Discuss the dramatic importance of the witches in Macbeth Essay

Macbeth was written sometime between 1603 and 1606. This coincides with the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English thr wholeness, as James I of England, in 1603. The make up was certainly written with James in mind. Firstly, it caters for the interests and expertise of James its fascination with the spectral would attract his attention. Witchcraft, apparitions, ghosts and the Kings Evil were aras of great trouble to James. Secondly, it compliments James by making his ancestor, Banquo, a hero in the play. Thirdly, the play explores the issue of kingship and trustworthyty. These were of profound importance to James, who had survived an assassination attempt earlier in life. Fourthly, the play is intimately related to the topical events of the Gunpowder p split up of 1605 (where loyal people were planning to kill the king) and the subsequent trials of its conspirators.This failed coup was sensational in a number of ways the sheer audacity of trying to blow up Parliament amazed the country, as did the scale of the treachery involved. Treason is related to the wider composition of appearances. For example, dame Macbeth advises Macbeth to look manage thinnocent flower, but be the serpent undert.(Act 1, stroke 5, lines 64-65). When saying this, she is trying to convince Macbeth to become a villain and mutilate King Dun erect this expression could also be showing how scared she is. brothel keeper Macbeth is tempting Macbeth to deceive people and score a mask to achieve an end. It could also be deduced that the witches possessed the knowledge of what would trigger ambition, greed or deceit in the characters of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth.Through divulge the play, the witches have diametrical spectacular functions much(prenominal) as setting the scene, creating or changing the atmosphere, foreshadowing what would happen later on in the play, altering the characters spokesperson communication and minds and they also acted as a plot device. All the se dramatic functions testament have different effects upon the interview. In this play, there are 5 main dramatic techniques. Firstly, theres pathetic fallacy. This is go ford to create an atmosphere by the use of weather. For instance, in this play, its used at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 1. For example, Thunder and lightning evokes a feeling of evilness and darkness. This portrays an intimidating beginning. The reference would feel frightened they would straight off guess its a prologue of the evil.Another function of the witches is foreshadowing, which signifies giving clues about emerging events, which Shakespeare uses to create clues to the audience about future events, by doing this, he makes the audience think in advance. Namely, this technique is used when the witches are playing with Macbeths log Zs this example indicates that this creates a feeling of confidence and nervousness amongst the audience. Confidence because the audience will know what is going to hap pen so they will be prompt for whatever to come. However, the actors on stage wouldnt know what is going to happen this indicates that the audience would feel nervous waiting for the reactions of the actors.Besides these, there are tether more than than dramatic irony, this will create a nervous feeling this is because the audience would feel nervous waiting for the reactions of the actors. Besides these, there are triple more dramatic irony, this will create a nervous feeling this is because the audience will know more than the actors on stage. The next one is symbolism, this depends on the audience, some people will have gained the ability to interpret words in different ways, these people will obviously know and understand the play affluenty however the people who havent gained this ability yet, will miss out bits and pieces of information. Finally, theres plot device. This will be dumb by everyone as its just the introduction of characters or objects that change events. I n this case, the plot device is the witches. They are the ones who change events. This will create misgiving amongst the audience.In the beginning of Act 1, Scene 1, the witches were introduced as the evil side of this whole play. A heathland, Thunder, Enter one-third witches has a lot of meaning. A heath is a barren land, a deserted place with a rough landscape covered with mud, its basically a place where no valet being will live, and this creates tension amongst the audience. This is also created by using pathetic fallacy, another technique, in the word thunder. This word has a lot of meaning it can be looked as weather, a sign of evil and darkness but also as a danger or warning. This immediately creates fear and tension. When the three witches enter (Act 1, Scene 1), the effect will be almost immediate, somewhere between shock and fear. Three is the number that witches mostly use to symbolise evil, so when the three witches enter, the audience is warned about whats to come.T his relates sustain to the introduction, in the Jacobean times, the audience will have had a very muscular belief in witches and witchcraft they were convinced that the witches has a lot of power and besides that they also suspected the witches to perform and make spells. On the whole, witches create these dramatic functions by firstly, being the first things to appear on stage, secondly by using pathetic fallacy and by finally talking in the witches vocabulary which is mostly made up of chants, spells and evilness. An example of a spell could be Thrice the brindled cat hath mewed which could show evil when we see the words three and cats which are things normally associated with evil.The witches also act as a plot device, they changed Macbeths fortune. At the start of the play, Macbeth is seen as the gentleman of action, he is a doughty warrior and an important Lord who defends the king against treachery. He is praised by the King and by everyone else, including the audience. Initially he has a conscience and a highly developed imagination, he is full, so valiant (Act 1 Scene 4) he sees all too well in his mind the horrors of what he is proposing to do but he shuts out the implications of what this is telling him. Manhood is important to Macbeth, Shakespeare creates this impression when Macbeth says I dare do all that may become a man Who dares do more is no(prenominal) (Act 1, Scene 7).This suggests that Macbeth will dare to do anything to show that hes a man, he also talks back to Lady Macbeth which will give a shock to the audience this also tells the audience that Macbeths manhood is very important to him. This is what the witches play on through Lady Macbeth and her language. The witches influence Lady Macbeths language. Lady Macbeth appeals to his manhood when persuading him to murder Duncan in the first place she also makes a similar appeal during the banquet scene. Lady Macbeth thinks him too full othe milk of kind -kindness -an extraordinary statement in the light of the murders that Macbeth commits. The audiences point of view on Macbeth also changes from strong and loyal to a treacherous and murderous character.The witches also foreshadow the torture that Macbeth will feel when they say Hang upon his pen honey oilse lid He shall live a man forbid. These words rhyme this makes it sound like an enchantment, like a chant. Ill drain him dry as hay is a simile, which has been used to create a picture (of a man being tortured) of whats going to happen to Macbeth. When the audience hears this line with the word drain in it, they will be wondering whether the witches are going to drain him with blood. However its exclusively in the next line, Sleep shall neither night nor day, that the audience understands that the witches are going to drain Macbeth with sleep like one of the witches did to the poor sailor because of his wife not giving chestnuts to the witch. And munched, and munched, and munched is a repetition of the wom an eating.This emphasises the point and helps the audience to visualise the eating actions. Witches cant kill so they would do anything possible to play around with the victims consciousness. In Act 1, Scene 3, after the sailors meeting, all three sisters pronounce a chant. They also link back to evil when they say thrice to thine which again relates back to evil. The audience here will be warned about whats going to happen to Macbeth, Shakespeare uses foreshadow in this context. With this in mind, when Macbeth says Methought I heard a voice cry, Sleep no more Macbeth does murder sleep (Act 2, Scene 2) evokes a frightening atmosphere. The audience would be aware of this as it has already been foreshadowed in the introductory lines of the witches. This is also showed when the witches say Yet it shall be tempest-tossed, this also foreshadows whats going to happen to Macbeth later on, that they are going to toss him around like hes in a storm.The witches deliberately play with the cha racters they give misleading visions to Macbeth. Macbeth who was once a reputable, loyal and important Lord becomes involved with evil. We can see this when he says Though you untie the winds and let them fightEven till destruction sicken to the witches on Act 4 Scene 1. This shows that Macbeth is lively to risk all the common hazards of witchcraft, he is prepared to lay down his arms in front of evil. However what he says can also be construe as an uncontrolled ambition. Before Macbeth comes to meet the witches, Hecate tells the other witches that Macbeth has used witchcraft for his own ends, not for the witchs sake (Act 3, Scene 5). In addition, she says that by the strength of their illusion, shall draw him on to his confusion. This again foreshadows what will happen later on to Macbeth. When Macbeth comes on stage, the audience will know more than Macbeth, which is dramatic irony.Macbeth received comfort from the three apparitions that the witches call up. They appear in symbo lic form. The first, an armed head, represents Macbeths own head (wearing a helmet) the bloody(a) child that comes next is Macduff, who has been untimely rippd from his mothers womb (as he tells Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 7) and the last, the royal child with a direct in his hand, is Malcolm, the rightful King of Scotland who approaches the palace at Dunsinane camouflaged with tree-branches (Act 5, Scene 4).These are all forthcoming events but Macbeth looks at them and interpret them as that will never be (Act 4, Scene 1). The witches also dont tell him the real meaning as they want him to get confused, they want to see how hes going to interpret their pictures, and its their type of revenge for him as he had used witchcraft for his own ends. He doesnt think double about their meanings, he doesnt even try to understand them. He feels comfortable when he misunderstands that hes safe. This means that the images can symbolise different things and everyones got different ways of interpre ting them.Macbeth cannot interpret these symbols, but Shakespeare expects the audience to understand what is meant. This is dramatic irony- when the truth of a situation is known to the audience but hidden from the characters in the play. There is dramatic irony, too, in the words spoken by the apparitions, for again we understand the real meanings, while Macbeth can only understand the apparent meanings of the words. Macbeth, however, is in no doubt about the significance of the final show of Eight Kings.The witches want Macbeth to Hear his speech, but say thou nought (Act 4, Scene1). This shows that the witches do not want Macbeth to know what it really means they give ambiguous visions. The witches also say Seek to know no more (Act 4, Scene1), this means that Macbeth always wants more, he is greedy but it could also mean that the witches do not want to tell more. They want Macbeth to use his imagination to run out what the symbolic images mean, even though he goes on the wrong path, they do not stop him but encourage him to find his own interpretations. The audience would also probably feel shocked and surprised to see that a loyal man like him has turned into something evil.One of the main functions of the witches is to affect the language used by other characters which mirror their evil language. They do this with Lady Macbeth when she starts to use negative and evil connotations. She places herself in the centre of evil, we can see this when she says And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell (Act 1 Scene 5). By placing herself there she becomes one of them. Lady Macbeth starts to use symbolism she uses lots of symbols related to evil such as raven and croaks the fatal entrance. The raven is a bird associated with evil and fear, raven doesnt normally croak, fatal also means venomous so the audience might expect murder or something deadly (Act 1 Scene 5). In the beginning of the play (Act 1, Scene 3), Macbeth says So go and fair I have not seen mirr ors the witches words. The effect upon the audience of this oxymoron should be immediate they understand that what Macbeth just said is the repetition of what the witches said earlier on, this brings solicitude amongst the audience as they start to guess that Macbeth is letting evil penetrate through him.Macbeth gains the audiences sympathy by exposing his weakness -almost subconsciously. He is not a bare-faced bare murderer, but he is also a prisoner of horrendous imaginings. Shakespeare helps him gain this sympathy by making the audience decide on the moral issues involved. Shakespeare allows Lady Macbeth to explain her husbands character as she understands it, and although she cannot see the whole truth, she tells us a great deal about Macbeth that is true.Two lines of her soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 5 are particularly significant Thou wouldst be great Art not without ambition, not without The illness should attend it. By illness Lady Macbeth mean evil, but her metaphor is approp riate Macbeth catches evil, as one might catch a disease. Duncan getting killed creates slaughter it upsets the natural order and the reminder to the audience that you have to accept the King or Queen chosen by God is very well interpreted so that the message is clear. If you unbalance the natural order, youll allow evil to take over. A paradox is used when Macbeth changes from a loyal Lord to a murderer. This is one of the important turning points.Macbeth gains the crown but he loses love, friendship, respect and in the end his life. His crime is rightly punished. It can be argued that the witches are not human at all, and therefore cannot be considered as a character. They are certainly a malign force in the play. They do not invite Macbeth to murder Duncan or even suggest such a thing. This shows that witches are very powerful. They symbolise evil, but man is free to resist them. Macbeths downfall occurs partially because he comes to depend upon their information. The prophecie s werent prophecies they were Macbeths driving force. The audience will not be very pleased to see the witches as they are supernatural phenomena they are the device that unbalances the natural order. The audience will also be partly surprised that Shakespeare has included Hecate, the leader of the witches as a real person. besides as I said before it was all in Macbeths hand, he was the one to choose his faith.