The Witches

The Witches - Supernatural

The play begins with the witches. This sets a supernatural theme from the start and puts the audiences (who hated and feared witchcraft) on edge. The witches are immediately shown to be evil characters.

'Weird sisters'

The witches are also called the 'weird sisters'. This has roots in classical mythology: the three 'wyrd' sisters were the fates, who knew men's destinies.

Meeting Macbeth

The audience see them planning to meet Macbeth. This suggests that nothing that happens is accidental.

Significance of the number three

The witches often speak or work in threes.
Throughout history, the number three has frequently been seen as a magical number.
In Greek and Roman mythology, witches who talked about fates (the wyrd sisters) were in a group of three. In Norse mythology, there were also a group of three women who made predictions about the future.
The Rule of Three is a pagan belief – it states that whatever energy witches put into the world will be returned to them three times.
In Macbeth, the witches seem to be in a group of three, and speak in threes, to strengthen their power.

Cannot be controlled

When the witches speak with Macbeth and Banquo, they only give them a little information.
Macbeth orders them to stay, but they disappear: 'Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more.' (1,3)
This shows that he cannot control the witches' actions (or his own fate).

Masters

The spirits that the witches conjure (make appear by magic) are 'their masters'. This shows that supernatural beings or creatures control them.

Graymalkin and Paddock

The witches talk about 'Graymalkin' and 'Paddock' (1,1).
These are a cat and a toad. People believed that witches had animal helpers to help them do their wicked deeds.
Shakespeare relates to these characters to show the audience that they are wicked creatures.

The Witches - Evil

The witches symbolise the evil of witchcraft in the following ways:

Relevance of the sieve

The idea that one of the witches can sail in a sieve ('in a sieve I’ll thither sail' (1,3)) is related to the accusations made against the Berwick witches.
These were a group of people accused of trying to harm King James I when he returned with his new wife across the North Sea.
Shakespeare makes it very clear that these women embody (express) all the evil-doing associated with witches at the time.

Inhumane looking

When Macbeth and Banquo first see the witches, Banquo doesn’t know what they are: 'What are these, / So withered and so wild in their attire, / That look not like th' inhabitants o' th earth, / And yet are on' t?' (1,3).
The witches don't look human. Their clothing is 'withered' and 'wild'. This suggests that they don't live like normal members of society.

Ugly appearance

Banquo struggles to identify whether they are women or not: 'you should be women / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so' (1,3).
Their unconventional (not normal), even ugly appearance is perhaps to remind the audience of how unattractive witchcraft was. Women who practised it started to look inhumane.
This shows Shakespeare conforming to the ideas of Jacobean England, where the supernatural was feared and seen as unnatural. Those who practised it were viewed as evil – the witches’ ugly appearance may echo this apparent inner-evil.

Disrupt the natural order

The witches chant the line 'Fair is foul and foul is fair' (1,1). This shows that the natural order of things is already being disrupted and this will continue throughout the play.
The natural order is disrupted because of the witches.
Nature becomes harsher (lots of bad weather, like thunder and lightning), the God-appointed king is murdered, friendships are severed, children are killed before their parents (Macduff’s son is slaughtered in front of his mother), and Lady Macbeth takes her own life before her time.

Cause harm

At the start of Act 1, Scene 3, the witches are talking about what they have been doing.
The Second Witch says things like 'killing swine' - this suggests that the witch has been harming animals.
The first witch says a story about how she plans to torture a sailor whose wife refused to share her chestnuts: 'Bit in a sieve I'll thither sail, / And like a rat without a tail, / I'll do, I'll do and I'll do' (1,3).
Immediately, the witches are shown to be ruthless and evil – they harm things just because they can, or because they cannot get their own way.

The Witches - Casting a Spell

In Act 4, Scene 1, the witches meet to cast a spell. This scene is full of exotic and revolting ingredients, including parts of people's bodies and bits of unusual animals. The charm that they chant is one of the most famous parts of the play: 'Double, double toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble.'

Double meanings

These lines show that the witches’ speeches (and their intentions) are full of double meanings – they are not what they appear, and they cannot be trusted.

Trochaic tetrameter

These lines are written in trochaic tetrameter (four sets of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable – ‘double, double toil and trouble’).
- Shakespeare usually writes in iambic pentameter, so this highlights the witches as unusual.
This structure shows that the witches speak in a different way to everyone else and that they are doing something incredibly important, as they stress these harsh sounds and repeat the lines themselves.
This moment is almost a threat to Macbeth – they are chanting and aiming their spell at him, and it is a powerful spell.

1Literary & Cultural Context

1.1Context

1.1.1Tragedy

1.1.2The Supernatural & Gender

1.1.3Politics & Monarchy

1.1.4End of Topic Test - Context

2Plot Summary

2.1Act 1

2.1.1Scenes 1 & 2

2.1.2Scene 3

2.1.3Scenes 4-5

2.1.4Scenes 6-7

2.1.5End of Topic Test - Act 1

2.2Acts 2-4

2.2.1Act 2

2.2.2Act 3

2.2.3Act 4

2.3Act 5

2.3.1Scenes 1-3

2.3.2Scenes 4-9

2.3.3End of Topic Test - Acts 2-5

3Characters

3.1Macbeth

3.1.1Hero vs Villain

3.1.2Ambition & Fate

3.1.3Relationship

3.1.4Unstable

3.1.5End of Topic Test - Macbeth

3.2Lady Macbeth

3.2.1Masculine & Ruthless

3.2.2Manipulative & Disturbed

3.3Other Characters

3.3.1Banquo

3.3.2The Witches

3.3.3Exam-Style Questions - The Witches

3.3.4King Duncan

3.3.5Macduff

3.3.6End of Topic Test - Lady Macbeth & Banquo

3.3.7End of Topic Test - Witches, Duncan & Macduff

3.4Grade 9 - Key Characters

3.4.1Grade 9 - Lady Macbeth Questions

4Themes

4.1Themes

4.1.1Power & Ambition

4.1.2Power & Ambition HyperLearning

4.1.3Violence

4.1.4The Supernatural

4.1.5Masculinity

4.1.6Armour, Kingship & The Natural Order

4.1.7Appearances & Deception

4.1.8Madness & Blood

4.1.9Women, Children & Sleep

4.1.10End of Topic Test - Themes

4.1.11End of Topic Test - Themes 2

4.2Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.1Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.2Extract Analysis

5Writer's Techniques

5.1Structure, Meter & Other Literary Techniques

5.1.1Structure, Meter & Dramatic Irony

5.1.2Pathetic Fallacy & Symbolism

5.1.3End of Topic Test - Writer's Techniques

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