Before we analyse the role of witches in Macbeth we must look at them from a historical perspective as people's attitudes to witches in Jacobean times were very different to what they are now, in the 21st century.
Macbeth coursework Before we analyse the role of witches in Macbeth we must look at them from a historicalperspective as people’s attitudes to witches in Jacobean times were very different to whatthey are now, in the 21st century. During the times of Shakespeare people were petrified of witches and their societywas very paranoid, witches were often executed on the flimsiest basis of evidence This, to an extent, careless and discriminate view on witches conned people into thinkingchanges in weather, crippled creatures and other abnormal occurrences we as a result oftheir actions. Witches were neglected members of society and could most commonly befound in isolated areas of towns and cities, more often than not the outskirts. Thispersecution against them led them to be very subversive entities and saw society ascorrupt, they also had pessimistic views on it.Now I am going to analyse the witches in Macbeth and their purpose, includinghow they associate Macbeth with evil.Shakespeare gives very little stage directions but the few he does give at the verybeginning tell us a great deal about witches, or ‘The Weird Sisters’ as they’re referred toin Macbeth, the directions are as follows“ An Open PlaceThunder and lightening. Enter 3 witches”The first line can be strongly backed up by what I’ve previously mentioned about witchesbeing isolated and rejected, this tells us the witches were ‘typical’ for the time andShakespeare was somewhat superstitious and shared the same, paranoid, attitude with theJacobean society. The 2nd direction plays a very important part in the play, when thunderand lightening clash there is an unnatural disturbance and ties in with the current events atthat time, a battle between Scotland and Norway, and the future, most unnatural events,when Macbeth commits the unholy murder of Duncan, and thus going against the Divineright of Kings and altering nature, like thunder and lightening. The first segment ofdialogue in the play, which is spoken by the first witch, provides us with evidence that thewitches can control the elements, in particular the weather. Also it makes them seempowerful, I get this impression because of the question mark at the end of the dialogue.Also the conditions of weather that are in question are negative and cold. This furthermore associates the witches with darkness and evil:“When shall we three met againIn thunder, lightening, or in rain?”The witches use riddles and encrypted messages that, in my opinion, add a sort of arcaneambience to the play, added the fact that people may interpret these riddles differentlymakes it very volatile play, anything could happen depending who
it’s said to. Anexample of such riddles: “ When the hurly-burly’s done,when the battle’s lost and won.”What this means is when the battle, or hurly-burly, is finished Scotland win the battlewith Norway but it’s the beginning o the end of Scotland as a nation, or kingdom. Thenext line, spoken by the 3rd witch, indicates their ability to see into the future, it is asfollows:“That will be ere the set of sun”What this is saying is that the battle will end at sunset. The next three lines of dialogueare strong evidence that the witches can see into the future and tie ...
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it’s said to. Anexample of such riddles: “ When the hurly-burly’s done,when the battle’s lost and won.”What this means is when the battle, or hurly-burly, is finished Scotland win the battlewith Norway but it’s the beginning o the end of Scotland as a nation, or kingdom. Thenext line, spoken by the 3rd witch, indicates their ability to see into the future, it is asfollows:“That will be ere the set of sun”What this is saying is that the battle will end at sunset. The next three lines of dialogueare strong evidence that the witches can see into the future and tie in Macbeth with thewitches and evil. These lines are again triggered by the first witch, this could represent asense of authority and leadership, the second answers and the third sort of explains thesecond’s answer. This order of speech may resemble that society the witches have longseeked. Anyway, the latter two lines of the three line segment are of importance. Thesecond witch mentions a place, “upon the heath” and the third line is of interest as thisties Macbeth with darkness and evil. The next segment portrays the witches as spiritualentities by discussing their familiars, links with the spiritual world, which in this case area cat and toad, a Greymalkin and a Paddock.The next two lines provide extremely strong evidence that the witches love evil:“Fair is foul and foul is fair:Hover through the fog and filthy air;”The first line shows that the witches freely embrace evil and repel goodness and light.The 2nd line again reminds us of that spiritual entity they can be seen as. Also this is thefirst time their movement is described, they’re described as hovering through filthy airand fog, both of which are unclear.In Macbeth’s first line of dialogue he’s immediately associated with evil, bymentioning:“So foul and fair a dayI have not seen”What he is saying is that the weather is foul, I know this because they witches meet infoul whether and from those first stage directions. What he means by fair is that the Scotswon the battle, this proves the witches correct and they can foretell. What Banquo saysgives the witches the sense of ambiguity that some may fear. He refers to them as “Whatare these”, not “Who are these” by calling them “what” gives them an artificial property,whereas “who” gives them some sort of personality. He also mentions them as not beingearthly inhabitants, again to their surrealness. However despite their imperfectionsBanquos English, which suggests them to be human as opposed to objects. Added the factthat the witches seem to have properties and attributes that force people to interpret themas women, but they are prevented from doing so by the beards of the witches.The next 3 lines are very important as they plant the fatal seed of ambition inMacbeth’s mind. The first line refers to him as Thane of Glamis, which he expects, thesecond, Cawdar, which astounds and then the third as King, which astounds him evenmore so and puts him into an overwhelming sense of shock. Banquo then speaks andquestions Macbeth and the witches sound, by what they’ve said to Macbeth, this mayshow that Banquo is a strong friend but he may also be sarcastic and not trust or believethe witches. He also refers to Macbeth as:“Of noble having, and of royal hope”He’s saying that the person Macbeth looks upto now, the king, he will eventually becomeone way or another, hence the words“royal hope”. Now the witches speak to Banquo, greeted by ‘hail’ three times, suggestinginferiority to his friend, Macbeth. They say:“HailHailHailLesser than Macbeth, and greaterNot so happy, yet much happierThou shalt get kings, though thoube none. So all hail Macbeth and Banquo!”What they mean in the first line is that currently Banquo is less than Macbeth but possiblyhis spouse will rise higher than him. The second line means that at present maybeunhappy but his spouse will be. This means Banquo shan’t be a king but he shall fatherkings. Macbeth then comes out of shock to speak to them and refer to them as “imperfectspeakers” or lyers. He questions how he’ll become king with too many obstacles in hiswakening and is somewhat too sure that the Thane of Cawdor lives, possibly not trustingthem due to their ambiguous looks, a stereotypical view again:“Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more.By sineth death I know I am Thane of GlamisBut how of Cawdor?The Thane of Cawdor lives, a prosperousgentleman, and to be king stands not withinthe prospect of belief, no more than to beCawdor”I am now moving on to scene 3 act 1, when the witches curse a woman’s husband, thepilot of the Tiger, a famous ship, for not giving a witch some chestnuts and not showingany fear toward the witch.The three witches again meet upon a heath in thunder and lightening, showingthey don’t like to differ. The first witch asks where the second has been and she replies“Killing swine” or killing pigs, deaths of livestock were blamed on witches, witches werecommon scapegoats. The third witch then procedes to ask the first where had she been,she tells the witches she asked a woman eating chestnuts for some and the ‘at’ womantold her to get lost and that her husband is pilot of the tiger and that she’ll deprive him ofwater. She also mentions her sieve, which is a speculation that witches could seafare insieves. The second witch then says “I’ll give thee a wind” which basically means she’llassist or help, the first says ‘tis a kind gesture then the third offers its help. Now, I think,thw first witch casts a spell upon the Tiger and the weather, or controls thr weather morelike. In hedr riddle she says a number of things. The first, that she will make the windblow from all directions of the compass, or shipman’s card, and thus batter the hell out ofthe boat. Secondly she says she’ll drain him as dry as hay, meaning he’ll be thirsty andcan’t drink. Thirdly he won’t be able to sleep, which ties in with lady Macbeth’sunrestlessness and inability to sleep after the murder of Duncan. Fourthly “He shall live aman forbid” all this means is that he’s cursed. Last but not least we see some magicnumbers, multiples of 3 and 7*7, which are magic, apparanently. Added the fact that thewitches appear in three’s,sort of speak in threes and one add two and three equals 6which, when repeated 3 times gives 666, the sign of the devil or beast. The witchesmention that the boat can’t be lost but the pilot, the husband, will be shaken. Thissomewhat heartless attack tells us that the witches have no morals and will make a hugefuss over the smallest thing. After the spell the first witch shows the other part of acorpse, which was used in spells, which is, in my opinion, brused. Many people do view Lady Macbeth as a woman possessed. There is evidence in the play to suggest this because she calls upon the Spirits to "unsex me here", and give her the power to commit the evil deeds that she has in mind. Many directors of Macbeth, show the witches on stage at this time, suggesting that she may have a direct connection with the witches. In Elizabethan times it was believed that witches, whom people strongly believed in, were marked with a spot that was the mark of the devil. In Act 5 scenes 1 when Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking, she says, "out damn spot". Today we think that she is talking about the blood form King Duncan, but the Elizabethans could also relate this to her trying to get rid of the spot or mark of the devil.It could also be viewed that Lady Macbeth is not literally calling on the spirits to possess her, but voicing her concerns that this a terrible deed for a woman to commit, and that she needs in some way to repress (get rid of) her guilt. Magic is at the very core of Macbeth. There is no doubt that the witches incite Macbeth into action. How do they do it and why? Roanoke's witches are plotting for the throne. Their plan is to give it to Duncan's eldest son, Malcolm. Along the way their scheme affects the lives of every man, woman, and child in Scotland, but it works when Malcolm is crowned king. The witches are aided along the way by their familiars. In medieval times, people thought that the familiars of witches were devils in disguise. The first witch's familiar is named Graymalkin. Graymalkin comes to her in the form of a cat. The second witch's familiar is Paddock. Most people believe that Paddock serves his witch in the form of a toad; however, my research has proven that he actually serves her in the form of a hedge-hog. There is a grouping of lines in the script that supports this idea: ACT IV. SCENE I. A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. Thunder. Enter the three Witches. FIRST WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd. SECOND WITCH. Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined. THIRD WITCH. Harpier cries, "'Tis time, 'tis time." In this section, the first witch is saying what her familiar did. The second witch replies with what hers just did and the third witch does the same. It makes since now that the familiar is a hegde-hog. The familiar of the third witch is Harpier, an owl. Legend has it that at the source of witchcraft is Lilith. This woman was said to be the first wife of biblical Adam. She was ostasised from the garden of Eden because she would not submit to her husband and believed that they were equal. The form that she took after she was exiled from the garden was an owl. The owl is a very powerful symbol in witchcraft for this reason. There are continuos mentions to a bird calls throughout the play. I think that it was a bit of business that Shakespeare wrote in to create an eerie mood. Most people at the time would know the significance of the call of an owl due to the stories of witchcraft and also due to it use as a signal in the gunpowder plot There is only one witch that has a name. She is Hecate which means "she who works from afar". She is not counted among the three sisters. Some people believe Middleton added Hecate's scenes to Macbeth. A few publishers refuse to print the scenes in which she appears; however, it is important to take a look at Hecate. Hecate is the Greek Goddess of witchcraft and the moon. To the Romans, she was Trivia, Goddess of Three Roads. She is the guardian of the crossroads. Where the paths met, there was a figure much like the one above. She was said to posses this figure at times. Her worshippers left offerings for her at the shrine. She is also reported to be the goddess of the underworld, earth, and sky. Due to this and the fact that there were three paths meeting at the crossroads, she is usually represented by threes. There is some controversy over her family tree. A few legends say she was the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Others say she was the child of titans Perses and Asteria. Hecate is often linked with the legends of Demeter and Persephone.
