Shakespeare Macbeth - Essay Example

ns, he feels threatened by the number of nobles fleeing Scotland and he again seeks out the words of the witches, wanting reassurance that his reign is secure. This continued reference to witches throughout the play prompts one to learn more about why Shakespeare might have included them, how they were envisioned in his England and how an understanding of them might provide greater understanding of the play itself. According to David Linder (2005), “Scotland’s witch-hunting had its origins in the marriage of King James to Princess Anne of Denmark.

” According to the story, James and Anne were planning to be wed in Scotland, but Anne’s ship was forced to turn back from its voyage because of bad storms which were blamed upon the actions of witches back in Denmark. James then traveled to Scandinavia for the wedding ceremony, which did take place, but, upon the couple’s return voyage to Scotland, bad storms again made the crossing difficult and were again blamed on witches. “Back in Scotland, the paranoid James authorized torture of suspected witched.

Dozens of condemned witches in the North Berwick area were burned at the stake in what would be the largest witch hunt in British history” (Linder, 2005). This illustrates the importance of the witch issue within contemporary English society as James first wrote his Demonology and pursued witches in Scotland and then, with his coming to the British throne, brought his ideas of witchcraft to England. Given that the play was written with James in mind, James claimed to be a descendent of Banquo, one should probably expect to find elements of both English witch lore as well as Scottish witch lore within the play.

Indeed, there are several elements of both English and Scottish conceptions of witches found throughout the first act of the play. One example of this is the witches’ association with animals found at the very beginning of the play. The first witch says, “I come, Graymalkin!” (I, i, 8)