Witches In Macbeth

Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare, the main character of this play is Macbeth, a captain in the army of Scotland. Macbeth rises to higher power through others betraying Scotland. Macbeth soon becomes king and through his tyranny, sends the country into chaos. Throughout the play, the three witches are always in Macbeth’s head which is the root of his terrible actions. Without the witches interference with Macbeth, Macbeth would have never become a traitor and a murderer. As the witches continued to appear in the story, the sanity of the main characters deteriorated because of previous influence which reveals how the witches are the main antagonists of the play. The witches are portrayed throughout the story as dark figures.

The reader can tell that the setting is , somewhat, dark due to Macbeth saying “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” (1.3.39). During this conversation the witches give Macbeth a prophecy “ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane Of Glamis/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor/ All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.51-53). However, Macbeth does not take the prediction seriously because he is under the impression that Thane of Cawdor still lives. After the witches vanish Ross and Angus enter and pronounce Macbeth as the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth contemplates the witches prophecy and in his aside he says “If good, why do I yield to the suggestion that whose horrid image doth unfix my hair.” (1.3.147-148). Although Macbeth wants to believe this as a good thing Macbeth is horrified because if what the witches say is true, he will have to kill King Duncan. The witches’ prophecy is already starting to have an effect on Macbeth’s state of mind. In the next scene King Duncan announces to Macbeth that he will be visiting Macbeth’s home. Macbeth sends a letter to to his wife speaking of the witches and his intentions of killing King