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Summary English GCSE Grade 9 Essay - Witches in Macbeth
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Grade 9 AQA English Literature GCSE essay on ‘Consider the importance of the witches and their effect on Macbeth and Banquo’.
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‘Consider the importance of the witches and their effect on Macbeth andBanquo.’
The witches in Macbeth are very important as they drive Macbeth, who drives the
plot. They also affect other people such as Macbeth and Banquo. You can tell they
are important as it’s the weird sisters who start the whole play in Act 1 Scene 1. This
sets the mysterious, eerie tone and atmosphere; as well as linking to a major theme
in this play, the supernatural and witchcraft. Pathetic fallacy is associated with them
as ‘thunder, lightning, or in rain’ sets the tone. With the line ‘There to meet with
Macbeth’, forebodes what will happen in the future, as the play evolves in a circular
structure. Also reflected in the witch’s prophecy telling of events in the future, which
is backed up by the other thanes. Another technique Shakespeare uses to enhance
this idea of teh supernatural and magic is the rule of three, as three is seen as a
magic number. This is also seen in the number of witches – triplets.
All of them speak in diabolic language, using trochaic tetrameter, which is a four beat
chanting rhythm and separates them from mortals. The rhythm is the opposite of
iambic pentameter and the stressed syllable is on fair and foul in ‘fair is foul and foul
is fair’. It has its own internal rhythm which is quite jarring. Here is an example of
antithesis where opposite ideas are put against each other to express good versus
evil. Repetition and alliteration are also shown here, as well as a couplet where ‘Fair
is foul and foul is fair’ and ‘Hover through the fog and filthy air’. The lines are short
and rhythmic throughout. This is partly because they speak in half truth and riddles
to confuse and trick people.
The background of the witches is also important of the time in patriarchal society,
which helps to understand the context of the play. Shakespeare used several
references to James’ voyage in the play and near-death experience in 1589. The
play confirmed and introduced new elements to the stereotyped view of a witch, who
used her spells, familiars and evilness. Macbeth created fear for those watching and
that witchcraft was not just a satanic organisation, but a conspiracy against the state.
Macbeth is affected most by the witch’s prophecy. It pushes Macbeth’s ambition over
the edge, which sparks the protagonist's fatal flaw. They convince him to murder
Duncan to become the next King of Scotland and overthrow the natural course of
succession. He is already Thane of Glamis and becomes Thane of Cawdor but his
desire takes over. Even though the witches never make him do anything, the
half-truths told are left vague to lure him into his darkest desires and to bring out his
evil. What he is told is what he wants to believe and he is just using the prophecy as
an excuse to become king.
In Act 1 scene 3 the witches create an uneasy atmosphere right from the outlook and
this is not unnoticed by Macbeth and Banquo ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen’.
This is using antithesis to create a conflict of interests in how good and bad have
become mixed up. The witches are talked about with descriptive language and
adjectives so the reader can see them from the character's perspective. They seem
otherworldly which already makes them seem suspicious but intriguing from ‘You
should be women but your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so’. As they use
an anaphora and start to repeat ‘All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis’ /
‘Thane of Cawdor’, pace increases as the characters' confusion rises.
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