressed the audience because at this time, that was a state-of-the-art special effect. These special effects would have told the audience that the witches were supernatural beings because the special effects of this kind were not used on any other character than the witches. The witches' cauldron also sinks into the floor in Act 4, Scene 1, which is another type of ...
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The lightning would have been chemical flashes, possibly gunpowder, which would also account for the thunder. The witches vanish at the end of the scene through a trap door in the stage, which would have definitely impressed the audience because at this time, that was a state-of-the-art special effect. These special effects would have told the audience that the witches were supernatural beings because the special effects of this kind were not used on any other character than the witches. The witches' cauldron also sinks into the floor in Act 4, Scene 1, which is another type of special effect that is used only on the witches.
Another trait that belongs solely to the witches is that they constantly speak in rhyming couplets. This characteristic shows that they are evil, and just before Macbeth is killed he too speaks in rhyme.
"But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, brandished by man that's of a woman born"
Shakespeare does this to show that Macbeth is as evil as the witches, and so the audience show no sadness when Macbeth is killed on stage moments later. This may have been the reason that Shakespeare decided to begin his play with the witches. They would have risen through smoke via a trapdoor and to the sound of haunting music, which would have scared the audience, but also would have provided them with an element of danger and power that would act as an instant hook to the story. It may also show how important the role of the witches is to the story, if Shakespeare decides to open the play with them.
It is not only the audience that are affected by the witches, Macbeth is amazed by what the witches tell him, and in the letter to his wife, Macbeth says:
"I stood rapt in the wonder of it"
Not only can we see how the witches affected Macbeth through what he says, but how he acts.
"Look how our partner's rapt."
This was what Banquo said, commenting on Macbeth's appearance whilst considering what the witches have told them both.
In Act 1, Scene 3 the witches appear directly for the second time in the play. When they meet this time, Shakespeare gives us a much greater insight into the witches' lives than the mysterious side we see in Act 1, Scene 1. The witches mention that they have decided to brew up a storm for "The Tiger", because the sailor's wife refused the witch some chestnuts. "The Tiger" was a ship owned by James I, who claimed that when all it's cargo was lost at sea that witches were to blame. Shakespeare is flattering James I here by agreeing with him and saying that it was these witches that caused the ship to sink. What the audience sees from this scene is that the witches are very spiteful and very dangerous, and are wondering what is going to happen to Macbeth when they meet him later in the scene. When they have finished speaking to Macbeth, they "melted as breath into the wind". The stage direction reads "The mist thickens", which shows the witches' ability to change the weather, and therefore to affect nature.
One could argue that by telling Macbeth what was to happen, the witches could be influencing his decisions, but if we compare Macbeth to Banquo, we can see that Banquo is mentally stronger than Macbeth and is quite happy to wait for his prophecies to be fulfilled. This can be seen in Act 1, Scene 3, when Banquo asks the witches his future. To the audience at the time, this would have been shocking as consorting with witches at all was against the law, but upon hearing his future, Banquo is content to wait and see what happens, Macbeth however, is not:
"Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more."
In order to decide whether the witches influenced Macbeth into committing regicide, we must look at the motives of the witches. The witches are evil, and want evil to prosper, but there is a good, strong king in Scotland (Duncan) and so evil cannot rule over good. If the witches could somehow displace Duncan and put in his place an evil king, then they could plunge Scotland into darkness. This means that the witches wanted someone that was not afraid to kill, Macbeth was capable of killing, as we see in Act 1, Scene 2: "Till he unseemed him from the nave to the chops, and fixed his head upon our battlements". If Macbeth could kill, then it would be easier for the witches to persuade him to commit evil, because the only difference between killing your own king and killing the enemy's king is perspective. If the witches could change his perspective, then Macbeth could do the rest. The witches are changing his perspective a bit like the snake did to Eve, by showing him the advantages of the path of evil.
In Act 3, Scene 5 Hecate, queen of the witches appears and talks to the three witches about what has happened so far in the play. Some people believe that Shakespeare did not write this scene and that it was inserted later by another playwright, but it has made its way into the modern print of the play, so I am going to discuss what we learn from this scene.
It is from this scene that we learn about the motives of the witches, and this helps us to understand their role in the play. We learn that Hecate is angry because everything that the three witches has done "hath been but for a wayward son, spiteful and wrathful, who (as others do) loves for his own ends, not for you." Hecate is saying that all the witches have done has helped Macbeth but has not helped their cause, which is to destroy all that is good in Scotland. Hecate then decides that the witches are going to create some apparitions that will cause Macbeth to "spurn fate, scorn death, and bear his hopes 'bove wisdom". Here the witches are freely showing that they intend to mislead Macbeth in order to make him commit more murder. This is perhaps the strongest proof in the entire play that the witches are purposefully influencing Macbeth and using him as a vessel through which great evil can be done. As Hecate says:
"And by the strength of their illusion shall draw him on to his conclusion"
The final scene where the witches appear is the scene where the witches show Macbeth these illusions, Act 4, Scene 1. This scene is perhaps the one most laden with special effects in the entire play. The stage directions read:
"A cavern and in the midst a fiery pit with a boiling cauldron above it. "Thunder", as the Weird Sisters rise, one after the other, from the flames."
Shakespeare is making this a scene that the audience will remember; all these special effects are designed to show the awesome power that there is at a witch's Sabbath. This scene would have affected the audience more than any other, because in this short scene, Shakespeare shows them the comparison between humans, such as themselves, and the amazing power held by the supernatural beings that are the witches.
When Macbeth meets the witches for the second time, it is under entirely different circumstances. Macbeth has now turned evil, even in comparison to the witches, as the 2nd witch says:
"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes"
Macbeth shows the witches no respect,
"I conjure you..., answer me:"
"Had I three ears, I'd hear thee"
And he alludes to the battle between good and evil that the witches are fighting.
"Though you untie the winds, and let them fight against the churches"
Macbeth in this scene shows that he is capable of doing evil without the help of the witches, as he decides to kill Macduff's wife and children. This scene is important because it shows that although at the beginning of the play, the witches had to influence most of Macbeth's decisions in order to make him do evil (for example, the air drawn dagger led him to Duncan), whereas now Macbeth is fully capable of making evil decisions of his own, which is why there are no further visions or voices that Macbeth hears after meeting with the witches a second time.
As well as the four scenes where the witches directly appear, there are further scenes where we think the witches could be influencing what happens. I will now discuss some of the points and conclusions that we can draw from these scenes.
Banquo and Macbeth are great friends as can be proved by the fact that Macbeth makes Banquo the chief guest at his feast, but the influence of Lady Macbeth made him lie to Banquo. He lies to Banquo here:
"I dreamt last night of the weird sisters"
"I think not of them".
But the reason he lies can be found shortly beforehand, at the end of Act 1, Scene 6, where Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth's manhood to coerce him into committing murder. Lady Macbeth is under the influence of evil spirits, as is proved in Act 1, Scene 5 in the "unsex me here" speech, when she says "come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts". This could be alluding to the three witches, and if the three witches are giving Lady Macbeth the strength to commit murder, then they are directly involved in her coercing Macbeth into acting "like th'innocent flower, but be[ing] the serpent under't".
Macbeth's lie is fuelled by his paranoia, and he is afraid that Banquo will guess at what he intends to do, he is trying to act casual before the murder so no-one will notice that he is edgy and then suspect him after the murder has been committed.
Macbeth lies to Banquo because he is feeling guilty about what is about to happen, and is scared that Banquo might realise that he murdered the King. There was little point in lying anyway because Banquo remembers the witches prophecy and suspects Macbeth to be the murderer:
"I fear thou play'dst most foully for it"
Another person that definitely influenced Macbeth into murdering Duncan was Lady Macbeth. She calls upon the spirits to "unsex me here". In other words to remove the female traits of squeamishness and innocence so that she can find it in her to kill the king.
Macbeth would not have killed Duncan unless pressured by both the witches and his wife. He lacks the brutality needed to kill the king, so Lady Macbeth has to coerce him into committing the murder, and he lacked the desire to kill the king, until the witches told him after the battle that he would be king. The irony is that if Macbeth had sat back and not killed the king, he would probably have made a good king when his time came, but because he felt he had to act on this prophecy, he becomes an evil king.
The first time Macbeth meets the witches, they prophecies his future and Macbeth is awestruck. This shows the fascination that the witches can attract, and which no-doubt the audience were also feeling. The witches do not directly say "Go out, and kill Duncan", but Macbeth realises that the witches are prophesising the result if such a plan of action was to be taken.
In comparison, the last section of the play in which the witches could be influencing Macbeth is the scene where Macbeth chooses to go back to the witches. This time, Macbeth's character has changed. He is now a lot more confident, more forward and possibly a more ruthless killer than at the start of the play. He seems to have changed from a warrior to a murderer. For example, at the start of the play, we hear:
"Till he faced the slave...and fixed his head upon our battlements"
Whereas at the end of the play, we hear:
"The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to the edge of the sword, his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line."
When the witches say that Macbeth shall not be killed by any man of woman born Macbeth takes it to mean that he cannot be killed, although this is not what the witches directly said. We can still hold the witches accountable for their actions though because if they can see into the future then they would know that they were giving Macbeth false hope.
Aside from the two scenes where the witches talk to Macbeth directly, there are a number of scenes in which the witches could be influencing the natural order of things, for example the air drawn dagger scene.
In this scene Macbeth has a vision of a dagger, which he follows into Duncan's room with his own dagger drawn. This supernatural event could have been the work of witches who were afraid that Macbeth could decide not to kill Duncan at the last moment. For the witches, this would therefore have been a clever way if getting Macbeth into Duncan's chamber with his dagger drawn.
Shortly after the murder, Macbeth tells his wife:
"Me thought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more!'"
This voice was heard only by Macbeth, and is another event that could be either Macbeth's imagination or the work of the witches. But if we consider that witches are masters of illusion and are fully capable of producing such voices (if they can produce the voices of the apparitions in Act 4, Scene 1), and that they have the motive of trying to turn Macbeth insane, so as to encourage further violence, then we can conclude that it was the witches who made this voice, and not Macbeth, who has shown no signs of being mad before this in the play.
Act 2, Scene 4 starts with the stage directions "A day strangely dark". Ross then goes on to discuss with the old man many strange happenings in the night, a Mousing owl killing a hawk (the royal bird), and Duncan's horses eating each other.
All these supernatural events must be the work of the witches, who are the only supernatural beings in the play, and therefore the only beings capable of affecting nature. The Elizabethan audience would have believed that witches were capable of these things, and it would have terrified them to think of the witches performing all these terrible things.
Shakespeare chose to include this scene to show that the death of a good king has serious repercussions in nature, and possibly therefore to flatter James I, for whom the play was written.
Another supernatural event was Banquo's ghost appearing in Macbeth's seat. This vision scares Macbeth to the point of destroying his mind. Up to this point we might have sympathy for Macbeth because of his paranoia, and because we suspect the witches may be destroying his mind, but the witches want more. The witches want Macbeth to lose his mind so that he will return to them again for more prophecy, and so that he will be mad enough to plunge Scotland into civil war. If this spirit was conjured up by the witches then it achieved the purpose that it was meant for. But whether it was just a figment of Macbeth's imagination remains unclear in the text. We do however know that the witches are fully capable of such visions, because later in the play they produce three apparitions that further influence Macbeth. The fact that as soon as the vision of Banquo vanishes, Macbeth is "a man again" shows that he is not controlling these visions, and therefore we can assume that the witches have caused them.
We can assume that acts such as these could be the work of witches if we consider the situation surrounding the murder of Duncan. For example, as soon as Duncan is killed, Lady Macbeth "heard the owl scream". The owl is symbolically the harbinger of death, and the fact that Lady Macbeth heard it shortly after Duncan died shows that the natural world is aware that an evil deed has occurred.
After meeting with the witches a second time, Macbeth decides to kill Macduff's wife and children. Any sympathy the audience had for Macbeth has now been extinguished at the thought of such an act of careless cruelty. Macbeth emerges from his encounter with the witches bent on the destruction of Macduff and all his family.
"No more boasting like a fool, this deed I'll do before this purpose cool".
He no longer cares if innocents suffer, as long as he can feel secure on his throne. The very thought that had been eating at Macbeth throughout the entire play was that
"To be thus is nothing but to be safely thus".
One of the morals of the play is that "Fair is foul, and foul is fair", or that things are not always as they seem. This is certainly true of Macbeth, who began the story as "Worthy Gentleman", and ended it as "this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen".
The witches influence of Macbeth by use of prophecy (Act 1, Scene 1), hallucinations (Act 4, Scene 2) and mind play (Act 3, Scene 4) would only give him the desire to commit such murders, The confidence and determination had to be supplied by Lady Macbeth, who coerced him into agreeing to murder Duncan by questioning Macbeth's manhood in Act 1, Scene 7.
The witches' role in Macbeth is that of the "baddie", the personification of evil that must be defeated by the good (i.e. Malcolm). The witches manage to convert Macbeth to the path of evil, but he is only a tool of the greater evil of Hecate and her witches. The witches and Lady Macbeth cannot be solely responsible for Macbeth's actions. His "boundless ambition" and easily-led nature that allowed him to follow the path of regicide are also responsible and we see these traits at work after Act 4, Scene 1, when his "boundless ambition" and the influences of the witches' apparitions make him engage in a final battle between the two armies of good and evil at the end of the play.
The Elizabethan audience would have hated the witches, partly because they would attribute any misfortunes in their own lives to the actions of similar beings. Shakespeare chose to use the witches in this way for two reasons. Firstly, the audience's fear and superstition about witches would mean that there was little need to develop their characters further than evil beings, because the people would already know a lot about them, and secondly because of how fervently James I not only believed in witches, but believed that they were the cause of all the suffering in his kingdom.
Eliyahu Lopez
Macbeth Coursework
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