Macbeth the witches role
Macbeth the witches roleAkanksha Shah
English Coursework-‘Macbeth’
Explore the part played by the witches in the play 'Macbeth'. What influence do they have on the events of the play and do they contribute to the atmosphere and dramatic impact of the play? I believe, that even though the witches only appear in the play a few times, they play a very important role in 'Macbeth' they have a great deal of influence on not just the major characters, but many of the others, and I feel that the witches contribute to the overall atmosphere of the play dramatically. It is at the beginning of the play that we are introduced to the evil sisters, when they meet in an "open place" in "thunder and lightning". Right from the start, the witches create a mysterious atmosphere. The fact that they meet in conditions and in an open area which is away from the prying eyes of society, suggests that they are up to something secret, and as we know they are witches, we assume, whatever they are up to, will be evil and something they do not wish to disclose to anybody else. It is also a fact, that in Shakespearean times, turbulent and dramatic weather such as this, meant that the earth's elements were uneasy, and foretold that something disastrous was to happen. The evil witches seem to be at ease in weather conditions such as these, and it appears that they also have control over the weather. We see the witches deciding which type of weather they should meet up again in, "when shall we three meet again, In thunder lightning or in rain?" These lines suggest that hey do in fact have control over the weather, and they also show that the witches appear to be comfortable in this type of weather. The three sisters decided to meet after the commotion is over, "When the hurlyburly's done When the battle is lost and won" The witches add, that they will meet "Upon the heath" and let us know that they will "meet with Macbeth" this first mention of Macbeth intrigues us as we know the story is somewhat about this man named 'Macbeth' and as the first we hear of him, comes from an evil witches' mouth, we wonder what Macbeth could possibly have to do with these evil creatures. The witches, we learn, speak in paradoxes and they do this throughout the play, as we can see when they mention that they will meet "when the battle is lost and won". So, cleverly, they have devised a contradictive statement, which somehow makes sense, as there are always two parties to a battle, and one must lose for the other to win. A paradox which has more significance is when they chant "Fair is foul, and foul is fair." These paradoxes suggest that they are ambiguous and cannot be trusted. Moreover, it seems, from each contradiction, that the witches have values that are opposite to...
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