After a protracted discussion of the topic of who is to blame for the demise of Macbeth, the blame has come to rest upon the Three Witches. Within the play Macbeth, the Witches have done numerous things to cause the demise of Macbeth; influenced him through prophecies and apparitions, spurred his killing spree and manipulated him. From the outset, the Witches show Macbeth prophecies which lead to his downfall. These prophecies are the root of Macbeth’s misfortunes and evil doings, push Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to act upon their evil thoughts, and alter Macbeth from a loyal soldier to a traitor. First and foremost, the Witches were the root of Macbeth’s misfortunes and evil doings.
So they will "hover" in the fog, and in the dust and dirt of battle, waiting for the chance to do evil. Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair" is a paradox, a statement that appears to be contadictory but actually expresses the truth. The witches are foul, but they give fair advice. Macbeth seems like a hero, but he is a plotter and dastard. It is quite interesting to note that the words of the witches will have an echo in Macbeth’s “So foul and fair a day I have not seen”.
(Witch Hunts) Witches were thought to be consults of the devil who gave up their bodies and led others away from the church for the devil in exchange for otherworldly power. In addition to this women were marked as being sexually voracious, the origin of this mindset being the Garden of Eden. (Witchcraft and Midwifery) It was also believed that because women were weaker than men and had fewer rights, they were more likely to succumb to the devil in order to obtain their wishes. (Witch Hunts) In this respect they were “...by nature instruments of Satan -- they [were] by nature carnal, a structural defect rooted in the original creation.” (Steven Katz, Gendercide Watch: European Witch-Hunts) Because of the influential role religion held in European communities, these associations women held were powerful instruments in their accusations. Still tying into religious influences, the very physical appearance of a woman could lead to the belief that she is a witch.
Witchcraft during the Elizabethan era, as mentioned before, was a feared practise. Those who practised witchcraft were believed to possess powers “above nature, and they will do harm by this power” (Rosen, 1991:3). Those who were convicted for possessing magical powers usually achieved feats that were seen as impossible or beyond the norm. The fear of the unknown is what drove people to accuse those who had this knowledge of witchcraft. That which could not be explained was seen as witchcraft and although (some) witches practised good magic as well, only the bad side was noticed.
This shows that the witches were also supernatural as they could see the future. In the Shakespearean times this was seen as superstitious and at the current time king James was very aware of witches. So aware that that he had a law passed that if you had skin like a dead person, that you were accused of witchcraft. The effect that it was first used to prevail, however in the end; the supernaturalism was used against him and made Macbeth defenceless. These witches are old and ugly also, however they are not accused of witchcraft as they are outside of society.
This is significant in revealing character in Macbeth. It could be argued that Lady Macbeth calling on the “dunnest smoke of hell” to fill her with evil suggests that she incapable of such brutality, and needs the supernatural to assist her. Thus, Lady Macbeth is not wholly corrupted as it is the darkness of the night that gives her the ability to be a bearer of such evil. On the other hand, it may also be argued that this in fact enhances Lady Macbeth’s inner dark side. The idea that she consciously recognises the need for “murdering ministers” to provide her with the support to assist Macbeth in regicide certainly falls in favour of arguing that she willingly has the desire for help from the darker realms, making her more evil for actually wanting to be tainted by the poisonous associations of “darkness” in the play.
Evil may have always been present within Macbeth and the witches prophecy or Lady Macbeth’s encourage may just merely be an excuse for his deeds. For example, in Act 1, Scene 4, Macbeth speaks in rhyming couples that insinuates this evil as he internalizes the language of the witches while chanting “ Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires”. On the other hand, Macbeth’s futile attempts to cover up his deeds through darkness and the entrance of Banquo’s ghost has quite an impact on him considering he is the only one who can see it. The sighting of this ghost who arrived to remind him and accuse him of the savage murders, demonstrates Macbeth’s inner feelings of guilt, hence proving he is really a coward than a “butcher”. Also, the sighting of a ghost would be quite striking to an Elizabethan audience, as they were greatly fascinated by anything that had a connection to the supernatural.
Tragedy is marked by the choices which the main character makes. Throughout this story, Macbeth's decisions are greatly influenced by many elements of the unexplainable supernatural world, causing his actions to be somewhat unpredictable majority of the time. The first major scene involving the supernatural world begin with the introduction to the three witches, this appeared in Act 1 Scene 1. The witches meet on a moor and they discussed their plans of where to meet Macbeth.  Webster defines witches as, "1: one that is credited with usually malignant supernatural powers; especially: a woman practicing usually black witchcraft often with the aid of a devil or familiar : sorceress — compare warlock 2: an ugly old woman : hag 3: a charming or alluring girl or woman 4: a practitioner of Wicca." The supernatural was mentioned in definition 1, therefore, the three witches were also part of the supernatural elements in the play Macbeth.
A persistent myth in the historiography of Witchcraft and the Witchcraze is the idea that underneath the distortions of the witch hunters and the hysteria of alleged “Devil Worship” was a real “Witch religion” that the Church was suppressing. The idea that the craze was about something that was nonexistent is very hard for a lot of people to swallow. The modern origin of this notion can be reduced to three figures. The French historian Jules Michelet in his book La Sorciere1, published originally in 1862. Another writer who helped to launch the idea of an organized Witch religion was the writer Montague Summers, who wrote among a number of Books on Witchcraft, including The History of Witchcraft and Demonology, who published translations of many Witch Hunter manuals including the infamous Malleus Maleficarum, published 1486, by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger.
. .] It is this synchronizing of nature and fortune that soothsayers study, and that the witches in Macbeth know something about. We call it fate, which over-simplifies it. (88-89) In his book, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, H. S. Wilson explains the stand taken by Macbeth in his relationship with fate: He pits himself no merely against the threat of hell but also against the enmity of "Fate" (as represented in the prophecies of the Weird Sisters): come, Fate, into the list, And champion me to th' utterance.