“By the pricking of my thumbs,/ Something wicked this way comes.(4.1.44-45)” The three Weird Sisters from the play Macbeth were incarnations of evil. In the time Shakespeare lived, there was heavy interest in the supernatural. The supernatural was the way the people of the Elizabethan era explained every bad thing that happened in their lives. The sole purpose of anything not normal was to cause chaos and to bring harm. For this reason, Shakespeare may have used The Sisters for numerous aims. By using them in the opening scene with lots of darkness and thunder to draw in the viewers, it sets the stage for the events that will transpire throughout the duration of the play. They provide the introduction of the age-old theme of light vs dark and good vs evil. They are also used to great effect to dupe Macbeth, the seductive lure of their dark power proving too much for the would-be king.
The Weird Sisters are a fundamental part of the play, …show more content…
They were so entwined in the unfolding events that it begs the question, were the events of the play always set to transpire or set in motion only by the witches’ interference? The fact that they are never seen apart and that they give prophetic statements may be a reference to the three Fates. The Fates enjoyed toying with the happenings in the mortal world and relished in the chaos that would ensue because of their manipulations. They gained power from their ability to create imbalance in the world. For example, they are seen bragging to each other about their influences on the human world around them. This scene also suggests that The Sisters have the mindset of children. They are spiteful and retaliatory, cursing a sailor out at sea because his wife refused to let The Sisters partake in her bounty. “But in a sieve I'll thither sail,/ And, like a rat without a tail,/ I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do.
The Weird Sisters are a fundamental part of the play, …show more content…
They were so entwined in the unfolding events that it begs the question, were the events of the play always set to transpire or set in motion only by the witches’ interference? The fact that they are never seen apart and that they give prophetic statements may be a reference to the three Fates. The Fates enjoyed toying with the happenings in the mortal world and relished in the chaos that would ensue because of their manipulations. They gained power from their ability to create imbalance in the world. For example, they are seen bragging to each other about their influences on the human world around them. This scene also suggests that The Sisters have the mindset of children. They are spiteful and retaliatory, cursing a sailor out at sea because his wife refused to let The Sisters partake in her bounty. “But in a sieve I'll thither sail,/ And, like a rat without a tail,/ I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do.