Macbeth And The Supernatural

What Did People In The Jacobean England Commonly Believe?
1. In the Jacobean England, people believed in 'Witchcraft'
  1. This is because of King James I and Shakespear's Macbeth. In Macbeth the three witches had a big impact on society
2. King James I ruled England in 1603
  1. King James I was King James VI in Scotland
    1. He was convinced about the reality of Witchcraft and the danger it posed towards him.
    2. In Scotland, James was convinced that a coven of powerful witches was conspiring to murder him, and was in league with the devil. Which he continued to believe in England
How Did They Decide Whether Or Not Someone Was A Witch?
1. Most often they would decide if people were witches by their appearance and lifestyle
  1. It was normaly old, poor, often widowed women who were accused of these acts of angry revenge
    1. A woman would beg for food or drink and when she was turned awa y she might respond angrily; later, when something unfortunate – such as a bad harvest or an ordinary illness – happened to the person who had denied the woman charity, the old woman would be blamed for their problems.
      1. Therefore being declared of using witchcraft; being a witch and communicating with the Devil
2. The three witches in Macbeth were portrayed as horrible women and if they did not get what they wanted they will curse the person
  1. This led to people deciding on how to know if someone is a witch becasue something bad would've happended to the people who say no to them
3. One way was to see if there was a 'witch mark' on the women's bodies, a mark that is supposedly put there by the Devil
  1. Another way would be to see if the women have ‘familiars’, demonic creatures which might appear to be cats, dogs, mice, rats or other small animals; these familiars would do the witches’ bidding
  2. They also decided by ‘recovery after counter magic’: if someone was unwell and a spell helped them recover, this was seen as evidence that the original illness was caused by witchcraft.
  3. One way would be water, water had been seen as pure and was used to decide whether women were withces or not. As water waspure suspected withces would tied up and flung into a lake or pond . If the suspected witch went under water that meant the water accpeted her and she wasnt a withc however if the women floated that meant she was a withc becasue the water did not accept her
How were witches treated?
1. Witches weren't treated with respect, in Macbeth both Banquo and Macbeth think they are superior to the three witches
2. They where looked at as the Devils creation and something that is from Hell
3. People wouldn't help witches because they did not want to be associated with the Devil's creation just in case the Devil gets into their body
How was witchcraft in real life different to witchcraft in 'Macbeth'?
1. It wasn't much different because the witches in Macbeth are seen putting curses on those who don't help them and that had happened in the real life too
2. The witchcraft in Macbeth is different in some aspects because Lady Macbeth is seen talking to the spirits and the devil and asks them to 'unsex her' however that didn't happen in real life because it wasn't possible

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Macbeth And The Supernatural

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	Created by Jaskirat Bassi over 7 years ago