The witches in Macbeth are very important in the plot and develop certain aspects of the play. They make greater the theatrical experience with images of darkness, thunder and lightning that make Macbeth the tragedy it is. Their actions also add to the play, dancing round the cauldron and chanting ‘Double, double…’. Their appearance as ‘dark hags’ adds mystery to the play.
The witches also add a sense of evil and of the supernatural. Their chanting, ‘Double, double, toil and trouble: Fire burn and cauldron bubble’ is rhythmic and has an almost hypnotic quality to it. There is a repetition of the magical word ‘thrice’. The fact that there are three witches is emphasised, because in a time where Paganism was feared (three was a magical number in Paganism.), the number three was seen as evil. It was also a magical number because of the holy trinity The ingredients that the witches add to the cauldron are associated with the themes of death: ‘finger of birth-strangled babe.’; crime: ‘grease that’s sweaten from the murderer’s gibbet.’; evil: ‘Tartar’s lips.’; poison ‘adder’s fork’; and damnation: ‘Liver of blaspheming Jew’. These powerful images would have shocked Shakespearean audiences and thus would have thought the witches as overwhelmingly evil. The witches add to this impression of evil by throwing ‘into the flame’ a murderer’s gibbet. This shows that Macbeth will have the same fate as a murderer, being thrown into the flames of hell. There are other images of hell in the play. An example is in Act two, Scene three when the porter imagines himself to be the ‘porter of hell-gate’ when Macduff and Lenox knock on Macbeth’s castle door. Shakespearean audiences would have recognised this as Jesus knocking on the gates of hell. There is also the supernatural element as the witches call up the evil spirits they serve at line 62. This ties in with other supernatural images in the play, such as when Macbeth sees the floating dagger before him before he murders Duncan. This supernatural image adds to the importance of the witches in the play.
The witches also serve to develop our picture of Macbeth. In line 45, the witches, when they hear Macbeth knocking, say ‘Something wicked this way comes’. This is ironic as the witches, who are evil are calling Macbeth evil. This shows that Macbeth is the most evil character in the play. In line fifty and onwards, Macbeth is...
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... he is so insecure. The witches do reassure him with the information that ‘none of woman birth shall harm Macbeth’ but this is not as straightforward as Macbeth thinks because of Macduff’s Caesarean Section. They witches have tricked Macbeth. I don’t think that Macbeth realises this danger: ‘Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee?’ The witches trick and tempt Macbeth by advising him to ‘seek no more’ on whether Banquo’s descendants will be kings. This only serves to command the witches to show him. The witches do with relish, to ‘grieve his [Macbeth’s] heart’ This makes Macbeth determined to alter fate. When the witches went, Lenox tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. As the witches have tricked him, Macbeth does not fear from Macduff and so he damns himself further by plots the murder of Macduff’s family. These tricks by the witches move the plot on and show how important the witches are in the play. As the witches said before Macbeth entered, ‘The charm is firm and good.’ and Macbeth’s fate is sealed.
However, we can only say how important the witches are after we assess how responsible they are for the events in the play by merely predicting what will happen.
In the first scene of the first act, three witches plan their next meeting in which they will encounter Macbeth. It is in this scene that the motif is first presented, as the tree witches chant, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair, hover through the fog and filthy air" (1.1.11-12). The witches meet again in scene three of act one. One of the witches discusses a curse she has placed on a woman's husband, because she refused to share her food. This display of evil powers and spitefulness, suggests that the witches may have some influence in the development of the motif. Macbeth enters during this scene along with Banquo, arriving from a victorious battle. He uses the motif to describe the day as "So foul and fair a day I have not seen" (1.3.38). When Macbeth encounters the witches, they give him two predictions. One is that he will become the thane of Cawdor, and then the king of Scotland.
The three witches use cleverly chosen words and prophecies to exert control over others. These prophecies seem to be more potent than any action, as they can be interpreted in any number of ways, and have the ability to provoke otherwise hidden thoughts and desires. For instance, upon hearing the first prophecies and seeing the first part come true, Macbeth says, “This supernatural soliciting, cannot be ill, cannot be good … If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs.” This shows the power of the witches, and indeed the supernatural in general. The prophecies, of which Macbeth is convinced are true, have provoked thoughts and ideas, both good and evil.
The play could be hinting that Macbeth should have been able to master his own ambition and reconcile himself to his place in life. & nbsp; The fact that the witches can affect Macbeth so easily shows what a weak character he is. The first predictions have such a strong influence on Macbeth that he sends his wife, Lady Macbeth, a letter asking her advice on how to respond to the witches' words, showing again the weakness of his character. & nbsp; The tragedy of Macbeth could simply be the tale of a hero who is destroyed by a certain weakness of character, by ambition and moral cowardice. However, his nature requires a partner of equal potency with whom he interacts.
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.
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 core of it is thanks to 1603’s views on African males, as they believed that they were savages that practiced black magic. So, this had caused issues once Iago had resurfaced those problems with the subtle reference to the infidelity of Desdemona. He does this through saying innocently “As for Michael Cassio I think it would be safe for me to swear that he’s honest” although it seems harmless the amount of ideas that plants in Othello’s head while distancing himself, protecting and accusing Cassio at the same time. The complexity of this one quote by Iago is enough for Othello to be sent down a deep spiral of self-doubt and anger displaying how easily his insecurities can be exposed. Deconstructing the same scene, there is a ton of irony here as he utters Cassio’s name once after making Othello say it five times. Iago acts innocent and clueless which is against his character and saying that Cassio is honest when in fact Iago isn’t but Cassio is, creating a paradox situation that is irony filled. This is the turning point in the plotline as Iago has just planted the seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind and it will only bloom from
The major concern with this population of patients is that the patients are not in a therapeutic environment when he or she is boarding in the emergency room waiting for an inpatient bed, which does not allow the patient to start the healing and recovery process. A theory that could be put into place is chaos theory, which involves “finding the underlying order in the apparent disorder of natural and social systems” (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p. 296). In the emergency room currently, the psychiatric area of the department is in disorder. The policies and procedures for this area of the department are confusing and ever changing, it is hard to keep up to date with the latest policies and procedures and because of this, the patients do not have a therapeutic environment that he or she needs. The role of the chaos theory is that it examines systems that are on the “edge of disorder” (Brabender, 2016, p. 9). With the implementation of chaos theory and multiple other nursing theories the area of the emergency room that is designated for the psychiatric patient will be a therapeutic environment so that way while the patients are boarding waiting for an inpatient bed to become available so the patient is able to start his or her recovery and healing
...race, beauty and status put her on a pedestal like a goddess allowing him to idolize her and therefore never truly deserve her. Beneath his noble persona on display for all to see, the idealistic view of his wife, leads him to believe that she will never be able to fully reciprocate the love he has for her. Iago’s exploitative tactics used for revenge trigger Othello’s fatal insecurities to surface for the ultimately climactic ending in which he smothers Desdemona with a pillow before discovering “honest” Iago had been deceiving him, as well as the majority of the other characters, the entire time. Outraged, Othello attempts to stab Iago as revenge for being manipulated into killing his beloved wife, however when his hasty murder attempt fails, the heartbroken and worn-out man stabs himself next to the already dead Desdemona, whom he never believed he was worthy of.
If we are to explore the significance of these witches, we must do so by treating them as vital poetic symbols in the play, essential manifestations of the moral atmosphere of Macbeth's world. & nbsp; The most obvious interpretation of the witches is to see them as manifestations of evil in the world. They exist to tempt and torment people, to challenge their faith in themselves and their society.
The witches play a very important role in "Macbeth", as they initiate the evil plot. Even from the prologue we can see the witches are evil. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair:" (Act 1 scene 1 line 11). They uphold their evil status throughout the play although their power is not fully demonstrated until the prophecies come true and also later where they conjure up the three apparitions. The witches are truly evil and love evil for its own self unlike Macbeth. "Spiteful and wrathful; who. as others do,/Loves for his own ends, not for you." (Act 3 scene 5 line 12-13). Throughout the play they provide the strongest impression of evil. They are continually committing mischievous deeds, such as, "Killing swine" (Act 1 scene 3 line 2), tormenting sailors and casting spells.
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. '
The witches talk to animal sprits and talk about what they have been doing. One says that she was killing swine (Diseases of cattle were believed to be caused by witchcraft in Shakespeare’s day.) Another says that she will punish a sailor. The third witch says that she will help her to do it. They were all doing cruel things. Soon they would do a cruel thing to Macbeth which would end in his ruin and downfall. The witches await Macbeth on the heath, boasting of there powers.
They help set the theme of the play and they influence not only Macbeth’s life, but some other characters throughout the play. They challenge Macbeth’s character over the course of the play by giving him three simple prophecies about his life. The witches cause the play’s theme to start as very dark and gloomy because of their prophecies to Macbeth. If the prophecies had not been told to Macbeth, it might have changed the entire course of the play.
There are many individuals who contribute to the education of the student with special needs. Their roles and responsibilities are varied, and each play an important part in the education of the student with disabilities. In the early years of special education, individuals with disabilities were not educated in the traditional classroom. Many of the students were left at home to be taught by their parents, or, sent away to institutions if the families were unable to care for them. In addition, some were education in private schools at the cost of the families. It was not until the 1970’s that special education became acceptable in the public schools. The passing of legislation made it possible for all students to have a right to a free and public education, regardless of their disabilities. The individual with disabilities education act (IDEA) opened the door to education for all students and therefore a change in special education.
The. Line 46) which makes clear vision impossible', as a way to cover up his evil deeds. Foreshadowing of evilness' which is also a theme in the play is also created when the witches, before leaving the first scene, cried in unison that "Fair is foul and foul is fair" (Act I. Scene II. The.... ... middle of paper ... ...