In the play MACBETH, what is the dramatic significance of the witches?

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G.S.C.E ENGLISH / ENGLISH LITERATURE COURSEWORK

MACBETH – WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

In the play MACBETH, what is the dramatic significance of the witches?

The Witches have many things that contribute to their dramatic significance; one of these things is their presentation. The first time the witches appear on stage they appear in thunder, lighting and in rain. All of these elements are traditionally very scary. They also talk in riddles for instance “ When the battle’s lost and won”. But how can a battle be lost AND won? The riddles are explained later on in the play. But they appear at the start to establish the influence of the supernatural. They do this by speaking in riddles and they call on Greymalkin and Paddock who are their link to the spirit world and normally took on the form of an animal. They also talk about meeting Macbeth upon a heath. But when we meet Macbeth he does not expect to see them so we must assume that they foresaw that Macbeth would come that way. They are seen in very strange atmosphere’s like “Hover through the fog and filthy air”. Hover is a very abnormal movement. Hover means floating in the air, which is not humanly possible. Adding to scary elements, fog because in fog you have restricted vision.

The second time we see them they are yet again situated in thunder, which again is scary. Also when we see them they are making a charm and telling a story. This story is about a Sailors wife eating chestnuts and not sharing with the witches. So as revenge the witch says that the sailor will sleep “neither night nor day” but she also says “Though his bark cannot be lost, yet it shall be tempest-tossed”. This means that his boat will not be lost but the sea will batter it heavily. When Banquo sees them he says, “You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so”. So we know that it is hard to distinguish what sex they are. We also know that they look un-human because Banquo says they “look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ earth,” We can tell that the witches dress very strangely because Banquo tells us that the witches are “So withered, and wild in their attire”. So we know that the witches appear to be un-human, they also dress extremely strange, also we know it is hard to distinguish what sex they are. Altogether their appearance has a dramatic impact on the audience because this is not acceptable in Elizabethan or modern society. The witches are seen as social outcasts or “hags”.

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The witches are awaiting the arrival of Macbeth on their third appearance. They are preparing a cauldron so that Macbeth will see the apparitions. The ingredients are sinister “Poisoned Entrails”, “Toad, that under cold stone Days and nights hast thirty-one” this means that they have taken a toad who has spent a month under a stone which was very cold. “Eye of newt”, “Toe of frog”, “Wool of bat”, “Tongue of dog” and “Adders fork” (an adders fork was the tongue of an adder which was shaped into the prongs of a fork). But one key thing about the ...

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