In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, light and dark play a big role in the dualities of the characters, the setting and the imagery throughout the play. Macbeth begins with three witches talking about when to meet again. These witches are evil by nature and represent evil throughout the book. The head of these witches states in her first line, “When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lighting or in rain?” (I. i.
The truth is that many of these decisions that Macbeth makes or follows is based on what the witches told him. One example of this is when Lady Macbeth convinces him to kill Duncan in order to become king. She specifically says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature / … / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, / and chastise with the valor of my tongue” (1.5.16-17, 27-28). In this quote Lady Macbeth is thinking about the witches prophecy and how she can make it come true.
The Witches and Hecate portray the image and eminence of evil in Macbeth. During the first scene of the play, the witches are chanting and cackling over thunderstorms, thus introducing themselves as evil beings. They are questioned by Banquo if they are truly women and that “...their beards forbid [me] to interpret that you are so” (I. iii. 44-45), and Hecate is introduced as the goddess of witchcraft. The remark made by Banquo and the title of Hecate states that Shakespeare intends to use repulsive-looking women, mistakenly having beards, to render that women are predominately evil.
How far is Macbeth responsible for his own downfall? When considering the above question, it is important to discuss the relative ‘power’ of other characters within the play in order to establish their influence on Macbeth’s actions. The first characters to consider are the witches. Shakespeare establishes their power and supernatural abilities from the moment they are introduced to us. Significantly, the witches open the play, a further indication of their importance to the plot.
What do you think is the significance of the witches in Macbeth? Witchcraft is the use of supernatural entities which can take on many forms; these forms differ within cultures. In the dark, medieval ages witches were seen as different from sorcerers as they did not use physical tools or actions to bring curses among others, however they were perceived as higher dangers due to their high amount of power. A witch was identified from various aspects, the most obvious one being the ‘witches’ mark’ which was done by the Devil in order to seal their services and obedience to him. He created the mark by raking his claws across their flesh, or by making a red or blue bump using a hot iron; sometimes the mark was believed to have been left by the Devil licking them.
It also immediately draws the audience and captures their imagination, as the supernatural world fascinated people in Elizabethan England. The use of the paranormal also occurs at the beginning of this short, yet impactful scene, when the three witches explain that they will meet with the main character of the play, Macbeth, before sunset, “When the battle’s lost and won” (l. 4), “There to meet with Macbeth” (l. 8). This is the
By creating a false sense of destiny within Macbeth, the three witches are considered as a significant role portraying evil within the play. After the first two predictions made by the witches, they were discovered to be true, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee thane of Cawdor!” (Shakespeare, 1, II, 51-52). Macbeth’s instincts drove him to believe the third would come true as well.
From the very beginning of the play, suspense was already introduced. The opening scene of Macbeth was with the three witches. This scene is very short but that is what fills it with excitement and tension. The whole scene is written in rhyme which suggests that the witches are chanting. This creates a mysterious and mystical atmosphere, which creates suspicion as to why they are using their powers.
The atmosphere is quite supernatural. A form of imagery is created threw the descriptive language in the opening scene e.g. ‘fog and filthy air’. The reader is left thinking who Macbeth is after being introduced to the witches and their characters. 2) Explain the meaning of the witches line “fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Act 1, scene 1, line 11) * The line ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ is an exploitment of opposites.
As I have stated one of the fundamental elements dictating whether we should look at Macbeth as a tyrant or tragic hero is based around the role played by the witches. Although their actual time in the play is short their impact on the plot, characterization and themes of Shakespeare’s tragedy are enormous. When