The Role of the Witches in the Play Macbeth

The Role of the Witches in the Play Macbeth

  • Submitted By: vigossa
  • Date Submitted: 01/24/2009 7:55 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 2399
  • Page: 10
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Macbeth The first three cycles of the play are: A. The prophesy B. The murder C. The betrayal The main worry for Macbeth after he achieves power is that he will not be able to pass on that power that in fact it is likely according to the witches prophecies to be passed onto his friend Banquo. The only way he can prevent this prophecy from happening is by murdering his friend Banquo. This is the great act of betrayal. He murders his friend in order to change the future but he fails because Banquo’s son Fleance escapes. Macbeth now realises that all he has got is himself. He is King as long as he remains King. There is no future. He realises that the witches, even though they told him the truth, they didn’t tell him the whole truth so he decides to go back to them to decide what the future really holds. The fact is that Macbeth is beginning to lose his power of reason. The fact is that he has been sleepless since the murder of Duncan and he is also now being haunted by the ghost of Banquo. He needs to know at this stage of the play not just if he will survive but how he will survive. He decides to return to the source of the prophecy, ‘the weird sisters’. Shakespeare’s audience would have believed in witches, would have accepted the idea of them and would have been very afraid of them. In the scene where the witches recite the ingredients that are going into the cauldron, this creates genuine fear in the audience as they believe this is what they would do. To damn Macbeth, the witches make him feel safe: It is only when Macbeth hears this he feels like he can do anything, he has lost the run of himself. Hecate represents the ultimate power of evil. Even the witches have to answer to her. It is however very important to remember that everything they tell Macbeth is the truth. What Macbeth hears though are only the parts that are to his advantage. The witches tell him the future. They tell him to beware Macduff, beware the future. Macbeth interprets...

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