Examples Of Witchcraft In Macbeth

These disgusting images are the ingredients of the witches' spell. The language used shows the exploitation of innocence and vulnerability by the witches and this links in with the theme of the desire to bring all good things to evil. The imagery conjured up in the casts is one of pure evil. In the same scene the witches manipulate Macbeth by using three

Witchcraft accusations in the sixteenth and seventeenth century saw a dramatic increase in the sheer amount of accused witches that were tried and executed. “Between about 1450 and 1750 maybe 40,000 of Europe’s inhabitants, most of them women, were executed, many of them by burning at the stake, as witches.” (Sharpe 65) The vulnerability of society to so blindly accuse others of witchcraft stemmed from not knowing about certain types of illnesses or why horrible things sometimes occurred. Some accusations were brought about for the social gain by the ‘bewitching’ of one’s child, such as in the case of Anne Gunter. Using the case of Anne Gunter, we can identify some of the reasons that the English people were accused of witchcraft.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is based upon witchcraft and evil. "Double, double, toil and trouble;/Fire burn and cauldron bubble." (Act 4 scene 1 line 10-11), "How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!" (Act 4 scene 1 line 48), Lady Macbeth "Come, you spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here,/And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/Of direst cruelty; make thick my blood,/Stop up the access and passage to remorse,/That no compunctious visitings of nature/Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between/ Th’ effect!" (Act 1 scene 5 line 39-46), or Macbeth "Let not light see my black and deep desires;/The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be/Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see." (Act 1 scene 4 line 51-53). Shakespeare makes it clear that certain circumstances such as Duncan’s horses eating each other "Tis said they ate each other." (Act 2 scene 4 line 19) and the owl killing the falcon "A falcon,...Was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d" (Act 2 scene 4 line 13-14).

The word "farrow" means "to give birth" when applied to pigs. In this scene the witches are going to make the apparitions appear and they are going to make predictions for Macbeth. The first apparition appeared by grease from a murderer and by the blood of the sow. In other words, the apparitions are conjured by throwing into the fire these evil things the grease from a murderer and the blood from a sow that has eaten her own babies. This shows us how evil the magic that is going on here is.

Macbeth’s insanity is resulted from the true supernatural things he encounters in the play. The three witches are supernatural characters that play an important role in Macbeth’s spiral to becoming insane. Right off the bat the readers or audience feel the creepiness and uneasiness that radiates off of the witches. The witches famous line “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble” (cite), gives everyone a look at how dark this play is. Macbeth’s first time meeting the witches paved a way for his insanity. The three witches inform Macbeth that he will be Thane of Glamis and then one day become king. This causes Macbeth to over think things, and have contradicting thoughts on whether he believes in such prophecies, or if they are trying to trick him. Macbeth’s second visit from the witches included visions of different people. After the witches add ingredients to the cauldron, the visons start appearing. The first one was an armed head telling him to beware of Macduff. The second, was a bloody child that said he could not be hurt by anyone who was born of a woman. The third one is a child holding a tree and wearing a crown. This vision meant that Macbeth would not be defeated until Birnam Wood moved to Dunsinane. All of these visions allude to the fact that Macbeth is becoming insane. Slowly but surely as supernatural events occur he has trouble deciphering what is real and what is not. A

Witchcraft and sorcery might be considered a myth or a legend in our modern day society. In fact, we may even find the craft entertaining and harmless. To some, it is hardly anything to fear as there is absolutely no such thing as wizards or witches. Magic itself is a rather pleasurable diversion often use at children’s parties with clowns, top hats and bunnies. Or perhaps it could only be found at Hogwarts, Camelot, or some other mythical land invented by our favorite authors. Regardless of how we may feel about witchcraft, there was a time, during the Puritan era in the 17th and 18th century when it was a prevalent contagion, as was the smallpox, and was extremely dreaded. All those who practiced magic or even suspected to contribute to the art would be put to death. All it took was a mere accusation with no real evidence to condemn a woman (or man) to the gallows or burn on the pyre. All measures necessary to rid the world of such evil would be implemented by the Puritan government and Increase Mather was just the man to ensure these methods were never applied. “He argued that it would be better that ten witches go free than the blood of a single innocent be shed” (Madden, Mathew.)

The riddling second witch states "something wicked this way comes (IV,i,45)," suggesting both MacBeth is an evil character and the apparitions are going to make an entrance shortly. The witches might have been expecting MacBeth to arrive and were preparing for his entrance into the scene.

The witches in Macbeth would have been especially scary and mysterious to the audience it was originally written for: the people living in England in the early 1600s, including the king himself. Most of the audience at the time would have believed in witches, and would therefore be afraid of them. The idea that there were crazy killers out there, being controlled by witches that could see the future, create scary potions, and recite spells would have

In the opening scene, the three witches appear on a heath amidst thunder and lightning, establishing the mood and emotion for the duration of the play. The witch’s use prophesies to awaken Macbeth’s ambition, a force in which presents him with unescapable circumstances. They also reveal crucial information about Macbeth’s future; however, his inner security causes him to neglect such knowledge. As a result, his actions promote his unstable state of mind which slowly deteriorates to his fate. Furthermore, the witches ultimately challenge Macbeth and the control over his humanity. To listen to the witches, is like eating "the insane root, That takes the reason prisoner" (Act 1, Scene 3 Lines 84-5); for Macbeth, in the moment of temptation. If not for the witch’s manipulative knowledge, Macbeth would be left to make his own decisions and possibly the ability avoid his unchecked ambition. As a whole the

Within Macbeth, there are three witches which are supposed sisters. These witches are very symbolic of demonic thoughts and actions. They consistently lurk among the side lines and implant a sense of negativity among the characters throughout the entire play. The use of their couplets displayed within the play also contributes to the whole idea of witchcraft. The most famous line within the play from the witches would “Double, double, toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble”. As the witches speak of a cauldron and fire burning, it is as if they are mentally preparing potions to perhaps bring disaster upon certain characters.

Often when someone thinks of a witch, they think of a green lady on a broom. However, witches in the 16th century were slightly different. Witches, portrayed in Shakespeare’s Macbeth are women always causing trouble. These women thrived off of causing chaos and plotting schemes. They would often have a familiar to accompany them or another witch. Shakespeare gives an excellent representation of how people imagined witches to be in the Elizabethan era by the trinity of witches seen in his famous tragedy, Macbeth.

Thunder and lightning is used once again to open Act I Scene 3. As the

Superstition in William Shakespeare's Macbeth Throughout Elizabethan times, Witches and witchcraft were considered to be in existence. Seeing a large proportion of the female community being condemned to death, which involved either drowning, hanging or being burnt at the stake was quite plausible at this time. Such savage practices were urged on by macabre and fevered fantasy of the supernatural. In my essay I intend examining how Shakespeare deployed this obsession of superstition in Macbeth and how it is a crucial element of the play. To begin with, the tone of the paranormal theme is set right from the beginning when

When Shakespeare wrote his play, Macbeth in 1606 a large majority of people were interested in witchcraft. This is why Shakespeare made the witches and the witches’ prophecies play a major part in the storyline of the play. In the time of Macbeth witches were not thought to be supernatural beings themselves, but supposedly gained their powers by selling their souls to Satan. There can be little doubt that most of Shakespeare’s audience would have believed in witches, and for the purpose of the play, at least, Shakespeare also accepted their reality.

They dance around the cauldron and add in the poisoned entrails, chanting: “double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”(Shakespeare, 1996). Macbeth enters and insists that they answer to his questions. The witches call upon the apparition’s: “come, high or low; Thyself and office deftly show!”(Shakespeare, 1996) The three apparitions all have different forewarnings for him, the first being that he must “Beware Macduff”, the is that “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” and the last warning is that he hasn’t to fear because “Macbeth shall never vanquished until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill” (Shakespeare, 1996), All these being impossible in the eyes of Macbeth.