The Witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth

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The Witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth

I am illustrating my answer by outlining how I would produce a play,

concentrating on the witches' scenes.

Setting

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I would set my production of Macbeth in the time that it was written

as, because in this age people strongly believed in witchcraft, I feel

that the play would make more sense and mean a lot more.

An important point to realise is that in Shakespeare's time witchcraft

was a substantial issue, people believed in it and it was a serious

offence to be a witch and old women with pets or living on their own

where prime suspects. Therefore to the people of that period the

witches were real and so I think that to present the play purely in

psychological terms would not fit in with setting the production in

Shakespeare's time.

Scenes

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A1, S1 - I would start my first scene with loud thunder and lightening

to grab the audience's attention, also this gives the audience a sense

that bad things are about to happen. It is important that the witches

interest the audience at the beginning of the play by making the scene

dramatic but also realistic. Therefore the first lines in this scene

should be said clearly, as they are our first introduction to the

witches and Macbeth and after this we know a little about what is

happening in the future. I think we meet the witches first in the play

to show the evil that is going on, so we can get an idea of what is

going to happen and the parts that they play. I see the witches as

being important characters at the start because of this and this

should come across in the way they are acted.

I think the lines that involve paradoxes, for example

'Fair is foul, and foul is fair'

should be said clearly and more pronounced as this line, put another

way, means good is bad and bad is good which shows the witches' evil

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