Character Sketch Of The Three Witches In Shakespeare's Macbeth

This paper is an a character sketch of the three sister witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Shakespeare’s Macbeth takes place in Scotland, sometime during the medieval period. The play revolves around the titular character, Macbeth. In the story, Macbeth starts off as than of Glamis only to become a thane of Cawdor, and later King of Scotland, after receiving a prophecy of his success from the three witches. Ultimately, his desire for the prophecy’s fulfillment, as well as his desire to maintain that power, ends up being his downfall. The three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth are supernatural beings of possibly Greek origins who are actually mostly neutral towards other characters, despite being called on their hideous appearance.

The three witches are powerful characters of supernatural and probably Greek origins. In the second dialogue between the three sisters, Shakespeare writes

“But in a sieve I'll thither sail,” and later “I myself have all the other, And the very ports they blow.” This response to

Shakespeare describes them as “Beldams” through the character of Hecate. A beldam is an ugly, usually old woman. The phrase is often associated with those who practice dark magic. Furthermore, through the character of Macbeth, Shakespeare describes the three witches as “filthy hags” It is plausible that they would not correct the goddess Hecate out of fear, however there is little to no reason for them to let Macbeth insult them. This leads one to believe that the accusations of ugliness are correct, and the witches saw no need to correct him. Of course the witches never refer to their own appearance, but from how they are described by other characters in addition to the fact that they never seem to mind the description, one can only assume that the descriptions are accurate. This becomes more likely once one observes their