[Characters: The witches/the supernatural] 👻

Question 1

‘When shall we three meet again? In thunder lightning, or in rain?’ ⛈️

Answer 1

• I= ‘we three’- the witches are all women, which is significant in a patriarchal society, as perhaps women have to turn to malevolent means [such as the supernatural], to gain any form of power- relates to Lady Macbeth- as she had to resort to evil, to gain power [since she could only be come queen, by aiding Macbeth in committing regicide, of the king].
• This is because a patriarchal society, rejects/refuses to give any form of power to women, power is solely given to men- why?-

Question 2

What context relates to this quote: When shall we three meet again? In thunder lightning, or in rain?’ ⛈️

Answer 2

• C= [In Jacobean England, women were still held responsible for the fall from the Garden of Eden- due to this belief, the roles of men and women were clearly defined in society: men were higher in a social hierarchy, than women.]

Question 3

‘When shall we three meet again? In thunder lightning, or in rain?’ ⛈️

Answer 3

• there is a stress on the first syllable of the word- trochaic meter is disturbing for a Jacobean audience because usually Shakespeare’s play are in iambic pentameter; by instead using a trochaic [trochaic pentameter] meter, Shakespeare constructs the witches’ as menacing/threatening characters.

Question 4

What context relates to this quote: When shall we three meet again? In thunder lightning, or in rain?’ ⛈️

Answer 4

• C= Perhaps Shakespeare tries to flatter James I [his patron] since he had an interest in witchcraft and the supernatural- he wrote a book on witchcraft, called ‘Daemonlogie’-so by including the theme of the supernatural, does he do this so James I was support Shakespeare’s company?

Question 5

‘All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!’ 👑

Answer 5

• L= verb- ‘shalt’- the witches are certain/definite that Macbeth will become king.

I= ; If they/the witches are certain/convinced Macbeth will become king, Macbeth doesn’t need to commit regicide to become king, yet he is in conflict of whether he should simply wait for the witches’ predictions to come true, or whether he should take it upon himself, to make their predictions true by murdering King Duncan.

Question 6

‘All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!’ 👑

Answer 6

• The witches’ prophecy/words suggest that if Macbeth decides to wait, he can still become king. But his fatal flaw: his hamartia [ambition] is what drives him/causes him to murder Duncan, therefore the witches’ can’t be blamed for influencing Macbeth to murder Duncan.

Question 7

‘All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!’ 👑

Answer 7

• ‘hail’- Additionally, a hail is a salute/a praise; it’s also a phrase/can be used as a synonym for the weather. From this perspective, this connects/entwines him/Macbeth with the witches.
• Since it links to the pathetic fallacy and semantic field of the weather that the witches use [creating a unpredictable atmosphere, foreshadowing disruption, to the natural order.] and highlights their wicked nature.

Question 8

‘All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!’ 👑

Answer 8

• C= Moreover, It’s interesting to note that the phrase ‘All hail’ is contextually important, as it reflects the Roman greeting, normally related to Caesar.
• Caesar seized power when it wasn’t his right, and then became a tyrant/dictator, leading to his demise. By Shakespeare purposely adding this reference/nod to Caesar it foreshadows/suggests like him, Macbeth will become a tyrant/dictator, leading to his demise and death.

Question 9

‘Beware Macduff’ ‘None of woman born shall harm Macbeth’ ‘Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dusinane Hill shall come against him’ 🚺

Answer 9

• L= iambic pentameter in ‘Beware Macduff’ and Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dusinane Hill shall come against him’; there is a trochaic stress/meter on ‘None of woman born shall harm Macbeth’- there is a faint hint that they are lying to him, since they are diverging from iambic pentameter, likewise to how they are diverging from the truth- they initiate doubt by mentioning a woman.
• L= semantic field of kingship and a hierarchy throughout this quote. For example, in ‘Great’ and ‘high’- reflects how Macbeth thinks he is high in the social hierarchy- he believes he is of high status.
• Additionally, great reflects qualities of a king Aswell. By deliberately doing this, it highlights Macbeth’s ambition- this is a token of his ‘honour’ and superiority; the witches use Macbeth’s token mockingly/ironically, in order to lull him into a false sense of security, that he is invincible.
• The witches also refer to ‘come’ instead of ‘march’- If Shakespeare uses a semantic field of armed forces/the military by not using the word come, it would highlight to Macbeth that perhaps it’s linked to the military, he would be able to figure out what Malcolm, Macduff and their army are planning. By using deceptive language, the witches are able fool him as they twist the truth.
• ; it’s interesting to note, that the word ‘vanquished’ is less commonly used compared to ‘defeat’ or ‘defeated’. The witches intensionally hint again that he will be brutally ‘vanquished’, by not one person, but a horde of military personnel, an army.
• The witches are manipulating Macbeth, they suggest he will be defeated by an army, then juxtapose it with connotations of soundness: Macbeth won’t be vanquished until ‘Great Birnam Wood to high Dusinane Hill shall come’ against him.

Question 9

‘Beware Macduff’ ‘None of woman born shall harm Macbeth’ ‘Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dusinane Hill shall come against him’ 🚺

Answer 9

• L= iambic pentameter in ‘Beware Macduff’ and Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dusinane Hill shall come against him’; there is a trochaic stress/meter