King James and Witches
Witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth and Their Importance

HOME

Young King James I
King James' Rise to Power
Interesting Facts and Tidbits About King James I
The Begginngs of Witches
The Punishment of Witches
Witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth and Their Importance
A Good Witch Or A Bad Witch?
Timeline of King James and Shakespeare's Works
King James' Disgust for Witches
Bibliography
Credits

While only haveing a smart part of the play to themselves, the witches actually do count.  The fact is that the witches might be the most important charcters after Macbeth ad Lady Macbeth.

The witches in Macbeth are very important in the plot and develop many aspects of the play. The witches also add a sense of evil and of the supernatural. The fact that there are three witches is also very important. In a time where Paganism was feared (three was a magical number in Paganism), the number three was seen as evil. It was also a magical number because of the holy trinity. The witches also serve to develop our picture of Macbeth. The prophecies give Macbeth a false sense of security, so therefore they somewhat doom him to failure and death. They mock him heavily and make him look pathetic in the readers eyes. It shows how the witches have power over Macbeth and how Macbeth is a weak king. The witches, when they trick him and tempt him, show that Macbeths strength is only physical and that he has mental, emotional and moral weaknesses. These weaknesses alter his ability to be a great monarch. For example, when Lenox tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England, he damns himself further by plotting the murder of Macduffs family. This would not have been so if the witches didnt play any part in the story. The witches tell Macbeth that he will not be hurt by anyone of woman born, therefore Macbeth mistakenly develops no fear of Macduff. These tricks by the witches alter the plot and show how important the witches are in the play.

Although Macbeth takes the action that lead to his downfall, he perhaps would not have done this if the witches had not told him that he would be king. The witches might be as responsible for Macbeth's downfall as he is. Immediately after hearing the witchs prophecy that he will be king, Macbeth thinks that he must kill the current king to become king himself. When Macbeth meets again with the witches, they tell him through apparitions to beware the Thane of Fife." The direct effect of that is that Macbeth sends murders to Macduff's castle, who slaughter both Lady Macduff and her son. The witches are just as responsible for this murder, as much as Macbeth is because once again, the witches put ideas in his head.

Scary!
Macbeth today...

Cool Pictures I have found!
From Act 1 Scene Four the witches begin to tell the future to Macbeth.

 
 

Evil Bitc---i mean witches!
Three witches to cause triple the trouble.

Ladies, Arshdeep would like to inform you that if anyone would like to meet him he will be available for work between the hours 11pm and 3am.  Contact Arshdeep by e-mail for more details.