The scene also tells us all about the witches and what part they play in the story. You learn that the witches can predict the future. They plan to meet after the battle that Macbeth is involved in and they know where and when they will meet him. The prediction is very subtle and is not clear until the witches actually meet Macbeth. It is made clear that the witches speak in rhyming couplets as if chanting a spell or incantation. The rhyming is what is called 4 beat rhyming couplets and is the unique style of speaking that is associated with witches, the best known use would be ‘Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble’. The witches’ style of speech is also equivocatory because they tell audience and Macbeth only half of what is going on. They arguably achieve this by speaking in riddles and not making anything clear enough to be sure. It is the uncertainty that causes the story to go as it does. It is as if the witches are being misleading for their own entertainment because they give no clue of what should be done about what they say. The witches leave it up to the audience and Macbeth to work it out for themselves and make their own decisions. The equivocation is seen in much more detail in Scene 3.
Like in Scene 1, Scene 3 involves the witches talking about Macbeth. At the beginning you get to see what the witches are capable of when one of the witches tells the others of how a sailor’s wife refused to give her a chestnut because she is a witch. The witches are speaking in riddles but it is clear that the witch sank the ship of the sailor. That and the entrance of the witches on the heath with thunder and lightning are examples of how Shakespeare presents the witches as instruments of darkness. Also when the witches are present there is a dark and supernatural mood about, this is created by the weather and the way that they begin their scenes with rhyming riddles. When Macbeth and Banquo arrive it is clear that Banquo is not comfortable with their appearance and the way that they act. His first part of speech is him questioning the witches. He describes them as being ‘not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ earth’. The way the witches are described makes the audience think of the witches as being inhuman and animal like.
After the appearance of the witches is questioned by Banquo the witches tell Macbeth of how he is to become the Thane of Cawdor and the King. The way in which Macbeth is told is very unusual, the witches in turn tell him what will happen after he asks them what they are. It is as if the witches do not feel the need to reveal themselves to keep them more mysterious. The witches speak in threes when they say ‘All hail Macbeth,’ and ‘Hail’. The witches then tell Banquo that he will not be King but his children will be. Banquo’s reaction to this is disbelieving what had happened. When the witches have disappeared he questions both his and Macbeth’s sanity ‘Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten the insane root…’ Banquo is unsure about whether to believe them or not. Banquo does not seem shocked, I think that is because he has not taken what the witches said seriously. Macbeth’s reaction is very much different to Banquo’s he seems shocked and does not like what the witches have said. Macbeth asks the witches for more information to make what they have told him clearer but the witches give an example of their powers by disappearing into thin air. Banquo questions Macbeth about his reaction in the paragraph after he has been told that he will become King, the questioning is a result of the witches speaking to Macbeth. Again showing how much of an effect the witches have on different characters. Macbeth is worried and unsure of what to make of the witches prediction and Banquo does not understand why when they have told him something good he does not like it, this is because of the equivocations. This is a good example of one of the witches’ roles in the play, in this scene they install an element of confusion and disbelief but then disappear without explaining what they have said. Macbeth and Banquo then have to make what they can of what the witches have said and this is where the problems begin because it is easy to misinterpret what they have said. This is the way that the witches are equivocators.
In that scene after the witches have disappeared Ross and Angus appear to tell Macbeth the news that he has become Thane of Cawdor. The witches knew that this would happen and now that one of their predictions have come true it increases the element of confusion and disbelief. This has an immediate effect on the audience because now they know what the witches are capable of they know partially what to expect. The confusion leads to Macbeth misinterpreting more equivocations from the witches causing most of the problems in the play. From this act it seems like the witches are there to cause trouble and grief, but it gives the audience a sense of worry for Macbeth because they now know that the witches do posses powers and that they could make the situation much worse for Macbeth.
The trouble and grief comes from the way that the prophecies affect Macbeth’s actions. From the prophecies Macbeth is immediately unsure of what to do, the first prediction by the witches coming true then leads him on to the fact of becoming King. For the murder of King Duncan it is not only Macbeth’s actions that are affected, Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth that killing Duncan is a good idea after she hears about what the witches have said. Eventually what the witches have said leads to the murder of King Duncan and a guilt ridden Macbeth. The murder of Duncan makes Macbeth King after Duncan’s sons flee to England. After the murder of Duncan Macbeth then plans on murdering Banquo but unlike before he is very single minded in the killing. After the murder of Duncan it seems as if Macbeth has lost his conscience. The whole plot the play is showing how Macbeth’s actions are affected by the witches and their equivocations.
The affect of the prophecies is seen again in Act 4 Scene 1where Macbeth revisits the witches. Macbeth sees the witches to seek reassurance and to gain more information. Macbeth meets the witches in ‘The ‘pit of Archeron’ the name of the place gives thoughts of hell and evil. Again like the previous meetings there is thunder which, in all the scenes where Macbeth meets the witches, is used to set the evil and supernatural feeling of darkness. The language that the witches use is also significant in creating a feeling of evil. The chanting in rhyming couplets and the things that they are mentioning make it clear that they are making some sort of potion or casting a spell on someone. When Macbeth enters he knows what the witches are doing and how evil they are yet he still asks them for more information.
The final apparitions are presented in an interesting way and are given to make Macbeth complacent about his role and position. Macbeth is given the final apparitions by the witches all of which come after the sound of thunder to reinforce the importance of what they are saying. The first apparition is given by an armed head that appears after the thunder. To create the armed head in an actual play it would be a hologram or projection of some sort to create the unreal and supernatural effect. The head tells Macbeth to be beware of Macduff and Macbeth thanks the witches for cautioning him and asks for more information. The second apparition is a bloody child again this would be done using a hologram or projection. The child tells Macbeth that ‘none of woman born shall harm Macbeth’. This second apparition for Macbeth contradicts the first and gives him more confidence. This is seen when he says ‘Then live Macduff, what need if fear of thee’. The second apparition is a good example of how powerful the witches are and what role they play. By using the equivocation about him not being able to be harmed by a man of ‘woman born’ the witches have installed a false sense of security into Macbeth and it is this that contributes to his eventual downfall. The third and final apparition is of crowned child holding a tree. Like the previous two this would be a hologram or projection to give the same affect. The child tells Macbeth that he ‘shall never vanquished be, until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him’ basically saying that he will not die or be removed from the throne until the wood comes to the hill. The final apparition gives Macbeth the confidence and reassurance that he and the witches need him to have.
The apparitions have a good effect on Macbeth from the witches’ point of view but for Macbeth it is bad because they have made him overly confident and complacent. At this point of the play after the apparition Macbeth has the feeling of immortality after he has been told by the witches that he can’t be harmed. Again this shows the witches power and role. It is because of the apparitions that Macbeth has Macduff’s family murdered and it is now that you can see the effect that the influence of the witches has had on Macbeth. He is now more comfortable about taking the lives of other people compared to the killing of Duncan.
The final meeting with the witches not only leads to the killing of Macduff’s family but it also leads to the killing of Macbeth. At the end of the play Macduff seeks revenge and so him and Malcolm leave England and go to Macbeth. After Macbeth is killed it is clear that the witches have tricked Macbeth with the equivocations. The way that Macbeth was warned to beware of Macduff was not actually an equivocation but it is the way that it is contradicted, as Macbeth can see it, that tricks him. It is the other two apparitions that had given Macbeth confidence. The witches had predicted that Macduff and Malcolm were going to use the trees as cover to attack Macbeth but the way that the witches told it to Macbeth made it seem to be an impossible thing. It is the same with the way Macbeth was told that he cannot be harmed by a man that is of ‘woman born’. When Macduff tells Macbeth that he was ‘Untimely ripped’ from his mother’s womb I think that Macbeth realises that he was tricked by the witches.
The tricking is what led to Macbeth’s downfall although I think Macbeth was also responsible but it was the witches that first gave him the ideas of being King and giving him the equivocations. It is the inclusion of the witches that reinforced Macbeth’s evil nature and the importance of loyalty and order in the kingdom because Macbeth has shown people how being disloyal and evil can affect people, and it is not only those that he was disloyal to that were affected. Because of the witches anyone of importance in the kingdom was affected by Macbeth’s actions. The role of the witches is to cause suffering and pain to the people around Macbeth and I think that the role of the witches was carefully written to exploit the weaknesses of Macbeth such as his greed and willingness to kill. Macbeth’s character fits perfectly with what the witches enjoy doing the most.
