“Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.”
This sentence is very effective in showing their evil and confused thoughts. Thus, we can say that if the witches were not included, Shakespeare would not have been able to achieve the impression created in Act 1, Scene 1.
The witches accelerate the plot in Act 1, Scene 3 by prophesying about the future of Macbeth and Banquo. The witches’ equivocation foreshadow the bone-chilling doom that awaits both the worthy nobles, particularly Macbeth who “shall live a man forbid.” And even though they do not have the power to kill the person (“Though his bark cannot be lost”) they do have the power to make him suffer (“Yet it shall be tempest-tost”). This leads the readers to anticipate Macbeth’s downfall and suffering.
When Macbeth and Banquo enter the scene, the witches tell them the predictions. The phrase, “The greatest is behind”, by Macbeth, tells us that the witches are getting successful in making him greedy. The witches are triumphant in having trap Macbeth, as now he is surrounded by the thoughts of becoming king as he says,
“This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill;”
which makes the readers curious, as to what will Macbeth do to get the title of the king. The impact of the predictions can be seen in Macbeth when Duncan crowns Malcolm as the Prince of Cumberland, and Macbeth says, “For in my way it lies.” But the readers even witness guilt in Macbeth, when he says, “Stars, hide your fires!” which tells us that he wants darkness, so that he can hide his, “black and deep desires.” Hence, if the witches would not have been included, a major part of Macbeth would not have been covered, and that is the greed in Macbeth, which leads to his evil ambition and his downfall.
Lady Macbeth’s thoughts are also influenced by the witches’ predictions as after having the knowledge of the prophecies, she cries to make herself strong and evil, to support her husband. We can symbolize Lady Macbeth as the fourth witch, as she is the one who influences Macbeth in doing the evil deed, after the three witches. We can see this as she says, “Was the hope drunk” and “Art thou afeard”, when Macbeth hesitates in going ahead with the plan. As a result, Shakespeare’s exclusion of the witches would have affected the plot in a bad way, as Lady Macbeth plays an important part in encouraging Macbeth in killing Duncan.
In Act 2 Scene 1, we can see the insight of Banquo and his feelings towards the witches and their predictions. This can be seen as he says,
“And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers!”
Here, it is seen that Banquo is having many terrible and evil thoughts in his mind. He knows that if he sleeps, the thoughts will come back to his mind. This shows that he is very disturbed. The word, “cursed”, has a very powerful meaning of evil and darkness. As he is feeling uneasy because of the thoughts, he wants the forces of nature to hold back his terrible thoughts. The character of Banquo is revealed here, which is very wise and noble unlike Macbeth.
In Act 3 Scene 1, we see that the witches have manipulated Macbeth to an extent, that he thinks of only himself. He forgot the friendship he had with Banquo, and plans to murder him, which is seen when he says,
“It is concluded: Banquo, thy soul’s flight”
He is jealous of the fact that Banquo’s sons will become kings, as predicted by the witches.
Here, we can see how persuading the witches were as it turned Macbeth from good to evil.
The readers can witness this when Macbeth says,
“Duncan is in his grave; After life’s fitful fever he sleeps well.” Witches wanted something very similar to happen with the sailor as they said,
“Sleep shall neither night nor day Hang upon his penthouse lid.” In the same Act, we see how Hecate refers to Macbeth’s downfall in an indirect way, as she says,
“security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.”
In Act 4 Scene 1, again, the witches meet in, “A dark cave”; this shows their dark and evil thoughts. Their constituents like, “Finger of birth-strangled babe”, for the boiling cauldron shows us their nasty and evil character.
The second set of the witches’ prophecies are in the form of apparitions, in Scene 1 of this Act. Macbeth trusts all the apparitions shown by the witches, which were, Macbeth has to be careful of Macduff, none of woman born can harm Macbeth, and Macbeth cannot be defeated until Birnam wood comes to Macbeth’s castle. Macbeth is trapped in the witches’ false security; therefore, we can see that, what Hecate said about security being mortals’ enemy is coming true. We can see his false security, as he keeps on repeating the words of the apparitions in the entire Act V. For that reason, we can say that, the absence of the witches would not have let Macbeth think that he will always be safe.
Therefore, we saw how the presence of the witches changed the good character of Macbeth, to an evil being, and how the plot of the drama took a turn all together. The witches play a very essential part in the plot of Macbeth. Their absence would have made the play lifeless, as there would have been no exhilarating suspense, to make the book a thrilling experience for the readers. Their absence would have given a different end to Macbeth, as Macbeth would not have been greedy to become the king, and Lady Macbeth would possibly not have tried to influence her husband to continue the sinful ambition.
