Essay Sample on The Witches in Macbeth

In Macbeth the witches are presented as chaotic and dark/scary creatures. “The battlefield: Thunder and lightning” is a quote that appears at the beginning of the play and it is used to describe the setting of the scene. This setting shows how dark, mysterious and chaotic these so-called creatures are since thunder and lightning are supposed to scare the reader and give them a curiosity of what they actually are, plus the use of a battlefield describes the environment that they are comfortable in since they speak of a confidential plan in a open space where soldiers were killed and there still may be fighting, so this shows how chaotic they actually are. Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to compare the witches feelings or attributes with the weather as chaotic and scary. We can compare this quote to the moment when witch 2 said “upon the heath” which was said to mark the next place they meet just like the first quote where chaos is presented in the setting, this quote shows the place that the witches have chosen relates them to wild beasts since they said to meet in the wilderness which is home to a wide range of wild creatures and this shows how they adore chaos. When King James I was in rule he had rode a ship that was hit by a storm (just like the setting the witches entered in) and that storm was blamed on witchcraft, due to this the king saw all witchcraft chaotic and seized it, this context shows that witches were saw as chaotic creatures just like in the play. I personally believe that witches were chaotic just like how they were explained in the play due to the fact that they had sold their souls to the devil which alone is enough evidence to how chaotic they were in real life. 

The witches in Macbeth were also presented as supernatural creatures. “ Fair is foul and foul is fair, Hover through the fog and filthy air” this quote which was said by the witches in Act 1 Scene 1. Shakespeare uses paradoxical language to maybe prophesize about something in the future which might happen and this gives us a hint about their powers and that they are supernatural. This sentence sounds like they have rhyming couplets which could indicate to us that they are maybe chanting a spell, this hints out the obvious that they are supernatural creatures. We can compare this quote to when Macbeth said “So foul and fair” which could mean that the spell that the witches had been chanting before may have affected Macbeth in some way since he starts to talk in paradoxical language just like the witches.  A quote that said “witches vanish” shows that they have the power to vanish and disappear whenever they please, maybe using their powers. Witches during the renaissance era would sell their souls for powers and medicine just like in the play.