Introduction to the Witches : Act I Flashcards
(11 cards)
who are the first characters we are introduced to in the play?
the witches
the witches’ introduction is coupled with…
pathetic fallacy - enrobed with ‘thunder and lightning’ which makes the atmosphere volatile and ominous
how does shakespeare open the play?
in media res
in media res
it is in the midst of the plot - as the witches’ conversation runs to a close - ‘when shall we three meet again?’
effect of in media res
- we witness the close of the witches’ conversation
- establishes a sense of mystery and secrecy
‘fair is foul and foul is fair’
- paradoxical phrase
- foreshadows the overarching theme of appearances vs reality
- frictive ‘f’ sound - menacing
- shakespeare’s confounding example of epanados to set up an oxymoron which conveys the ambiguity of their prophecies
language - how do the witches speak?
- in trochaic tetrameter - distinct from iambic pentameter that noble characters speak throughout the play which gives their speech an eerie song-like quality
- unnatural manner of speech and coupled with rhyming couplets makes it sinister - like a dark nursery rhyme or spell
what does banquo refer to the witches as?
‘instruments of darkness’ - suggestive of their evil musicality and perhaps shows how their words are almost hypnotic for macbeth
how does banquo describe the witches in their first encounter in act 1 scene 3?
- he perceives their overt evil and dehumanises them in his description - ‘look not like th’inhabitants o’th’earth’
the witches’ physiognomy
- exposes them as inhumane and evil
- banquo is portrayed as perceptive as it was believed he was an ancestor of James I
- ‘look not like th’inhabitants o’th’earth’
- they have ‘beards’ - throughout the text MASCULINITY IS SYNONYMOUS WITH POWER
- this description imbues them with a threatening dominance
witches’ essay introductory sentence
- the play begins in media res within a meeting of the witches which immediately sets a tone of unease as it immerses the audience within the supernatural
- for shakespeare’s contemporaries, this would elicit a fearful sense of intrigue and set the play into notion