The Witches show connections between the real world and the netherworld. When Macbeth and Banquo first meet the witches they wonder how something that appeared to be made of flesh and blood could vanish. Banquo illustrates this by saying, ‘the witches have vanished into the air, and what seem’d corporal, / Melted, as breath into the wind’. The Witches ability to change form and identity would have been particularly frightening to contemporary audiences and confirms their association with evil.
The witches are also shown to be androgynous; because they share many features common to men.
‘You should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.’
They have these male features because they are supernatural, they could have the worst, or best qualities of both genders. Witches are made frightening first by people as they look unattractive. Shakespeare has created them to the stereotypical image of the witch. Banquo confirms to the audience that the Witches are stereotypical images of witches that they will recognise as evil beings.
The thunder and lightning in this scene convey to the audience that all is not right with the natural world, the world is in turmoil. The horrific sounds of the battle indicate to the audience that human conflict mirrors that in nature. The air in this scene is ‘filthy’; a fog surrounds the Witches and in this background of evil and the supernatural we first hear about Macbeth. Macbeth begins the play as a loyal, honest servant of his King, Duncan. When he first appears his opening line ‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen,’ is purposely ambiguous. It could refer to the changeable weather as well as the changing fortunes of war. It also gives the audience its first indication that all is not what it seems and introduces the theme of distinguishing between appearance and reality – the idea that Macbeth himself may not be as ‘fair’ as he first appears is therefore suggested.
The Witches bring news that Macbeth will be King, which at first seems like ‘fair’ news but ends with ‘foul’ consequences. Banquo is surprised by Macbeth’s fearful reaction to this news as he is unaware that the ‘fair’ news has caused such ‘foul’ thoughts of assassination of the King. At the time of the play any action against the natural order of things would have been met with horror and to the audience the thought of killing the King, who was God’s representative on Earth, would have been considered evil. At the meeting with the Witches Banquo feels uneasy about believing what they have to say and dismisses it. However, we begin to see a change in Macbeth as he gets carried away with the witches’ prophecy. This becomes a vicious circle. In his lust for power Macbeth can even consider killing the King to put himself on the throne. The audience’s sympathy for Macbeth decreases and is replaced by horror.
Macbeth was clearly receptive to the influence of the Witches in their suggestion that he is to become King. Both Macbeth and his wife were prepared to believe the prophecies and do whatever necessary to make them come true, despite having previously lived the lives of loyal subjects and respected landowners. Shakespeare seems to want his audience to believe that ‘evil’ is not something that overwhelms the Macbeths, but is something that is already within them. Perhaps it is easy to blame outside influences such as people or forces (witches and the devil) for his actions, but in the end Macbeth is responsible for his own actions. This is the most frightening aspect to the modern audience – how people, who seem so ordinary can justify behaving in such a violent way to serve their own needs. Others will argue that evil possessed Macbeth and that his tragic fault was that he could not resist the temptation and the evil when it presented itself as ambition.
Lady Macbeth comments that although she thinks Macbeth has the necessary ambition to kill Duncan he lacks the courage and has too many scruples to carry out such a deed. She feels her husband is ‘too full o’ the milk of human kindness’. Although Macbeth seemed to have no problem hacking his enemies on the battlefield he cannot kill in cold blood, shown when he tries to back out of the planned murder, ‘We will proceed no further in this business.’ Lady Macbeth’s thoughts and values would have been strange to the audience of the time as women were considered to be weaker and inferior. We see a reversal of roles, but Shakespeare also shows us that Macbeth has a conscience and a moral sense of what is right and wrong; we are shown the first signs of evil in Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is shown as the evil one compared to Macbeth who we now see as less of a hero and more of a victim, this emphasises the inversion of genders between the Macbeths. She waits for Macbeth to persuade him that killing the King is the right thing. The audience is excited to see if Macbeth succumbs to this vicious cycle of evil.
Much of the play Macbeth takes place in the dark, and both he and Lady Macbeth believe that the dark can hide their crimes, - ‘Stars hide your fires.’ This is also illustrated when the fog is covering the castle where regicide is taking place. Shakespeare shows his audience the struggle between light and dark, good and evil. In Act 1 Macbeth asks for the dark to hide his desires. Darkness then shrouds the night of the murder. Macduff, the hero of the play, represents light and conquers in the final battle with the darkness that is Macbeth. Banquo, who he is tempted but resists, also continues to be contrasted with Macbeth.
Macbeth begins to debate whether to murder Duncan and sees a dagger before him leading him to where Duncan lay, encouraging him to commit the murder.
‘Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going
And such an instrument I was to use’
He could see images that are not real, which would have been considered to be supernatural, evil and therefore frightening. Macbeth could also see the ghost of Banquo, again linking him with the witches, the supernatural and evil. The audience of the time believed that no one could hide from murder and that the Earth would be naturally restored to the right order, meaning that the audience would be expecting that Macbeth would eventually pay for his actions – the audience could not mistake murder for anything other than evil.
The actual murder of Duncan is the turning point of the play as up until now there has been a balance between good and evil. We have seen a struggle in Macbeth’s mind between what is right and wrong, but with the murder we see evil overwhelming the good. This crime was the beginning of his downfall; the Witches prophesied that Banquo would be the father of Kings, so Macbeth had to kill him too. At the time, the appointment of Kings had been known to be quite savage, there had always been men squabbling over who was considered the rightful King. Macbeth would have been seen by the audience to be an evil savage, a potential enemy of the country and someone who would upset the natural and ‘right’ order of the world. Anyone that is capable of committing regicide would have been considered to be evil.
Macbeth, in his state of confusion and hope after the murders, returns to the Witches. In doing this Shakespeare confirms Macbeth’s evil nature, as the Witches are symbolic of the devil and evil. The apparitions ‘descend’, which implicitly link them with the netherworld and the devil. To emphasise Macbeth’s descent to evil he begins to speak in rhyming couplets and monosyllables like the Witches, ‘What man dare, I dare.’ Macbeth is now utterly alone. His decision to return to the Witches and his reaction to the visit shows that his degradation has even silenced his conscience, ‘This deed I’ll do before this purpose cool.’ The audience now see him as cruel and treacherous and will have no more sympathy for him as he commits more murders and goes against what is considered the natural order of things.
The murder of Lady Macduff and her son confirms Macbeth as the tyrant and leads to his destruction. Banquo’s son, Malcolm and Macduff build their army to rebel against Macbeth further highlighting the contrast between light and dark, good and evil. Malcolm comments that Macbeth ‘was once thought honest’. He is also spoken of as ‘black Macbeth’ and ‘devilish Macbeth’; so being identified with the devil and evil. Other characters are talked about with heavenly symbolism. Macbeth is referred to as ‘mad.’ His ‘pester’d mind’ behaves erratically. Malcolm will be the ‘med’cine’ for the sick country. Macbeth is presented as devil-like, only being able to keep his place through a reign of terror. All these religious references would have been very intense for the audience of the time.
Evil is shown in Macbeth through a large range of characters - Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the Witches. Shakespeare also included many ‘good’ characters, including Macduff and Lady Macduff. This enables the audience to see the contrast between good and evil, light and dark, helping the ‘evil’ characters to seem more evil and the ‘good’ to seem even better. Evil is portrayed by allowing the audience to identify with the characters, for example, showing that the witches look hideous. This lets the audience acknowledge that the characters are evil and wicked. Evil is portrayed in the atmosphere, the language and the presence of the supernatural. Shakespeare also portrays evil through the contrast between light and dark and the turmoil within the natural world mirrored by human conflicts and lust for power. Macbeth begins the play as a loyal and honest servant to his King, Duncan. It could be said that he is the victim of fate or evil, because it is only when he sees the witches that he thinks of committing evil acts, but alternatively it could be his ambition that drives him and is his tragic flaw.
