Essay On The Role Of The Witches In Macbeth

In 4.1, the witches’ spell in the Shakespearean play Macbeth is by far my favorite part in the play. This scene shows the witches casting a spell, chanting and screaming around a cauldron. Macbeth arrives to inquire of the witches about his future. He gets more prophetic information from three apparitions conjured up by the witches. Then eight kings and Banquo show up again as ghosts haunting Macbeth. The witches then disappear, and Macbeth proceeds to look for them, even asking people if they have seen them, for a couple of lines before the scene ends. There are so many possibilities with how this scene is portrayed, but I believe that the scene should symbolize the chaos occurring throughout the entire play. I want things to appear to be flying around, and clutter all around the cauldron. I feel that this would also do a good job foreshadowing the further chaos coming up in the near future. However, I don’t necessarily

Then, as a projection onto the backdrop, I would have each apparition take its form separately, then descend back into the light when it was done speaking. This would make for a more spooky but hypnotizing atmosphere. I don’t want them to come out of the cauldron because I feel that it would be expected. The audience won’t necessarily think that the apparitions would appear out of thin air. Following the apparitions’ message, I would have the eight kings slowly descend from the rafters on harnesses around Macbeth and have Banquo appear after them. Even the play suggests this would be a good way to introduce these ghosts when Macbeth says “Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo. Down!”(112), telling them to come down from where they are and leave. This would give the effect that they are haunting Macbeth in a way because he is surrounded and trapped. The audience would also feel this effect because they are circling him, and basically hounding