Supernatural/Witches quotes

quotes on the theme of supernatural and the character of the witches, themes of: Influencing Macbeths, Supernatural abusing nature, Witches are threatening/powerful

thunder (supernatural abusing nature)

in thunder, lightning or in rain? 1.1 Witches get ready to meet Macbeth

• this use of pathetic fallacy creates an unsettling and emotional tone at the start of the play

• these types of weather are usually associated with being sent from a higher power, like God sending lightning when angry. Perhaps this helps present the Witches and the Supernatural as controlling and manipulative of the weather like higher powers

• this aligns with Jacobean society views that witches could control the weather

fog (supernatural abusing nature)

through the fog and filthy air 1.1 Witches get ready to meet Macbeth

• adjective ‘filthy’ connotes corruption, leaves an impression that the witches will bring corruption

• alliteration off ‘f’ creates a slight aggressive tone, this could reflect the sinister side of the witches

• fog connotes mystery and perhaps presents how the witches manipulate the truth

nature seems … (supernatural abusing nature)

nature seems dead 2.1 Macbeth prepares to kill Duncan

• This might be a reference to nature being hidden and quiet in the night or it might be a reference to Macbeth’s human nature being dead, as he goes on to commit regicide which is beyond and against his nature as a human and supposed hero

• The imagery of nature being dead helps create an unnatural tone, perhaps this is an early sign of how the world starts to shift into chaos after Macbeth breaks the great chain of being

wicked … abuse… (supernatural abusing nature)

wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep 2.1 Macbeth prepares to kill Duncan

• oxymoron ‘wicked dreams’ could present nightmares and how they torture people during ‘sleep’

• adjective ‘curtained’ helps portray Duncan as innocent, clueless and defenceless to Macbeth. This emphasizes how Macbeth is now abusing his power and strength onto the innocent unlike before where he used his strength to protect the innocent and his country

• adjective ‘wicked’ connotes witches and evil

gall (influencing/tempting Macbeths)

take my milk for gall 1.5 Lady Macbeth prepares for regicide

• In Macbeth milk is often used to symbolise innocence and purity, it’s also associated with women and their nourishing nature that comes with breastfeeding

• the changing of milk to gall could be used to show how Lady Macbeth has turned to the side of the supernatural, she rejects her natural feminine qualities that make her ‘weak’ and embraces the power of the supernatural who give her the strength to convince Macbeth into committing the sins of regicide

• gall connotes bitterness, dark and evil and overall greatly contrasts to mik

dagger (influencing/tempting Macbeths)

a dagger of the mind 2.1 Macbeth sees a bloody dagger

• some may see Macbeth’s hallucination of the bloody dagger as the witches motivating and pushing Macbeth into completing their prophecies, instead of directly killing King Duncan, they use their manipulative powers to get Macbeth to do it for them

• the reference to Macbeth’s ‘mind’ could imply how the witches have been messing with Macbeth’s mind or it could be that Macbeth’s mind is currently full of distress and overwhelment

scorpions (influencing/tempting Macbeths)

full of scorpions is my mind 3.2 Macbeth plans to kill Banquo

• this metaphor contrasts to when Macbeth was full of the ‘milk of human kindness’ 1.5

• scorpions connote poison, deadly and pain

• the imagery of his mind being full could portray how his mind is now plagued with malevolence and thoughts of murder

• this imagery of corruption could help present Macbeth’s paranoia as infinite, small stings

• Contrast between milk → scorpions enhances the idea of the natural order being ruined from regicide and now taken over by chaos and the supernatural

night (influencing/tempting Macbeths)

come seeling night 3.2 Macbeth plans to kill Banquo

• echoes ‘come thick night’ from Lady Macbeth 1.5

• Macbeth is embracing the darkness of the supernatural and rejecting the goodness of God and his light after being damned to hell for regicide

• Macbeth wants the night to come so he can kill Banquo and commit more murder

fair is foul (Witches are powerful)

fair is foul and foul is fair 1.1 Witches getting ready to meet Macbeth

• this oxymoron early foreshadows the theme of good and evil in the play, Macbeth falls from his noble good graces as ‘Brave Macbeth’ down to the ‘Dead Butcher’. This all happened because of the manipulative powers of the witches. This subtle foreshadowing of the events could present the witches as omniscient and cunning

• This is a paradoxical phrase

beards (Witches are powerful)

should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are 1.3 Banquo and Macbeth meet the witches

• this example of equivocation creates ambiguity towards the witches and reinforces their illogical nature. They work beyond the natural laws of physics and biology

• beards connote wisdom and so present the witches as wise

instruments (Witches are powerful)

instruments of darkness 1.3 Banquo and Macbeth meet the witches

• could reflect the Jacobean England view that witches were agents of the devil, helping snatch people from the goodness of God and dragging them to hell