The Roles of Witches in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

The Roles of Witches in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

In the Elizabethan times, the people believed in witches and

witchcraft. They were described as ugly and evil. Nowadays the people

would not believe in them. The people in the Elizabethan times would

be very scared of witches. This was equivalent to the people of

nowadays being frightened about terrorists. The people thought that

they were powerful beings. They thought that they would cast spells on

them; they thought that the witches were the ones that influenced the

weather and also someone's personality. They were most likely to be

old women with moles on their body. If the people wanted to find out

if someone was a witch or not, they would tie the woman onto a ducking

stool and then place them under the water for along time. If the

people saw that the woman was dead they would definitely be relieved,

as the woman would not be a witch. If the woman survived for a long

time in the water then the people would take the woman out and then

burn them or they would hang them. For people to be terrified by

witches was very common. This was very good for William Shakespeare

because then he could make the play much more frightening. This would

be equivalent to a horror film nowadays.

There are three or four scenes in the book, which include the witches.

In the beginning the witches are just making plans about where to meet

again. They say that they are going to meet Macbeth on top of the

Heath. This scene is important because this is where the witches are

telling the audience about where they are going to make the

predictions. Another scene that involves the witches is when they are

...

... middle of paper ...

...s a horror film but they would think of the play

as being very good and interesting. They would watch it for

entertainment and the special effects would have dramatic impact on

the audience.

The impact on the audience would change over the years. The people

would not believe in it because they will know that it is proven that

witches don't exist which is why the reaction of the audience would

change over time.

There were a lot of differences between Elizabethan and modern

interpretations of the witches. The director in the Elizabethan times

would make the witches wear costumes, and they would try to make them

scary for the audience. The audience in the Elizabethan time would be

scared as they thought witches were real, whereas a modern audience

would not think of it as a horror film but as an interesting story.