the supernat

Question 1

A desolate place: thunder and lightning. Enter three witches’

Answer 1

The opening setting establishes an eerie atmosphere which immediately highlights the ominous (dangerous) presence of the witches and makes the audience uncomfortable.
* The thunder and lightning reflects a disturbance in nature. The pathetic fallacy warns the audience that a troubled time is coming.
* Structurally, Shakespeare opens the play with the ‘three witches’, emphasising their vital role.
Context: The Jacobean audience believed that disruption in nature (the macrocosm) reflected the human world (microcosm); Shakespeare uses the disturbance in nature to symbolise the potential disruption in the world of men. This would have created a sense of unease, compounded by the presence of the witches. The Jacobean audience firmly believed in their existence and malevolent (evil) power; King James 1 was so convinced that he wrote his own book, Daemonologie, on the subject. There is nothing comical or childish about these witches and Shakespeare’s audience would have been chilled by their sinister presence.

Question 1

Fair is foul and foul is fair’ the witches

Answer 1

The witches create a sense of confusion, showing us that things are not always as they seem.
* The use of paradox here highlights the power of the witches who will give Macbeth ‘fair’ prophecies yet these will end up with ‘foul’ consequences. The repetition of the ‘f’ sounds emphasises a sense of forceful power and the monosyllabic words enhance the sense of the chanting of a spell.
* Shakespeare establishes an atmosphere of malevolent (evil) power right at the beginning, establishing a world where nothing is as it seems and is therefore dangerous. We remember this spell when we meet Macbeth who says ‘so fair and foul a day’, immediately linking him with the forces of evil.

Question 2

‘Out, damned spot’ Lady Macbeth

Answer 2

As her mind disintegrates into madness, Lady Macbeth sees visions of blood.
* These visions could be sent by the evil spirits she once turned to in order to torment her and lead her to suicide.
* An alternative reading is that the visions could be hallucinations from a troubled mind.
Context: A superstitious Jacobean might well think the visions came from the supernatural while a modern audience would be more inclined to believe the psychological interpretation.

Question 3

‘juggling fiends’ - Macbeth

Answer 3

Macbeth condemns the witches when Macduff reveals that he was born via Caesarean birth.
* The adjective ‘juggling’ shows that he finally understands that the witches have been playing with him.
Context: This is Macbeth’s moment of anagnorisis, which comes from the tradition of Greek theatre and is the moment when a character makes a critical discovery. Here, Macbeth realises that his faith in the witches has been misplaced.