What do you consider to be the importance of witches in Macbeth - Coursework Example

The Witches of MacBeth The witches in MacBeth serve a multitude of purposes. One is that there is the possibility that they were not actually living, sentient beings, but, rather, figments of MacBeth’s fertile imagination. This is one of the interpretations that Epstein (422) states is a possibility. The witches could have been simply speaking to MacBeth’s own ambition, or could be interpreted as giving him permission for what he was about to do. This is shown in Act 1, when the witches were introduced. One of the witches tells MacBeth that he is the “thane of Glamis” (I, i, 45-46). The second witch tells MacBeth that he is the “thane of Cawdor!” (I, i, 49-50). The third witch tells MacBeth that “that shalt be King hereafter!” (I, i, 51-52). Epstein (422) states that, after the final pronouncement by the final witch, MacBeth’s hair stands on end and his heart starts pounding. This shows that this is something that MacBeth has thought about himself – that he could be King, if only Duncan were out of the way. Epstein (422) further notes that the word “wyrd,” which was what the witches were called, as they were referred to as “weird sisters,” (I, i, 31), is actually misinterpreted. The modern plays interpret the word “wyrd” as being the same as “weird” in modern day language. After all, the three women were very weird. When we first meet them, one of them is killing swine, and the other one speaks in rhymes – such as “in a sieve I’ll thither sail, and like a rat without a tail…” (I,i,8-9), and “Here I have a pilot’s thumb, wrackd as homeword he did come. A drum! A drum! MacBeth did come!” (I, i, 29-31). Perhaps in Shakespeare’s day it wasn’t weird to speak in rhymes in the plays, so the audience for Shakespeare might not have thought that this was out of place, but the rhyming definitely made that particular sister seem weird. Therefore, the fact that the sisters are referred to as weird might be a modern-day interpretation of them and their overall characters. But Epstein (422) states that the word that was actually used as “wyrd,” which means fate. This would bring a variety of translations for the witches, assuming that the word is “wyrd” and the meaning is “fate.” This would be a pun, but a very meaningful one. This would be an answer to one of the questions that is central to the play, and that is whether or not our fate is determined by our own hands or by some kind of outside force. The outside force would be the witch’s influence over MacBeth and Lady MacBeth, both of whom are responsible for the bloodbath that is to follow. The implication is that the witches are responsible for MacBeth and Lady MacBeth’s overwhelming ambition that created the situation where there was a string of murders that MacBeth, an inherently good man, commits. If it were not for the outside influence on the proceedings at hand, there is not a way that a man like MacBeth could have done what he did. After all, the word “fate” implies a lack of control – that whatever happens in this world is predestined, and that we are powerless to stop it. Therefore, one of the functions of the witches is both in their persona and in the double entendre on the word “weird,” in that their persona is what ostensibly controls the situation, and the word “weird,” possibly means fate in this context. There is another interpretation of the word “wyrd,” according to Epstein, and this interpretation leads one to the opposite conclusion as the interpretation above. This is that the word might suggest “wayward.” This would imply that the witches were not even real, but, rather, were figments of MacBeth’s imagination. This interpretation would suggest that fate was not in control, at all, but, rather, MacBeth’s deep seated ambition is what is in control. This would imply that what happens to him is a result of his own free will, not the result of the witches influencing the proceedings at hand. According to this interpretation, the witches serve as a convenient excuse for the killing that MacBeth and Lady MacBeth do. It was something that, deep down, MacBeth wanted anyhow, so he told himself that he was powerless to stop what was happening because the witches are what ordained it to come true. The one problem with this interpretation, however, is that the witches are shown independently of MacBeth himself. For instance, in the Act I, Scene iii, the witches are chatting about what they were doing and the spells that they were putting on the sailors. MacBeth had not yet entered the scene, so the audience would not be led to believe that the witches did not really exist. Moreover, in Act IV, Scene i, there is another scene where the witches are talking amongst themselves, without MacBeth being around. This is the famous scene where the witches are chanting a curse, or a blessing, possibly, as one of them ways “double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron, bubble….eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog” (IV, I, 10-20). This would also imply that the witches are, in fact, real – they are really conjuring up a spell, presumably a spell that would help MacBeth. The witches also served another purpose in the play itself, other than the purpose that they serve to advance the story. And this is that the witches were something that the audiences could identify with. Riedel (1), states that witches were something that, during Shakespeare’s time, were believed to be real, and, moreover, they were creatures who were believed to subvert the natural order of religion and society. Riedel (1) further notes that witchhunting was a profession that was highly respected during Shakespeare’s time, and that the witches were creatures who had great power and could exercise great power over MacBeth and Lady MacBeth. Therefore, this was something that the audiences could understand, for the presence of witches was something that they really believed to be true, and their powers were also something that were believed to be true. Therefore, this could have been a type of shorthand for Shakespeare to explain to the audience why MacBeth could’ve done what he did. After all, this is a tragedy, and there would be no greater tragedy than a good man doing evil deeds because he was compelled to do so. At the same time, the fact that witches were creatures who would subvert the natural order of things is another way that Shakespeare subtly portrayed the overall themes of the story, and the savvy audience-goer might have picked up on this fact. That is that the overall theme of the play was that the natural order of things was disrupted on many levels. Lady MacBeth, rather than being a retiring wife who concedes power to her husband, actually is the one who has the power, and takes the power from her husband. She was the original one who engineered the murder of Duncan, and she was the one who was primarily responsible for the early evil deeds. This was subverting the natural order during Shakespeare’s time, because the natural order during this time was that the woman would not have more power than the husband, particularly if that husband is some kind of ruling figure or hero, as MacBeth was considered to be. Moreover, MacBeth, by killing Duncan, a kind and generous King, was subverting the natural order of things in this very act. Duncan was not supposed to die the way that he did, and MacBeth was not supposed to become King in the way that he did. What happens is that anarchy occurs in heaven and earth, and such things occur as Duncan’s horses becoming wild and eating one another, the earth shakes, and a violent storm picks up. This is all saying, in so many words and actions, that nature was disrupted by MacBeth’s evil deeds, and it was a prophecy of things to come. Therefore, in this interpretation of the role of the witches, the witches could well be considered to be Shakespeare’s way of using a metaphor that his audience could understand – witches are unnatural, and, by doing their magic, they seek to subvert nature. What happens in the play also subverts nature. Therefore, the witches could be seen as being metaphors for the play itself. References Shakespeare, William. MacBeth. Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Shakespeare. New York: Viking Press. Riedel, Jennifer. “The Witches’ Influence on MacBeth.” (Online). Read More