A study on effects of Witches’ incantations in the play Macbeth

William Shakespeares Macbeth is an outstanding play. Macbeth， the main character in the play， is portrayed carefully， and is given many ordinary human characteristics. This is one of the reasons that Macbeth is such a wonderful play. On the other hand， the minor characters in the play such as the witches have made the play more vivid and fascinating. The following parts mainly move round the effect of witches incantations brings to the play.

First， the incantations made by witches in Macbeth， not only enhances Macbeths ambition， but also appeals to the readers sympathy， and increases the dramatic effect of the play as a whole. Throughout the play， the witches are always playing little word game with Macbeth， by not telling him the other half of the prophecy. Although Macbeth is both physically and consciously strong， the witches play him as a toy in their hand. The evil sisters have led to the complete corruption of Macbeth. From the first time when Macbeth meets the three witches， the three sisters tell Macbeth that， “All hail Macbeth， hail to thee， Thane of Glamis. All hail Macbeth， hail to thee，Thane of Cawdor. All hail Macbeth， which shalt be king there after.”Under the direction of witches， Macbeth practices the prophecies later one by one， with the result of falling into the abyss of evil. The weird sisters play this word game with Macbeth again later in the play. For instance， as the third apparition says to Macbeth that， “Macbeth shall never vanquishd be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” In such way， the readers feel pathos for Macbeth， because his fate manipulated by three witches.

Most importantly，the supernatural used in the play increases the dramatic effect of the play and supports the theme appearance vs.reality. The witches first appear to be helpful to Macbeth by giving him the prophecies. And later on in the play， the witches tell Macbeth about what he needs to fear and what he needs not to fear. Both times， the witches appear to be friendly， and sincere. But the reality is that the witches are kidding around with Macbeth. The audiences are watching poor Macbeth being deceived by the witches. From this word game that the witches play with Macbeth， it is clear that in our society many things which sound awesome are really just a piece of junk. That is why the witches are significant in presenting this theme in the play. Meanwhile， the fulfillment of the first three prophecies indicates that Macbeths victory is predictable in the latter part of the play. But Macbeths unexpected failure turns the play to its climax and creates the astonishing dramatic effect.

To conclude， Macbeth created by some supernatural figures is indeed a great work.

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【作者簡介】孫靖茹（1992-），女，漢族，陜西漢中人，海南大學，碩士，學生，研究方向：英語語言文學。