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the witches - Coggle Diagram
the witches
character in context
appealing to james i
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shakespeare had the motive of appealing to james i so he would want to financially support the theatre and ensure patronage
shakespeare had previously been reliant on patronage from elizabeth i, in protection of puritans trying to ban the theatre
could be why there are many religious references - to prove the theatre is not sinful and can spread and reinforce messages of the bible
regicide
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witches direct influence upon macbeth is demonstrated through link between macbeth and l.ms lack of sleep and the proclamation that "sleep shall neither night nor day, hang upon his penthouse lid"
could be the witches preventing his sleep a sit will cause macbeth to deteriorate as a result of this curse
bible
bible forms a great deal of references made in macbeth, as the witches subvert the holiness of christianity
audience perceives witches as agents of the devil, stated in king james I'd daemonolgie which theorised the witches carried out the work of the devil (regicide is the work of the devil)
they act as part of the fall of man, in causing him to succumb to temptation - like the serpent in the garden of eden
they form an anti trinity/trinity of evil - opposes biblical trinity. father, son and holy spirit comprise "one god in three divine persons". the witches comprise the devil in three infernal persons??
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"fair and foul"
oxymoronic language reflects macbeths confusion, and the audience who would be similarly ambivalent towards the actual meaning of the prophecies, as they too cannot understand the oxymorons
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macbeth, who was previously regarded as fair becomes foul himself
introduced at the very beginning, giving emphasis to their importance
shakespeares use of parallelism in the paradoxical phrase "fair is foul and foul is fair", foreshadowing the rest of the play
shakespeare refers to them as the weird sisters - which bears connotations of wired, meaning fate in old english and therefore associating their speech with prophecy
the witches could represent the three fates from classical mythology as the three fates represent the past, present and future
this reflects the predictions they give macbeth as they claim to "spin the threads of life" - shakespeare suggests they are in control of events as they'd decide on the fates and destinies of men, or perhaps they lead them to their fate
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supernatural
structure of witches speech emphasises their supernatural characteristics - rhythmic and chant like nature of their speech implies their words have extraordinary power.
shakespeare, through linguistic techniques, uses this as symbolic of the supernatural - evident as lady macbeth and macbeth speak in rhyming couplets in times where they are having supernatural thoughts/being controlled by the supernatural
for example, macbeth says "stars hide my fires / let not light see my black and deep desires" and "fairest show / false face must hide what false heart doth know"
trochaic terameter
shakespeare uses trochaic terameter when the witches speak - the audience will notice this shift in meter between the characters and place importance on what is being said
causes the witches to stand out as different and other worldly as it is a different and unnatural way of speech
rhyming couplets
shakespeare writes the witches speech in rhyming couplets to give them a spell like sound - sets up to debate whether the witches are really controlling events or leading macbeth to his own demise
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"valour of my tongue"
their use of language to tempt and control bears connotations of satanic imagery and the snake in the garden of eden
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serpent used untrustworthy language to tempt even by twisting what god said and claiming he didn't want them to become like him