The Witches

The Witches

1. The Witches embody demonic intelligence, they provide information but do not directly invite characters to commit crime

2. Power

   • The Witches have the power to create ideas of illusion and reality
     • Shakespeare presents them as ambiguous creatures and they refer to themselves as 'weird sisters'. Their evil nature is revealed in the final rhyming couplet, 'fair is foul and foul is fair'. This reflects how the witches violate the natural order of things by meddling with right and wrong
   • They have some sort of control of fate. Macbeth say's 'so foul and fair a day I have not seen'. This echo of the witches introduces the idea of prophecy. The Witches are referred to as 'the weird sisters'. The original word 'weird' meant 'destiny' or 'fate'. This could suggest that they have a supernatural power and can control the course of history
     • However it could be argued that Macbeth was already having these thoughts of 'horrible imaginings'

3. Trickery

   • Their words are double edged
     • They speak of how 'none of woman born shall harm Macbeth'. This gives Macbeth a false sense of security yet Macduff was 'from [his] mothers womb untimely ripped'

4. Evil

   • When the Witches first appear the stage directions ask for 'Thunder and lightening'. Pathetic fallacy - This weather disturbance reflects the evil, disruptive nature of the Witches. The air is 'filthy' and suggests dark deeds are about to happen
   • Macbeth starts the scene with a question, 'when shall we three meet again?'. This suggests that the Witches have prior experience of casting malevolent spells
   • Macbeth is a tragic hero. Many at the time would have believed that the murder of Duncan was not Macbeths fault but due to the powers of the Witches. Shakespeare wanted people to hate the witches

5. Context - In the 1600 it was common to think that witchcraft was real and it was punishable by death. The rhyming and alliteration of the witches speech reminds us of a spell and the audience would have found this unnerving