How important are the witches in the first two acts of Macbeth.
The witches are important because they create an atmospheric opening. When the three witches arrive on stage there is a presence of evil. We hear thunder and see rain and we notice that they give a sinister feeling. They speak about meeting again “in thunder, lightning or in rain”. We find out from the witches’ conversation that there is a battle taking place and they will meet after the battle has ended, “when the battles lost and won.” They say that they will meet Macbeth upon a heath. At this stage of the story, we still do not know why they are so eager to meet with him. We also fid out that the witches have familiars, we know this by understanding the following quotes. The first witch says, “I come graymalkin,” the second says, “Paddock calls!” the third replies, “Anon.” They believe that their familiars are the devil taking physical representation in animal form, and that they must be obeyed. In the first couple of lines of act one scene one, the witches recite, “fair is foul and foul is fair,” this indicates that things are not always as they seem. Things that seem to be evil are not always evil and sometimes even turn out to be good, but things or people that seem to be good could end up becoming evil or bad. In the Elizabethan days people believed that witches could fly. “Hover through the fog and filthy air.” Witches were associated with bad weather, filth and disease. There is a fair amount of evidence that shows that the witches were, as an Elizabethan audience would expect them to be, for example. Witches were believed to be found in wild and uncivilized places. In act one scene three they found on a heath. And the thunder was rumbling as the rain was falling. They were thought to be able to sail in sieves, “and in a sieve ill thither sail.” They could transform themselves, into animals, “And like a rat without a tail ill do, ill do, ill do.” They could create bad weather and send storms. “Ill give thee a wind.” This shows that the witches have control over the weather. They were able to cast spells and create charms. “And the very ports they blow, all the quarters that they know.” This shows that they have the ability to cast spells on objects like ships at sea.
