By seemingly prophesying events they consolidate the audience view of them as evil doers. They give Macbeth the idea of murdering the king; they sowed the seed for more mischief and created the basis of the plot.
Continuing the theme of evil, we, the audience are introduced to Macbeth.
We first hear of Macbeth in the captains account of his battlefield valour, our initial impression is of a brave and capable warrior; however once we see Macbeth interact with the three witches, we realize that his physical courage is marred by a consuming ambition and tendency to self doubt. The prediction that he will be king brings him joy, but it also creates inner turmoil.
Andrew Jefferson G.C.S.E
These three attributes- bravery, ambition and self doubt struggle for mastery of Macbeth throughout the play.
Shakespeare uses Macbeth to show the terrible effects that ambition and guilt can have on a man who lacks strength of character.
As we continue through the play, we learn more about his weaknesses. As we already know Macbeths strength, his weaknesses is his ambition. His ambition becomes too much for him, he can not cope with all the problems. Macbeth is lead on by his wife to believe he can kill others to become successful, but this leaves Macbeth feeling guilty.
Lady Macbeth is one of the characters central to the play. She is the stronger of the two and actively leads Macbeth into committing the evil ‘deed.’ In the play Lady Macbeth calls upon the evil spirits to change her into a man.
‘Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty; make thick my blood, stop up th’ access and passage to remorse…… Come to my woman’s breasts and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers….. Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark’
(Act 1, scene 5)
This shows there is a connection between Lady Macbeth and the darker side. It also shows that Lady Macbeth is keen to commit the evil ‘deed.’
There is connection between Lady Macbeth and the witches. These crafty women use female methods to achieve power- that is manipulation- to further their supposedly male ambition Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth to imply that women can be as powerful, ambitious and as cruel as men. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his objections; when he hesitates to murder; she repeatedly questions his manhood until he feels that he must commit murder to prove himself. She does not want him to fail her evil dark, ambitions.
Andrew Jefferson G.C.S.E
Throughout the play we see how Shakespeare used different characters to create evil. He sets the scene by using weather conditions or time of day to enhance the atmosphere, to do this; Shakespeare explains/describes the weather and uses the characters to do the same in different parts of the play, for example:
‘When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?’
(Act 1, scene1)
‘How goes the night boy?’
‘The moon is down; I have not heard the clock’
‘And she goes down at twelve’
(Act 2, scene1. Banquo and Fleance)
Shakespeare in addition describes the appearance of his characters. In the play Shakespeare uses the colours red and black; these colours are usually associated with darkness and evil. The use of these colours is very effective, most scenes are set in darkness, this sets the tone of the scene. It is the characters themselves, who are clothed in dark, dull or black clothes; however one character, Lady Macbeth, described as a dark and passionate, ambitious women, is frequently clothed in red. The colour itself represents/symbolises passion and evil, and therefore the colour red can be metaphorically associated with many sides to Lady Macbeth’s character. But it is the colour black that is true to her character, as it is Lady Macbeth’s heart that is ‘black.’
