Study Shakespeare’s use of the witches in the play. How far are the responsible for Macbeth’s actions?
William Shakespeare's
Macbeth
Study Shakespeare's use of the witches in the play. How far are the responsible for Macbeth's actions?
At the beginning of Shakespeare's, Macbeth we are introduced to three of the most influential people in the play. These three people are known as the witches.
We first see the witches in a desolate area, were we see them performing a spell. This creates the sense of foreboding, which would intrigue the audience, and make them think about what kind of people the witches really are.
The audience in Jacobean times would have felt uncomfortable with the idea of the witches because in those times people believed that witches were real and that they had supernatural powers which could harm mortal human beings from a distance. The idea of witches in Jacobean times was so influential that a law was passed by parliament, saying that anyone who was found practising witchcraft and was found guilty will immediately be killed.
When we first see the witches they are casting a spell and one of the first lines that are spoken is,
"Fair is foul and foul is fair"
These words seem to contradict each other they show the play as being confusing. The words mean good is bad and bad is good. This would make the audience concentrate on the witches very carefully and make it look like if all as it seems to be? These words introduce the idea of reality and illusion into the play and they also show the play to be mysterious and confusing.
At the end if 11, we are taken to a battlefield just after a Macbeth has won a battle. In this scene Macbeth is portrayed as a hero, the captain tells King Duncan that Macbeth fought undauntedly against the Norwegian troops and that he personally killed the leader of the troops Macdonald.
"For brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name
Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel
Which smoke the bloody execution."
This is showing Macbeth as a hero at the start of the play but as the play progresses we see that this is not true, this again brings in the idea of reality and illusion.
When we first see Macbeth in the play, we hear him echo the words of the witches,
"So foul a fair a day I have not seen"
This line would make the reader suspicious of Macbeth's character and make the reader think, is Macbeth all that he seems to be. This again brings in the idea of reality and illusion.
At the end of 1.3 we are taken to the heath that is mentioned in the witches speech.
"Where the place?
Upon the heath"
This is where the witches say that they ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
When we first see Macbeth in the play, we hear him echo the words of the witches,
"So foul a fair a day I have not seen"
This line would make the reader suspicious of Macbeth's character and make the reader think, is Macbeth all that he seems to be. This again brings in the idea of reality and illusion.
At the end of 1.3 we are taken to the heath that is mentioned in the witches speech.
"Where the place?
Upon the heath"
This is where the witches say that they are going to meet with Macbeth.
Macbeth and Banquo meet the three witches upon the heath. This is where Macbeth is told his three prophecies, that he will be he will be Thane Of Cawdor and that he will be king, the third prophecy is not a really a prophecy because the witches are telling him something that he already is,
"All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis.
All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor.
All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter.
When these prophecies are prophesied to Macbeth he reacts in a big way on the other hand Banquo seems to laugh and mock the three weird sisters, but Macbeth seems to be interested in what the witches say and seems to be taking them seriously. This is shown by Macbeth shouting at the witches to stay and to tell him more.
"Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more.
This shows that Macbeth is very interested in what the witches had to say to him and that he wants them to tell him more.
This is one of the ways that Shakespeare shows how much influence the witches have over Macbeth. But in this scene Macbeth is shown to have no power at all over the witches because they do not listen to him the just vanish into the air. This is done to show the audience that Macbeth does not have any control over the witches and that the witches will not be commanded.
After Macbeth has met the witches he rides off with Banquo to a camp. The following morning Macbeth is visited by Ross who gives Macbeth the title Thane of Cawdor. Banquo seems to be astonished by what Ross has just done and neither can Macbeth they both think about the witches' prophecies. One of he prophecies has already come true, now Macbeth is thinking about the one where he is told he is going to be king. If that prophecy came true Macbeth would think that he would be the most luckiest man in the world but that is another part of the theme that is reality and illusion. When Macbeth and Banquo met the witches they also told him that he would be happy but no so happy.
"Not so happy, yet much happier."
This line brings in the idea of reality and illusion it means that Macbeth would be happy as the king but in his mind he will not be as happy as he seems to be.
This is how Shakespeare uses the witches to influence Macbeth over the killing of King Duncan. The witches give Macbeth a stronger view over being king because Macbeth may have thought about being king before, which is why he mirrors the words of the witches. This may make the audience think that Macbeth had thought about being king before and the witches had merely developed the idea further in Macbeths mind.
Macbeth then sends a letter to Lady Macbeth telling her about the three weird sisters and what they had prophesied. Immediately the idea of Macbeth being the new king drove Lady Macbeth to call evil upon herself. Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to be king so much that she evil call evil sprits upon herself so that she will have the courage to through with the murder of Duncan.
".... Come, you spirits.."
Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to be the greatest he can be so that she can share the power with him from being the queen. In Jacobean times women had very little power to do anything or become anyone important. That is why Lady Macbeth tries so hard to try and convince Macbeth to murder the king. If Lady Macbeth could kill the King she would do it herself but she cannot because King Duncan reminds of her own father.
We are then taken to a party where Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are having a conversation about the murder of Duncan again we are reminded how evil Lady Macbeth has turned. She even says in 7.1 that she would rather kill her own baby than give up the chance of Macbeth being king. This shows how evil she has become and how much the kingship means to her.
"How tender' tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums
And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn
As you have done to this"
This is Lady Macbeth saying that she would have rather killed her own baby than not keep her promise to her husband and that Macbeth should keep his promise to her.
All these ideas bring in the idea of evil. It shows that the witches have a presence in the play even thought they are not in the scene.
The evil that Lady Macbeth had called upon herself had driven her to think of a great plan to kill Duncan and to drug Duncan's tow guards so that Macbeth can kill Duncan without being seen.
"Soundly invite him, his two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassail so convince
That memory, the warder of the brain"
The guards will not be able to remember what happened because of the drugged wine, so the blame can be placed on them.
When Macbeth goes towards King Duncan chambers he sees a dagger floating in the air in front of him. This again brings in the idea of reality and illusion. Is the dagger really there or is it just something that Macbeth thinks is there.
"Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee:
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still."
Macbeth tries to grab the dagger but his hand just goes straight through the dagger.
While Macbeth is walking towards the door of Duncan's chamber in his mind he is talking about what he is about to do and in his speech he mentions witchcraft and Hecate's. Hecate's was the goddess of witchcraft. This is another reminder that the witches are a major influence over Macbeth even though they are not in the scene. But the weather that night is the type of weather that is mentioned in the witches' speech at the start of the play. This would make the audience think that the witches are in the scene but not directly in it.
"In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"
This is another reminder that we get about the witches reminding us that they are the most powerful people in the play even though they are not always there. This also shows that they are watching Macbeth all the time, showing the audience how much influence over Macbeth they have.
Macbeth seems to be turning towards evil rather than doing any good, first he committed the highest treason which was killing Duncan, then he killed the two guards so that they could not stick up for themselves and say that they did not kill Duncan. But then Macbeth has to commit two more murders so that then he will not have any people who can take the throne away from him. These people are Banquo and Fleance, Macbeth hires out three murderers who he convinces that Banquo is the enemy to do the deed but they only manage to kill Banquo, Fleance gets away. Macbeth then kills the murderers by pushing them down a well. This all leads back to the witches, if Macbeth did not meet with the witches he would never had committed any of those deeds there meeting with Macbeth influenced him to kill the king and then kill his best friend.
Although Macbeth has killed all these people, the two guards, he has not been thrown into prison. That is because in Jacobean times killing was common and people used to kill others over small arguments. That is why Macbeth was not thrown into prison for killing the guards.
