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Witches (стр. 2 из 2)

A falcon towering in her pride of place

Was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d.

This suggests that the supernatural is to blame; and the witches still influence the plot even when they are not directly involved. Another reference to the owl, or witch, is in II.II when Lady Macbeth says “I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry” to her husband, after he has just killed king Duncan. This represents the witches’ influence on Macbeth and his actions. Lady Macduff also makes reference to the owl in IV.II:

He (Macduff) loves us not;

He wants the natural touch; for the poor wren,

The most diminutive of birds, will fight,

Her young ones in her nest, against the owl.

The owl here is represented as evil (it wants to kill the wren) and this links with the witch, who is also evil. These examples show that the witches have a very strong influence on the play even when they are not actually involved through speech.

The witches continue to make their magic charm for Macbeth, and then they chant “Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble”. They say this three times, raising again the idea of the magic connotations of the number three; and it also links with the continued use of ‘double’. The use of ‘double’ is part of the idea represented by ‘fair and foul’; that things aren’t always what they seem, they can have double meaning. An example of this is said by King Duncan at Macbeth’s Castle, I.VI. “Fair and noble hostess…” King Duncan thinks that Lady Macbeth is ‘fair and noble’ while all the time she is plotting his murder. In I.II, King Duncan says of Macbeth “O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!”. This connects with the ‘fair is foul’ theme because Macbeth is said to be worthy and he is also murderous, in fact he is the very person who kills the King.

The witches in IV.I show three apparitions to Macbeth, and after one of them calls his name three times, he says “Had I three ears I’d hear thee.” These references to ‘three’ add to the supernatural theme. It is also noticed that Macbeth is directly involved in three murders. King Duncan, Banquo and Lady Macduff and her family and all killed by either Macbeth himself or a murderer sent by him. The number three supports the supernatural theme all through the play and is particularly strong in the last scene involving the witches.

By the time Macbeth meets with the witches for the last time, he is dependent on them. Banquo’s fear is proved true in this scene. He told Macbeth to be weary of trusting the witches after little promises were proven, but Macbeth’s mind was already full of what the witches had said and was influenced by them throughout the play. The witches’ three predictions came true (another ‘three’ reference) and now Macbeth trusts every word they say. The witches conjure up three apparitions who make three prophecies.

….Beware Macduff,

Beware the Thane of Fife.

…Be bloody, bold, and resolute: laugh to scorn

The power of man, for none of woman born

Shall harm Macbeth.

…Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care

Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are.

Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until

Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill

Shall come against him.

The witches set out to make Macbeth overconfident and they succeed. Macbeth’s only worry was Macduff, but when he heard the apparition about ‘none of woman born/Shall harm Macbeth’ he became cocky and had no worries at all. What Macbeth didn’t know was that “Macduff was from his mother’s womb/Untimely ripp’d.” (V.VI) When the third apparition came true, Macbeth still was not worried because he believed he was safe from Macduff. The witches successfully built up his confidence and when he was finally defeated, his downfall was great because he had lived out the saying “the higher you are, the harder you fall”.

The last scene in which Macbeth meets the witches is the witches’ most purposeful one and they fulfill Hecate’s demand, for Macbeth to fall. It provides intrigue for the audience because the prophecies seem beyond belief. The audience knows they will come true so the question is how.

Skakespeare’s Macbeth is deeply impacted by the appearance of the three witches. They effect the plot, character and themes in the play and their supernatural power is present throughout the play. The witches were what made Macbeth a ‘tragic hero’. They fuelled his ambition until it was so strong he depended on the witches to guide him and ultimately trusted them too much. Shakespeare’s witches are entertaining to the audience but they also link everything in the play together; without them, Macbeth would be a lot less entertaining and unconnected.