At first when the witch speak to Macbeth he seems amazed and ‘rapt withal’ (A1, Sc 3, Ln57). But when they go to leave he says 'Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more.' (A1, Sc3, Ln70) it makes you wonder whether he's already thought about what they are saying about being king. The witches seem to know that Macbeth already wants to become King and that he will become Thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth and the witches seem unnaturally close and act with one mind, but the witches have the overall control. From now on in the play Macbeth is under the witches' spell. Although the witches have a small part in the play, even with Act3, Sc5 and Act4, Sc11, Lines 39-43, being added after Shakespeare wrote this- due to the witches’ popularity-, they are always in the thoughts of Macbeth- and probably the audience too.
When the consequences of the murders of Duncan and Banquo are too much for Macbeth to handle, his instinct is to go back to the witches (A4, Sc1). They are now his only hope. It is saying that no mortal can do such evil and get away with it.
Macbeth would probably never have thought seriously about killing Duncan if the witches had not ‘planted’ the idea into his head. Once Macbeth kills for the first time, he has to cover up his wrong doings, by killing even more people, or risk loosing everything he has worked so hard for.
Another instance where the witches ‘played with’ him is with the apparitions. Macbeth had trust in the witches, and he wanted to know more about what the future had in store for him so he went to the witches and demanded that they tell him about the future. When the witches showed him the second apparition, it said, “…none of woman born, shall harm Macbeth.” (A4, Sc1) Then, the witches showed him another apparition which said “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until , Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill, Shall come against him.” (A4, Sc1). These two apparitions told Macbeth that he wouldn’t die of any man born by a woman, and that he wouldn’t be vanquished until Great Birnam Wood came to Dunsinane Hill, but this led him into a sense of false security, because he believed everything that they said even though they were only telling him their twisted version of the truth.
Macbeth’s trust in what the witches tell him becomes stronger later on in the play. Before the battle when Macbeth was talking to the doctor he told the doctor that he wasn’t afraid, and he bragged of what the third apparition told him. Also during the battle with Young Siward, Macbeth says how Siward was born a woman and therefore Macbeth is not afraid of him. Macbeth bragging of the stories he heard from the witches show they have a strong influence over him.
The witches were able to influence Macbeth through their words of the future. They usually only told him their side of the truth and they always left him wanting to know more about the future. The witches had the most influence over Macbeth, more than his wife.
By the end of the play, Macbeth had put all his trust in the witches’ apparitions. Also, had it not been for the witches’ initial predictions, Macbeth would probably not of thought about trying to take the throne in the first place. Therefore, through the witches Shakespeare put his tragedy of Macbeth into place.
Eva Blake 11W
English-Macbeth Coursework
- –