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How Does Shakespeare Present The Treatment Of Women In Macbeth

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King James VI, king of Scotland, ascended to the throne of England after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. This act united Scotland and England under one rule. While King James was alive, He was interested in the world of witchcraft and wrote a book about the subject called Daemonologie. In Macbeth Shakespeare uses Macbeth and his misunderstanding of the fates as a representation of King James and his misconception of witches and their true nature. Most people thought that Shakespeare’s Macbeth was written as praise and in honor of King James. In all reality, Shakespeare used his play to show people the injustice of innocent women being slaughtered because of the King’s obsession over witches. The character Macbeth is a representation of the corruption of that day. Throughout the play, Macbeth views the witches as the fates, the three goddesses that control each person’s destiny in Greek mythology. In Act …show more content…

Because of King James’ Daemonlogie, most people in the 16th century had a skewed view of witches. Many people misunderstand whether the weird sisters in Macbeth are witches or the fates. Weird sisters refer themselves in the text as witches. In Act I Scene III, the witches are conversing about their encounter with the sailor’s wife, she says, “ 'Aroint thee, witch” (104). Also when casting a spell, in Act IV Scene I. the wicked sisters put in their cauldron a “witches mummy” (1713). The wicked sisters are easily to be identified as witches and their true nature is revealed. Those that deal with witchcraft have given up their claim to either masculinity or femininity. True witches use the duel gender roles to take the fertility of their victims, but only to those who fall for the tricks. True evil is shown in the play Macbeth and Shakespeare wanted the people, especially King James, to understand and recognize an actual witch in hopes of stopping the brutal murders of guiltless

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The witches in the play Macbeth constantly speak in a strange way. They talk in riddles that often have more than one meaning. I think the reason why Macbeth is giving the witches attention to them is because of their outlandish claims, and confusing riddle-like way of speaking. Any person that talks, or physically appears strangely automatically gets more attention than someone who looks ordinary. Since the witches are also strange in appearance, this only makes them stand out from the ordinary.

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Throughout time there has been plenty of famous “rip-offs”, however, I feel Shakespeare does it best with his blatant stealing from Greek mythology and tragedies. Throughout Macbeth, there are plenty of references to Greek mythology from the tragic hero narrative to the outright mention of Hecate. The Witches in Macbeth are no exception. They are displayed as all-knowing characters who work for Hecate herself and bear a strong resemblance to the three Fates or Moirai in Greek mythology. This essay will take a deeper look into the question: Are the Witches and the Moirai one and the same?

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For centuries , witches have been stoned to death and burned alive simply for being able to create magic . The notion of witches have been a taboo subject that most people would try to avoid but William Shakespeare did not make their reputation any better by depicting them as malicious and demonic in his famous play ‘ Macbeth’ which a lot of people tried making movies of . Despite bearing some similarities between the three videos in which the witches were in , the differences are profound . To start with , there are quite some similarities between the witches in the three movies . In George Wright’s , Rupert Goold’s , and Kurzel’s movies , all of the witches seemed to say the same lines , despite them being from different timelines .

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The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is seen as one of Shakespeare 's greatest tragedies. It deals with a man named Macbeth, who is introduced as a brave, strong war hero. He has the respect of the king and his peers. The predictions of three witches that Macbeth will become king begin Macbeth 's descent into his own downfall. The play is set in Scotland, written for King James I.

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Throughout all of macbeth, gender roles are present in all of the halls of Macbeth's castle. It is extraordinary how William Shakespeare has molded and set examples of the male masculinity struggle and to uphold it, while on the other side how women must be treated as fragile birds. Shakespeare uses gender roles ironically to portray the complexity of the characters he has created. With all of human characters, the witches on their own face gender roles in the way of their appearances.

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1884 Words | 8 Pages

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851 Words | 4 Pages

The women in Macbeth are presented by Shakespeare to be powerful and ambitious which was unlike the typical views during Jacobean times. The playwright portrays Lady Macbeth and the witches to be highly influential to male characters in the play, which again contrasts the contemporary views to that time. Their ambition and power are demonstrated through the perversion of nature. This highlights the evil and immoral side, they possess. Shakespeare, however, presented Lady Macbeth and the witches to be manipulative and cunning, rather than violent like Macbeth was during the play.

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