Macbeth - The Witches
In the book Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the witches are seen as being evil. This is shown in the play because the first scene is thunder and lightning, which is associated with terrible things and happenings, so this suggests witches are terrible things. They speak in riddles and use many confusing and misleading terms e.g. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Shakespeare 7). This hints reversal and unbalance, which leads to chaos and disorder in the Chain of Being and Macbeth’s life. This is inferred because they immediately mention Macbeth so he is already associated with the witches and seen as being evil. The witches play a significant role in Macbeth because they expose the truth within each character which gives the audience a distinct foreshadow of the book Macbeth.
In Act 1 Scene 3, when the witches meet again there is thunder and lightning again. The idea of them being evil is reinforced in this scene, they are cursing a sailor. This suggests Macbeth might also face a similar type of treatment. The mystery of the witches is increased in this scene because they know Macbeth is coming when the third witch tells the other two, “Macbeth doth come” (Shakespeare 15). This raises the question of how they knew he was coming and reinforces the link between Macbeth and the witches. This suggests to the audience that Macbeth is evil from the beginning of the play. This link is further reinforced when in Macbeth’s first line in the play he uses the same speech as the witches, “So foul and fair a day I have not seen” (Shakespeare 17).
Banquo is wary of the witches and does not trust them because he says “That look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ earth” (Shakespeare 17), which adds further to their mystery because they are described as being unnatural. However, the implication that Macbeth is somehow acquainted with them is again shown when he talks to them without fear and asks “What are you?” (Shakespeare 17). Nevertheless, this shows to an extent that...
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