When the witches first appear on the stage, there is a lot of tension from the Elizabethan audience, as they believed very strongly in supernatural. This may seem unusual for us but the power to the Elizabethan audience witchcraft was a very real thing. All over Europe thousands of woman were accused of witch craft and tortured and burnt. The “hideous women with beards” knew where Macbeth was as they could predict the future. They conjured up visions that warn Macbeth that everything they said would come true.
The audience experience a little of these prophesies almost immediately in the opening scene. When they talk about meeting Macbeth they say they will greet him, "when the battle's lost and won.” And “ In thunder, lightening, or in rain?” “There to meet with Macbeth” They are targeting him using the prophecies. They use a double meaning to trick Macbeth. We then meet the witches at Act 1 scene 3 were “ A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come” Macbeth then appears saying “So foul and fair a day I have not seen “Which is a repetition of what the witches say at the start of the play and therefore this is a connection between them already. When they meet Macbeth and Banquo the prophesies greet him with three titles, "Thane of Glamis," "Thane of Cawdor," and "King hereafter. As he is already Thane of Glamis, he can only but wonder about the last two titles. Then later on in the play he becomes king I think this is a connection between the witches as they made them predictions and they came true so quickly. The witches then tell Banquo that he will be “Lesser then Macbeth but greater.” This again has both Macbeth and Banquo thinking and Macbeth wants to hear more. “Stay you imperfect speakers; tell me more” Macbeth is sceptical about the witches at the start. When he is made Thane of Cawdor he starts to believe them. He still thinks he can alter their prophecies. In the end Macbeth completely trusts their predictions and when they don’t happen in the way he would have liked them to, he falls too pieces.
Then we see in scene 4 were they are in Forres. The old Thane of Cawdor is dead Macbeth becomes Thane Of Cawdor.Macbeth and Duncan are talking. “Stars’ hide your fires! Let not see my black and deep desires,” Macbeths greed and impatience take over he releasing the prophecies predictions have came true. He has his mind on his future. It is clear to the audience that Lady Macbeth also uses various strategies for example praise. She plans the murder. She tells him that he is not a man if he does not perform it. She encourages him. From the moment Lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth she begins to plan the murder. She even talks about defeminising herself. She paints Macbeth as a weak man. She resolves to persuade Macbeth to do it and asks for the strength to commit the murder.
Secondly, the play’s opening scene has a huge impact on the audience. Shakespeare’s audience would immediately have seen the witches as a real and terrible source of possession. In 1597, the King himself, James 1st, published his own treatise on witchcraft: Demonology. The powers of the weird sisters would be only too well known and feared. The supernatural is an important theme in the play of ‘Macbeth’but it affects Macbeth the most. He sees a dagger when he is going to kill Duncan. He is the only one that can see Banquo’s ghost. The witches are involved in a lot of excitement and suspense. In Act 1 scene 1the witches let the audience know that they are evil “foul is fair;” and they are going to meet Macbeth..Macbeth also sees an imagery dagger and ghosts.(Act 2 scene 1)( Act 3 scene 4).In Act 3,scene 5 Hecate tells the witches she is off to make an evil spell to ruin Macbeth. This builds up suspense for the audience. Starting the play with thunder lightening and three weird witches on a heath is a deliberate attempt to make the play seem exciting and intriguing from the start. This is a lot of connection between the witches and Macbeth. They start showing that Macbeth has got the idea of becoming king and like this idea and decide to do more tricks and spells on him.
The witches, apparitions and ghosts all help to spice up the play of “ Macbeth.” There are lots of scary parts for the audience which could make the audience shriek or jump because of the prophesies and the murders and spells throughout all the play. Macbeth kills Duncan and his servants off stage, but Banquo and Fleance die on stage. Which would give the audience a good deal bit of excitement. There’s a lot of blood and gore especially after Duncan’s murder. (Act 2 scene 2) Macbeth comes on stage with bloodied daggers. The witches also speak in shorter lines that rhyme “trice and bubble” This gives them a spooky side to the audience.
Lastly, there are many themes in the play of Macbeth. The first theme I would like to talk about is Good versus Evil. This is a big part of the play with Macbeth and the three witches representing the evil and Macduff and banquop representing goodness. It is made quite clear from early on in the play that Macbeth is tempted towards the dark side and cannot resist the temptation that evil brings his way. Lady Macbeth urges her husband on with the plan taking a leading role n the murder of Duncan. Banquo, however on the other hand was a lot more cautious of the witches prophecies an new that nothing good could come out of these evil spirits. Macduff sees what is happening around him an does what he can to stop Macbeth with his plans. Macduff loses his wife and kids who get savagely murdered by Macbeths soldiers.
Language also sets the tone in the play. What some characters say gives us direct clues, In act 2 scene 1, you know it is a dark cloudy night from what Banquo says, “Hold take my sword. There’s husbandry in heaven, their candles are all out. He is saying that there are no stars (as candles) it’s cloudy. Other times the language creates an atmosphere of it own.” O, full of scorpions is my mind. Dear wife!” Macbeths bursts out with this with gentle talk before with his wife and the atmosphere turns bad again. This is the witches playing with Macbeths mind showing good side to Macbeth and bad.
In conclusion, it is clear that there are many possible reasons why Macbeth may have behaved in the way that he did. I believe this is mainly the witches’ fault all along as they have made predictions, which has led Macbeth to other performances. There has been so much information telling us about the witches and their performances to Macbeth that I believe even though the witches predictions turn out to be right the witches are often seen as evil as their prediction in act 1, convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan. It’s when Macbeth meets the witches he is tempted into doing something evil. They say he will become king and immediately he thinks of murdering Duncan. In act 4 they lead Macbeth into a false sense of security by showing visions, which they know he will misinterpret.