Form an opinion on how Shakespeare in his play "Macbeth" appeals to seventeenth century interests and beliefs in witchcraft.

As the King was of Scottish heritage, it also would be appealing to him to recognise actual place names used in the play. Scotland as a country is complimented throughout the play: “This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses.” (Act 1, Scene 6) Also, King James had become obsessed with witches.  He claimed his wife had nearly been drowned in a storm, which witches had called upon. In 1597, King James wrote a book “Demonology,” where he prescribed the proper punishment for witches and death in various forms. The starring role played by witches (“the weird sisters”) is another sign that Macbeth was written with King James in mind; Shakespeare was clearly writing a play that would both flatter and support the king, but also be relevant to his interests and obsessions.

I think, it is understandable that Shakespeare wrote Macbeth with an eye toward gratifying his patron: Shakespeare was a commercial playwright—he wrote and produced plays to sell tickets and make money.

In Act 1 Scene 1 witchcraft plays a significant role in creating the atmosphere and themes of the play. The “weird sisters” are brought on stage with thunder and lightning. It was standard thinking that storms were associated with witchcraft, and conversely the entry of the witches provided an excuse for getting the play started with an attention-getting special effect. The three Witches introduce the theme of ‘Fair is Foul’ in Macbeth and are the first characters seen in the play. The fact that the Witches are in the first scene of Macbeth confirms that they are important characters and main devices of evil. They meet in foul weather and talk of “thunder, lightning” and “the fog and filthy air” (pathetic fallacy), giving the audience a first impression that Macbeth is a dark, dangerous play in which the theme of evil is central. The witches exit with the lines (the author used antithesis):

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

Their words seem to contradict each other, presenting the idea of illusion against reality in the play. Perhaps in the modern theatrical production this scene could provide an occasion for creating spectacular special effects using advanced stage machinery, i.e. witches “flying” in the flashlights of lightning (or maybe even with hard rock music for an avant-garde production?)

The status of the weird sisters is reinforced by the lines:

“FIRST WITCH: I come, Graymalkin
SECOND WITCH: Paddock calls”

This helps the then audience to understand at once that these are witches, since the cat ('Graymalkin') and the toad ('Paddock') were frequently to be found as familiars in witch trials in England. These familiar spirits, demons in the form of pet animals, were almost the defining characteristic of English witches. As a reward for serving the witch, familiars were allowed to suck blood from a special nipple hidden somewhere on the witch's body, the 'devil's teat'.

The Witches seem closely connected to Macbeth as he later repeats their words: “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” They choose the right moment to approach Macbeth, when he is full of triumph and glory from the recent battle. The witches know exactly what to say and their timing is precise, all three appear to speak and act with one mind. They contradict themselves throughout their predictions that Macbeth will become king, which suggests that things are not what they seem: “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy, yet much happier”. I think, it is also a clue to the audience that some extreme events will happen because Macbeth is currently in no position to become king.

The witches in Act 1 Scene 3 create a motif, which flatters Macbeth in an attempt to convince him to kill Duncan. The witches flatter him in two ways. First, the witches greet Macbeth as a superior, "all hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis." (Act 1 Scene 3). This courteous salutation, "hail," is only used for the great leaders of men, not subordinates like Macbeth, who at this point in the play is only a vassal of King Duncan. The only other instance in which one of the characters in the play is greeted by "hail" is when Malcolm takes power at the end of the play after Macbeth's head is chopped off (Act 5 Scene 8). Never outside of Act 1 Scene 3 is it used to refer to Macbeth. The witches greeting to Macbeth also flatters him by differentiating him from Banquo. While Banquo at this point in the play is an equal of Macbeth, Banquo is not greeted at all; the witches do not even refer to Banquo until halfway through the scene. And the witches only refer to him after he begs the witches to predict his future.

The witches appear announced by a roll of thunder, to relate their misdeeds to each other, and the audience:

“FIRST WITCH: Where hast thou been, sister?
SECOND WITCH: Killing swine”.

”Killing swine” was exactly the kind of thing that accusations of witchcraft in England turned upon, so this fact could definitely draw the attention of the audience.

The First Witch then continues with: ”Here I have a pilot's thumb, Wrecked as homeward he did come.” And this may again be read as an allusion to which the audience of that period would respond. The use of joints of the dead to raise storms and the general prohibition of grave-robbing for sorcery was imported into England with James VI and I, when the English witchcraft law was tightened up at his insistence in 1604, so that for the first time grave-robbing became part of the crime of witchcraft in England. There was thus some topical interest in this aspect of the witches' behaviour, which Shakespeare used to appeal to the audience of that time.

English law under Elizabeth also regarded it as an offence to enquire about the life expectancy of the sovereign, but the law was reinforced when James came to the throne of England. Macbeth himself, therefore, becomes guilty of the crime of witchcraft when he says:

“Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:
… to be King
Stands not within the prospect of belief
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence, or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you”. (Act 1 Scene 3)

In Scene 3 Macbeth clearly insists on an answer, which can be regarded as another way used by Shakespeare to draw the King’s and the audiences’ attention, since “questioning the witches at this point in the play puts Macbeth in a similar position to that of the Earl of Bothwell consulting Edinburgh sorcerers about the life expectation of his cousin, King James.” 

In Act 3, Scene 5 Shakespeare reinforces the idea of witchcraft. The witches appear again, only this time they are meeting with Hectate, Queen of the witches. Hectate is furious with them for not consulting her, before they spoke to Macbeth. She tells them that Macbeth will visit them tomorrow, and that they must put on a more dramatic show for him. The scene was likely used to catch audience attention in the middle of the play.

As Act 4 Scene 1 opens, the witches continue the theme of supernatural and mystifying, that threads throughout the play. As they throw ingredients into their cauldron, they chant, "double, double, toil and trouble," a reminder that their speech is full of double meanings and paradox. Shakespeare surely received the audience's attention in this scene by including a boiling cauldron in a cave, which creates a dark and ghostly mood. The audience probably would have been on the edge of their seats when they heard what the witches were putting into their cauldron: "Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, Witches' mummy maw and gulf." (Act 4, Scene 1)

Macbeth enters after the cauldron is bubbling from the ingredients the witches have put in it. He demands to know what his future may hold, how long he will be king and whom he should fear. The witches call forth the evil spirits that they serve. An apparition rises above the boiling cauldron. The first apparition is a warrior and warns Macbeth of Macduff. This apparition represents Macduff in his battle clothing. The witches call a second apparition this time the apparition is a bloody newborn child. The apparition tells, Macbeth, that anyone who is woman born will never harm him, in the lines "The power of man, for none of born/ Shall harm Macbeth." (Act 4, Scene 1) Macbeth thinks he is now immortal and will die of old age. This is where the witches tricked him. During Shakespeare’s time, woman born was a child born in the natural process, but taken from women meant a child that was born through a caesarean section. What Macbeth does not know is that Macduff was born through a caesarean section. The newborn vanishes and the witches bring another apparition to Macbeth. The next apparition is a child with a crown on his head, holding a tree. This apparition tells him that he will not be defeated until "Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / shall come against him." (Act 4, Scene 1) Macbeth is bewildered. He cannot figure out how trees could walk to his castle. He, also, does not understand why the apparitions have contradicted one another. The second apparition told him that no one born of women will defeat him and then the third apparition tells him that he will be defeated. He comes to the conclusion that the third apparition means, they will never defeat him because trees will never walk. The witches again have taken advantage of Macbeth and his logical thinking. Macbeth satisfied with these answers asks if Banquo's sons will ever rule when he says: " - shall Banquo's issue ever Reign in this kingdom?" (Act 4, Scene 1) The witches tell him to ask no more questions after this one. The cauldron descends. Eight kings appear and Banquo, holding a mirror, follows them. This is not the answer Macbeth wanted to hear: he asked questions that he did not want to know the real answers to. Macbeth is enraged that he will not have a dynasty and that he has killed king Duncan for someone else to build a dynasty. Macbeth is terribly upset. The witches almost mock him after he has seen the final apparition. Macbeth has been positioned by the witches to fall from the throne. The calling of the apparitions was the last time the witches appear in the play. Their mysterious manipulations would almost certainly bring about a dynamic reaction from the audience of that period.

In the final scene, we see Malcolm hailed as King.  His accession to the throne is very different from that of Macbeth. Shakespeare heavily underlines the difference between unlawful seizure of power and the proper transfer of power to a rightful ruler, again trying to please the new king.

For most of Shakespeare's contemporary audience, Macbeth would appear to be at the mercy of the witches and therefore not entirely responsible for his actions. It seems to be easier to gather sympathy for a person who is not entirely to blame for his actions. To be a man in Shakespearean times meant to have a strong personality and being able to fight and kill with no remorse. This is a repeated theme in the play as Macbeth's masculinity is undermined on several occasions by Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is sometimes referred to as the fourth witch. At the beginning of the play she is Macbeth's “dearest partner of greatness”, but at the end she is his “fiend-like queen”. She has a desire for power and she provokes Macbeth to seize the throne of Scotland by murdering Duncan. In my opinion, she is the same symbol of evil as the witches. Macbeth is brave when it comes to thought but when he is faced with the action, he hesitates and has to be persuaded into action by lady Macbeth and the prediction of the witches. However, in my opinion, Macbeth is neither forced into crime by Lady Macbeth nor by the witches. Macbeth chooses evil knowingly, and it is him alone, who is responsible for the consequences that follow.

In conclusion, it is important to underline that Shakespeare used many different aspects of the supernatural to make his play fascinating for the seventeenth century audience as well as for the audiences of today. In his tragic play, Shakespeare exercises the thematic tools of witchcraft, darkness, horror as these themes appeal to the audience’s curiosity of the mysterious and thus strengthen their interest. Without the mystery in this play, the plot would be ordinary, and there would be nothing unusual to attract the attention of the reader. It is these tools that are also used to provide insight into the motivations and thoughts of the characters. The darkness, witches, visions and hallucinations, all add to the plot of this play and make Macbeth a play that can surely keep the attention of the reader and audience.