The Witches of Macbeth

The three witches set the evil and somber mood that continues throughout all of Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. They appear in both the first and third acts and setup the prophecy of Macbeth becoming Thane of Cawdor, and then the King; however, this can only happen if Macbeth kills King Duncan. The first scene sets up the entire mood of the play, the witches are introduced here adding a superstitious feel to the play. Then …showed first 75 words of 414 total…

…showed last 75 words of 414 total…scene three leading to the downfall of Macbeth. The witches aren’t the only women leading to the downfall of Macbeth though; Macbeth’s wife leads him into the murder of the King allowing Macbeth to become king himself. The witches have the appearance of innocent helpers in the play, however, without them Macbeth would have never had the ambition to become King, and without his wife he would have never acted on those ambitions.