Explore the role of the witches in the play and there influence over Macbeth

Kayleigh harris 10a2

Macbeth coursework

For my coursework I am going to explore the role of the witches in the play and there influence over Macbeth. I am going to look at the reactions of the audience when the witches appear. I am going to do this for Shakespeare’s time and modern time and compare them. I am also going to watch polanski’s film Macbeth and adapt this to the text.

The witches appear in the play in…

Act 1 scene 1
Act 1 scene 3
Act 4 scene 1

Act 1 scene 1

The witches appear first in the first scene f the play. It opens with thunder +lightning, this is put there to get the audiences attention because in Shakespeare’s time the audience were very noisy and it would be hard to get their attention on the stage otherwise. Not only rich people went to see his plays in Shakespeare’s time poor people too and it would be them who were noisy. The scene is set on the moor. There are three strange people performing witchcraft and chanting a spell. These are the witches.

The audience’s reaction to this would be that they would be shocked at the appearance of the witches. The witches would be wearing strange clothes and maybe very ugly. In polanski’s film of Macbeth the first scene is set on a beach. The witches have a mans hand, they bury the hand in the sand. Then they pour blood on top of the hand when it has been covered with sand. The witches then say a spell. The witches in polanski’s film Macbeth are old and frail. They are wearing dirty clothes made out of clot. The first scene in polanski’s film Macbeth is filmed early in the morning at daybreak. This indicates that the witches are real witches because nobody would be on a beach that early in a morning. When they say the spell they say it in rhyme, e.g. “Fair is foul and foul is foul is fair, hover though the fog and filthy air”. They do not only talk in rhyme when they are saying the spell, they also talk in rhyme when they are talking to each other, e.g. “When shall we meet again, in thunder lightning or in rain”. “When the hurly burly is done, when the battle is lost or won”. In polanski’s film Macbeth the witches move towards the sun and disappear into the mist and fog.

In this scene they talk about Macbeth but we have not meet him yet. In Shakespeare’s time people believed in witches so seeing the witches performing a spell would have been scary for the audience to watch. People in modern days will not have been scared of the witches because people don’t really believe in witches. Some people believe in witches but most people don’t.

Act 1 scene 3

At the beginning of this scene there is thunder and the witches appear on the moor. They start talking and one of the witches says that she has been ...

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Act 1 scene 3

At the beginning of this scene there is thunder and the witches appear on the moor. They start talking and one of the witches says that she has been out killing swine. Then another witch says that a sailor’s wife had chestnuts in her lap and she would not give her any. They then say that they are going to do horrible things to the sailor. One of the witches says that she is going to go after the sailor in a sive. The witches then say that they are going to blow the boat off course and that they are going to send a storm so that the sailor will not sleep for 7 days and nights. This is saying that witches control the weather and this would have scared the audience. The witches hear drums and they know, before they see him that he is coming towards them. Macbeth says “so foul and fair a day I have not seen”, this links him with the witches because in the first scene the witches say, “fair is foul and foul is fair, hover though fog and filthy air”. When Macbeth sees the witches he asks what are these, he says this to banquo about the witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he is the thane of glamis and the thane of cawdor. This is strange because the witches have not been told that Macbeth is now also the thane of cawdor. Macbeth thinks that the thane of cawdor is still alive but he has been killed. Then the witches go on to saying that Macbeth will one day become king. They say that banquo will not be king but his sons will be. They then say that Macbeth will be happy but not as happy. This means that when he is king he will be happy because he is the king but not as happy as he would be without the crown. The witches then go into a cave and leave Macbeth and banquo on the moor.

This scene is dramatic because it starts with thunder and is set on the moor. They chant and rhyme when they are talking to Macbeth and banquo. Before Macbeth and banquo arrive the witches talk about killing swine and plotting to send a storm to a sailor. These are very strange subjects to be talking about. They also talk about controlling the weather, witch we think is impossible. The other thing that is strange is that the witches know that Macbeth is coming before they actually see him.

Act 4 Scene 1

At the beginning of this scene there is thunder and Macbeth arrives on the moor. He has come here because he is looking for the witches, to see what next is going to happen in his life and how to protect the crown from others so he can keep it. He sees a cave and goes inside. The witches are there. They are brewing a potion and they are adding horrific things into the cauldron, e.g. “a toad that under a cold stone, days and nights hast thirty-one. Liver of blaspheming Jew”. They also keep on chanting “double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble”. They then make Macbeth drink the potion. He then hallucinates three apparitions.

The first apparition says “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware macduff; beware the thane of fife”, it is an armed head. There is thunder before each apparition. The second apparition says “none of women born shall harm macbeth”, it is a bloody child. So Macbeth then thinks that nobody can hurt him. The third apparition says “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until great barman wood to high dunsinane hill shall come against him”, this is a child with a tree in his hand. He then sees the spirit of banquo with 8 kings who are banquos sons and sons after them.

At the end of this scene Macbeth decides to kill macduffs wife and children. He does this because he cannot kill macduff because he is in England so he thinks of killing what is closest to him. Macbeth says “The castle of macduff I will surprise; seize upon fife; give of the sword his wife, his babes and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line”.

This scene is dramatic because there is a lot of lightning to get the audiences attention. The apparitions also are dramatic because of what they say and who says them. The spirit of banquo would have scared the audience in Shakespeare’s time and would be hard to do on stage. The appearance of the witches would also scar the audiences of Shakespeare’s times

Polanski’s film Macbeth

Act 1 scene 1

For the first scene of the play polanski decides to set it on the beach instead of the moor. This background is effective. There is weird music and you can hear a seagull in the background. I think that this is effective because nobody would be on the beach at sunrise.

The appearance of the witches is affective in this scene. The witches are wearing mucky and ripped clothes. They have messy hair that looks like it has never been brushed. One of the witches wears something on her head that looks like a rugby helmet. The clothes look like second hand clothes. The witches are old and ugly, they have hardly any teeth and one of them has a sealed up eye.

There is a lot of silence before the witches actually speak. This adds to the spookiness of the scene. Making what they say more unusual.

I think that the witches say there lines well and it is affective. The chanting is good. The tone in their voice is good and makes the lines sound better.

The witches are not what childhood witches look like. We use to think when we were young that witches have pointed hats and ride broomsticks. We also thought that they have black cats and are ugly, in the play the witches are ugly and have black cats. So the witches are a bit like what childhood witches are like. I don’t think that they look like evil in human form; I think that they just look like weird old women who are not evil.

Act 1 scene 3

Polanski decides that the moor is effective for this scene and keeps it the same as Shakespeare’s. It is misty so this adds to the effect of the set. The witches talk to Macbeth. When they have finished one of the witches shows her backside to Macbeth and banquo I think that this is saying “get lost” to macbeth and banquo. I don’t think that this appropriate and does not make the effect of the scene any better.

Act 3 scene 1

Polanski deals with this scene well. In the beginning of this scene there is strange music that is not in tune. It is also raining on the moor this adds to the affect of the scene. A witch pulls Macbeth into the cave. When he gets in he sees that there are loads of witches in the cave and they are all naked. They give Macbeth the potion and he hallucinates and sees 3 apparitions. At the end of them he sees the spirit of banquo and gets his sword and goes for banquo. There is a crash and it smashes like a mirror. He then wakes up in the cave. The witches have gone and it is raining on Macbeth.

Conclusion

At the end of the day Macbeth has lost more than he has gained.

Lost gained