“What’er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks;
Thou hast harpend my fear aright. But one word more -”
(Act 4, scene 1 lines 72 – 73)
He also sees Banquos ghost.
Macbeth confirms a past fear of witches. When he has a lack of fear it shows this when he says:
“I have almost forgotten the taste of fears”
One of the biggest fears of witches is having the ability to turn day into night, the witches do this when on the day after the murder of Duncan when an elderly man is talking to Ross, Ross says:
“By the clock ‘tis day
And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp.”
I think that the witches have an enormous role in forming the plot and keeping it fuelled and interesting. This theory is first shown in the very first scene when the witches meet up in a ‘desolate place’:
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair,
Hover through the fog and filthy air.”
The witches also add theme and atmosphere to the play. Simply by being witches they scare and mystify the audience. Banquo talks about their looks in Act 1 scene 3:
“How far is’t called to Forres? What are these,
That look not like the inhabitants of the earth,
And yet are on it? – live you, or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each at once her choppy finger lying upon her skinny lips; you should be women
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.”
He really explains how ugly they are saying they should be women but they have beards, they look unearthly and have choppy (skinny and horrid) fingers, he can’t seem to grasp that the witches are a combination of male and female characteristics, this speech I feel really adds atmosphere.
The witches also add the opportunity of special effects with all the smoke and fog being present when they appear. They can really worry the audience/ viewers/ readers with their ingredients to their spells along with the possibility of lightning and the dagger appearing in front of Macbeth aswell as Banquos ghost and the apparitions, so they really add a lot of opportunities to scare an audience.
One of the most distinguishing things about the witches is their language and how they speak in rhyme and riddles, this keeps the audience interested:
“The weird sisters, hand in hand
Prospers of the sea and land,
Thus do go, about, about,
Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine
And three again, to make up nine,
Peace, the charms wound up.”
I also find that Shakespeare not just keeps the witches in rhyme but gives the characters and scenes their own rhythms. In different situations he has placed the lines in a certain order to suit the scene. In Act 2, scene 1 the scene after Duncan’s murder the lines are placed all over the page to give the sense of panic when you read it. In Act 3, scene 2 the lines are placed in long lines because there is no need of panic and hurry.
In “Macbeth” Shakespeare has his scenes all ending in rhyme to show that it is coming to an end of a scene, as there was no other way to let the audience know that the end of a scene was approaching:
“Put on their instruments. Receive what cheer you may,
The night is long that never find day.”
(Act 1 scene 3)
The witches’ behaviour is weird/ different as well as the way they shuffle and then disappear into thin air which obviously isn’t normal
“The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,
And these are of them. Whither are they vanished?”
(Act 1 Scene 3 lines 76 – 78)
In conclusion I don’t think the witches contribute to the play “Macbeth”, I think they create it, fuel it, keep it interesting and entertaining and I think Shakespeare knew this would be the outcome when he wrote it.
