Witchcraft in William Shakespeare's Macbeth Works Cited Missing In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, witchcraft plays a huge part. The whole play is strung together by the prophecies the witches make. The play was most likely written between 1605 and 1606 and produced between 1606 and 1611. Throughout Shakespeare's life, witchcraft was a big fascination. Persecutions reached terrifying proportions between 1560 and 1603, hundreds of people, mostly women, were convicted as witches and were executed. Most people believed in witches but Shakespeare himself was a non-believer and thought them to be 'poppycock'. Shakespeare used witches to promote his play to the audience, especially the likes of King James I. King James had a fascination with witches and in 1597 he wrote a book called 'Demonology'. In the 1600s James I took part in witchcraft ceremonies, Scotland was one of the most active countries in hunting and killing witches. There were 4,400 'witches' executed between 1590 and 1680. It was believed that witches had many powers, they could speak with the devil, speak to the dead, make people fall ill and die, they could fly, become invisible, issue bad weather and even allow the devil to suck their blood in return for a familiar. The familiars were believed to be cats or other small animals that represented the devil or evil spirits. At the very beginning of the play the witches are introduced before any of the other characters this gives us the feeling that they are going to be a major part of Macbeth.
Since Shakespeare used beliefs of witchcraft that he had been exposed to, it is also very informational because it allows the reader to see insight on how people in the Renaissance era believed in witches. They believed that they could see into the future, create storms like when the witches stranded the sailor at sea, and make their selves invisible or disappear. It was also believed that witches could make potions and perform magic. The first lines of Macbeth are the witches having a conversation, so this automatically shows that witches and witchcraft are going to be a big focus of the tragedy. Witches and what they do are the main focus in Macbeth, and the theories of witches had a huge impact on this
When someone thinks of a witch, usually he or she thinks about Halloween or the movie The Wizard of Oz. However, during the 16th and 17th century, witches were feared by many. The accusations of witches during this time is the highest reported, more than 500,000 people were tried and more than 100,000 were executed. Many people of the modern era know and believe that witches are not real. This was not the case in the beginning of the 16th century to the end of the 17th century. Individuals were prosecuted as witches because people wanted money and to clean up their community, they were women, and the communities needed a scapegoat for their misfortune.
on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52. One of these brilliant tragedies was
The witches also kept repeating a quote that has a lot of meaning. They continued to say “foul is fair and fair is foul.” (I.i.12) This means that what seems right isn’t really right and what seems wrong isn’t really wrong. So the whole play is about false faces and how someone who seems normal and innocent isn’t really. The witches also seem to be an illusion. They are in a way human like, but at the same time they are also fake. They talked to Macbeth and told him three prophecies, which caused him to become greedy and kill King Duncan. The first time they told him what they saw was in Act 1. They said
The belief in the existence and power of witches was widely believed in Shakespeare's day, as demonstrated by the European witch craze, during which an estimated nine million women were put to death for being perceived as witches (The Burning Times). The practice of witchcraft was seen to subvert the established order of religion and society, and hence was not tolerated. Witch hunting was a respectable, moral, and highly intellectual pursuit through much of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries (Best ). The belief of the majority during the seventeenth century suggests that the witches are powerful figures who can exercise great power over Macbeth; however, strong arguments to the contrary were in existence at the same time. The intensity of the tragedy is dependent on whether the witches are perceived to be able to control the otherwise innocent Macbeth's actions, or if he is entirely responsible for his own demise.
The people in the Jacobean era believed in the strong presence of evil that plagued their world and specifically accused witches to be responsible for such evil. These influential beliefs can be seen as a common motif in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, where the witches have shaped Macbeth’s fate. Moreover the influence and fear of witches and witchcraft in Jacobean society has led to chaotic persecution of those associated with the practice and in Macbeth, the influence of witchcraft incited terror on one king and make decisions of an entire nation. The appearance and abilities of witches and witchcraft are motifs in Jacobean society and in Macbeth.
The witches have a strong effect on Macbeth's character; they highly influence him in his accomplishments and awake his ambitions. They give Macbeth a false sense of security with their apparitions of truth. Instead, they prove to be harmful for Macbeth, who takes too much comfort and confidence in his interpretation of the truths. They are the ones who plant the actual idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth's mind. But if it were only the witches prophecies, then Macbeth surely would not have murdered the king. '
Since it was an interesting issue which many people of Shakespeare’s time felt they were affected by, Shakespeare wrote about it. “Macbeth” with its supernatural theme was the 17th century’s equivalent to the modern day horror movie.
Powerful in nature and curious to the eye, the witches in Macbeth were hooks of fascination. One never knew what would come next when it came to the witches. They possessed a dark authority and supremacy unlike any other and the temptation to ignore them was unfeasible. They brought with them gloomy days and evil thoughts. The witches could draw you in and begin to almost play with your mind if you let them. This is what ultimately led to the down fall of Macbeth. Collectively, the witches in Macbeth acted as a catalyst for all of Macbeth’s actions.
Myths and religions often include divine or devilish beings with incredible powers. William Shakespeare incorporated witches with bizarre powers in his play, Macbeth. These witches possessed devilish powers to set the course of events in the plot and added to the flavor of the story. The witches' powers included omnientness, vision and apparition creation, and the ability to set the conditions for disaster, and the utilization of these abilities sets the movement of the play.
The last person you would expect to encourage you to commit a crime would be your wife. Macbeth is motivated by his wife and by three Witches and gradually becomes more ruthless, evil, and murderous as the play progresses.
With their raspy voices, dull skin, odorous dark clothes, creepy long noses, and long black hair; witches are generally an evil person portraying their self as a normal human being. Many people tend not to interact with witches due to the perception that they are pure evil. In all open scenes for The Tragedy of Macbeth written by Shakespeare they showed the creepiness of the three witches. The reading symbolizes the usual ideal of witches. While the scenes all symbolize the different types of witches. Shakespeare play The Tragedy of Macbeth described three witches in many dissimilar ways using abnormal settings, loathsome clothing, while doing eerie spells.
The witches influence Macbeth in his achievements and awaken his ambitions. They give him a false sense of security with their apportions of truths. The witches are the ones who made the idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth’s mind. They also told him that he would become thane of Cawdor and later would become king of Scotland. Macbeth wants to know more.
In the Shakespearean era, there was an eruption of superstition and alleged witchcraft. The people of that time had strong hatred for the ‘devil worshiping’ witches and had various trials and tests to determine their fate. Shakespeare used this as inspiration for his play ‘Macbeth’
The supernatural was a popular element in many of the plays written in Shakespeare's time (including Hamlet) and everyone of Shakespeare's time found the supernatural fascinating. Even King James I took a special interest in supernatural and written a book, Daemonologie, on witchcraft. It must be remembered that, in Shakespeare's day, supernatural referred to things that were "above Nature"; things which existed, but not part of the normal human life and unexplainable. The play Macbeth involves many supernatural actions that act as a catalyst for suspense and thrill, insight into character, foreshadowing of future events as well as making connections with the theme.