Witches

Question 1

“fillet of a fenny snake” or “eye of newt”

Answer 1

all items thought
poisonous or unnatural by Elizabethans. Unsurprisingly, the link between Macbeth
being poisonous and unnatural is not a hard one to make.

Question 2

Macbeth being “rapt withal” immediately, and wanting the “imperfect speakers” to
“tell me more”

Answer 2

suggests he is already at the mercy of the witches, and by
extension the supernatural. It unlocks his hamartia - ambition - which Lady
Macbeth exploits before Macbeth himself embraces.

Question 3

Witches at the start of the play

Answer 3

• immediately surrounds the play with the
  supernatural and sets up how it will dictate events of the play.
• Their constant
  rhythm and rhyme in their language demonstrates their power.
• The fact they start the play and not Macbeth hints at the importance of the supernatural on the events of the play alongside the claustrophobic and unsettling atmosphere it creates

Question 4

“Fair is foul and foul is fair”

Answer 4

• sets up the blurring of boundaries throughout the play; of certainty and uncertainty, of order and chaos. -Macbeth echoing this line in A1S3 and other phrases
  from the witches establishes how he is at the mercy of supernatural forces, whether he knows it or not.

Question 5

Story of the sailor A1S3

Answer 5

• Their aim for him not to sleep “neither night nor day” and live as “a man forbid” as they have control over the “wind” (something Elizabethans believed witches could do)
  foreshadows what happens to Macbeth. - Before even seeing Macbeth,
  Shakespeare sets up how his fate lies with the witches and the supernatural,
  not with his own choices.

Question 6

Witches appearance and how they are viewed (Macbeth vs Banquo)

Answer 6

• the witches are described as being “wither’d” and “wild in their attire” with
  “beards” with Banquo not being able to
  understand them, by possessing masculine qualities despite being perceived as women highlights their danger.
• Banquo is horrified at their appearance whilst Macbeth is transfixed by their
  words. The supernatural, therefore, separates the good (Banquo) and the evil (Macbeth)

Question 7

Macbeth at mercy of the witches

Answer 7

• Macbeth being “rapt withal” immediately, and wanting the “imperfect speakers” to “tell me more” suggests he is already at the mercy of the witches & supernatural.
• It unlocks his hamartia - ambition which Lady Macbeth exploits before Macbeth himself embraces

Question 8

Hecate and Macbeth

Answer 8

A3S5 is not written by Shakespeare.
- The use of Hecate explicitly links Macbeth’s fate to the supernatural. She calls him a “wayward son” who “loves for his own ends” and his selfishness and not for the witches.
- By Hecate spending the evening on a “dismal and fatal end” for Macbeth, it sets up how the supernatural will trick him into believing the “strength” of the visions he sees later and draw out his arrogance.
- It seems Macbeth can make enemies within Scotland and survive, but
making enemies of the supernatural is a fight he cannot win

Question 9

Macbeths attitude towards witches (need vs arrogance)

Answer 9

• Whereas before he was almost
  pleading, A4S1 he is aggressive in his demands (he wants the “secret, black,
  amd midnight hags” to “answer me / To what I ask you”).
• He believes he is
  superior to them as he is King, but this arrogance, even desperation is what the
  witches exploit, blinding him with vague language and half truths.

Question 10

The witches visions

Answer 10

• The visions the witches show Macbeth all have strong symbolism, their language allows Macbeth to feel secure when he is not.
• “armed head” can represent Macbeth’s bloody fall from power or
  Macbeth himself and his evil actions.
• “bloody child” can symbolise what he has lost (his future / dynasty). It can also represent Macduff as he is
  “untimely ripped” from his “mother’s womb”
• “child crowned with a tree in his hand” can symbolise Malcolm, alongside Birnam Wood moving to Dunsinane