Why Are The Witches Important In Macbeth

I chose to focus on the three witches because they are the driving force of Macbeth's actions throughout the play. The first act when the witches and Macbeth have their first encounter consists of the witches stating the prophecy in which Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis as well as the Thane of Cawdor. The first witch says, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!”(1.3.49) and the second witch, proceeds with “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!”(1.3.50). After hearing this, it prompts Macbeth to follow the prophecy by killing Duncan, the current Thane of Cawdor in order to become the new Thane. This is a big change for Macbeth because he’s insecure and isn’t usually the type for murder, but after killing Duncan, his personality

By having his mind open, it shows that anything the witches and apparitions told him, he took into thought and translated them into actions. I included the crown on his head to show Macbeth’s hunger for power and kingship. The apparitions are shown floating into his open head because each of their words were in the back of Macbeth’s mind when he was fighting Macduff. The armoured head was warning Macbeth about Macduff, the bloody child and the crowned child holding a tree assured Macbeth that no one born from a woman would defeat him and no one will defeat him until the forest moves. The witches are painted at the bottom controlling the apparitions because the were the ones who summoned them and they also drove some of Macbeth's decision making by telling him the prophecy of becoming the Thane of Cawdor which led to Macbeth killing Duncan to fulfil the prophecy. Finally, the background is a gradient from light to dark showing how Macbeth’s personality changed from nervous and insecure to cruel and confident after he started killing. This is rooted from the witches telling Macbeth that he will be the Thane of Cawdor which led him to kill Duncan, become power hungry, and kill anyone who is a threat to his