What part do the witches play in Shakespeare's Macbeth?

What part do the witches play in Shakespeare’s Macbeth?

I am illustrating my answer by outlining how I would produce a play, concentrating on the witches’ scenes.

Setting

I would set my production of Macbeth in the time that it was written as, because in this age people strongly believed in witchcraft, I feel that the play would make more sense and mean a lot more.

An important point to realise is that in Shakespeare’s time witchcraft was a substantial issue, people believed in it and it was a serious offence to be a witch and old women with pets or living on their own where prime suspects. Therefore to the people of that period the witches were real and so I think that to present the play purely in psychological terms would not fit in with setting the production in Shakespeare’s time.

Scenes

A1, S1 - I would start my first scene with loud thunder and lightening to grab the audience’s attention, also this gives the audience a sense that bad things are about to happen. It is important that the witches interest the audience at the beginning of the play by making the scene dramatic but also realistic. Therefore the first lines in this scene should be said clearly, as they are our first introduction to the witches and Macbeth and after this we know a little about what is happening in the future. I think we meet the witches first in the play to show the evil that is going on, so we can get an idea of what is going to happen and the parts that they play. I see the witches as being important characters at the start because of this and this should come across in the way they are acted.

I think the lines that involve paradoxes, for example

‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’

should be said clearly and more pronounced as this line, put another way, means good is bad and bad is good which shows the witches’ evil as they are violating god’s natural order.

At the end of the scene the two lines that are said by the three witches should be said with a good rhythm as they contain alliteration and could be said with a singsong rhythm to emphasise them.

A1, S3 - The witches return describing their revenge on a ...

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I think the lines that involve paradoxes, for example

‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’

should be said clearly and more pronounced as this line, put another way, means good is bad and bad is good which shows the witches’ evil as they are violating god’s natural order.

At the end of the scene the two lines that are said by the three witches should be said with a good rhythm as they contain alliteration and could be said with a singsong rhythm to emphasise them.

A1, S3 - The witches return describing their revenge on a housewife. This is not terribly important but need to be said to emphasize their evil powers and vindictiveness. I think the next lines should be said almost as whispers to draw the audience in and also in a conspiratory tone of voice as they plan to meet Macbeth.

Macbeth’s first words echo the witches’ paradoxes,

‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen’

This suggests that he is perhaps already in tune with their way of thinking so the line should be said clearly so that this idea comes across.

Banquo’s description of the witches is important in showing how unnatural they seem.

It needs to be made obvious that Macbeth is hearing what he wants to hear and this is because the witches are touching a nerve already present in Macbeth.

A3, S5 - I would not include this scene in my play. I don’t think it is necessary to the plot and it does not fit in very well with the rest of the play, as it is not written in blank verse.

A4, S1 - All the ingredients going into the cauldron are again there to enhance the witches’ evil but I don’t see this as extremely important so does not need to be terribly dramatic. While the ingredients are going in I think the witches would be moving around the cauldron with excited voices, laughing in no particular sequence and with jagged movements as flowing movements would not suit their personalities. The fact that they seem to be having fun enhances the fact that they are evil as what they are doing is bad but they are having a good time and laughing about it. The list of ingredients that are being put into the cauldron should be said quite clearly however as the horrible things that are being put in again enhance the evilness. I would set the witches to make their movements take up all the space on the stage as this would keep the audience’s attention and I think the whole scene would suddenly become more dramatic.

I would not have the apparitions as just voices as I don’t see them as being completely psychological. I would therefore have projections of images onto the stage, flickering, fading in and out and appearing in different places around the set. I would also have their voices coming from all around as I think that all this contributes to keeping the audience’s attention and drawing them in.

I would stay quite loyal to the script in how the apparitions would look. : The 1st apparition I would have dressed as a young, armed soldier, the 2nd, a child covered in blood and the 3rd a child, wearing a crown and holding a small tree. The voices would be very childlike and light hearted and the lines would be spoken in a singsong fashion as I think that this suits the characters and helps to add to the tension.

The Witches

As I want my witches to look like women of the period, I would have a range of heights, figures and accents, as this would make their characters seem more realistic.

There would be three witches, as written by Shakespeare, as three was considered to be a special number in his time but they would not be dressed stereotypically as this does not fit in. I would have the witches dressed in the period, their clothes being very dull in colour and ragged but they, to a certain extent, would look like normal women but with slightly strange features (e.g. hair on the chin, spots and a squint in one eye), as this is fitting to the time and also to popular belief.

Their role

I think that the witches play an important role in this play as without them, Macbeth would never have heard about his future and had the idea to make the prophecies come true, quicker. However, although their information tempts Macbeth they do not instruct or even suggest him to carry out any of his actions. So even though they symbolise evil it is clear that man is free to resist them but Macbeth becomes dependent on their information. I also feel that the witches should dominate the stage when they are on it to emphasize the fact that they have a large influence on Macbeth and I think that it could also add to the drama.

Language

I think that the majority of the lines spoken by the witches and Macbeth are important, as the witches are putting forward their prophecies and it is up to Macbeth to interpret them, as he will. The verse couplets that are used in the witches’ conversations should be emphasized, as they are entirely appropriate, as they suggest the world of spells and incantations.

Atmosphere

I would create the right atmosphere by using appropriate lighting, for example using dull, grey and blue lights to create the sense of coldness in the mood. Also this sort of lighting assists the feeling of unease and bad events, as bright lights would create a sense of well being. I would also use special effects, for example projections to show the apparitions, and fog to aid the witches and the eerie atmosphere.