Macbeth - The Role of the Witches.

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English Assignment

Macbeth – The Role of the Witches

William Shakespeare probably wrote his play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, for King James I around 1606.  To fully appreciate why the witches had such and important presence and impact upon the characters in the play, one has to take into account the beliefs and fears that people living in the early part of the 17th century held.

Today of course, with our scientific knowledge, and so called ‘spiritual enlightenment’, witches are perceived by the general population as objects of fun – daft women who practice silly spells(naked of course!) on hillsides- as we ‘know’ magic doesn’t exist.  But back in the 1600’s however, witches were feared and hated.  People really believed that they had supernatural powers that enabled them to see into the future, and indeed, change it.  Beliefs were black and white in the middle ages.  There was a heaven and a hell – God and Satan existed to people as real entities, and witches were perceived as evil, subhuman creatures, servants of the devil himself-as evidenced in Act 1 scene 111, when Macbeth and Banquo first met the witches.

“What are these, so wither’d, and so wild in their attire,

That look not like th’ inhabitants o’th’ earth,

And yet are on’t? Live you, or are you aught

That man may question?”

Further on in the scène, Shakespeare alludes to the witches supernatural powers,

“Say from whence you owe this strange intelligence…

With such prophetic greeting”

And;

“Whither are they vanish’d

Into the air, and what seemed corporal melted

As breath into the wind”.

Given the historical belief in the powers of the witches, one could assume that the witches themselves, set in motion the events that led Macbeth to kill the king he had served so faithfully- that they somehow changed his personality and morality when they prophesied his future kingship; But Macbeth  (line74) says,

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“To be king stands not within the prospect

Of belief”

So why then would he accept the testimony of those ‘imperfect speakers’?  To believe that Macbeth ‘came under’ their influence is to deny the fundamental nature of man – free-will.  This ability of mankind to choose their own path, and make decisions on the basis of personal morality, sets us apart from all other animals, and we are answerable for our actions. I believe the witches prophecy, ignited in Macbeth, a lust for power and position that was always present; for if he had no such desire, nothing ...

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