The Witches

• The play begins with the witches. This sets a supernatural theme from the start and puts the audiences (who hated and feared witchcraft) on edge. The witches are immediately shown to be evil characters
• Weird sisters

  The witches are also called the 'weird sisters'. This has roots in classical mythology: the three 'wyrd' sisters were the fates, who knew men's destinies
• Significance of the number three

  • The witches often speak or work in threes. 
  • In Greek and Roman mythology, witches who talked about fates (the wyrd sisters) were in a group of three. In Norse mythology, there were also a group of three women who made predictions about the future.
  • In Macbeth, the witches seem to be in a group of three, and speak in threes, to strengthen their power.
• Masters

  The spirits that the witches conjure (make appear by magic) are 'their masters'. This shows that supernatural beings or creatures control them
• Graymalkin and Paddock

  • The witches talk about 'Graymalkin' and 'Paddock'(1,1).
  • These are a cat and a toad. People believed that witches had animal helpers to help them do their wicked deeds.
  • Shakespeare relates to these characters to show the audience that they are wicked creatures.
• Cannot be controlled

  • When the witches speak with Macbeth and Banquo, they only give them a little information.
  • Macbeth orders them to stay, but they disappear: 'Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more.' (1,3) 
  • This shows that he cannot control the witches' actions (or his own fate)
• What are the witches also called?

  ‘Weird sisters’
• Trochaic tetrameter

  • These lines are written in trochaic tetrameter – ‘double, double toil and trouble’. 
  • Shakespeare usually writes in iambic pentameter, so this highlights the witches as unusual.
• What meter does Shakespeare use for the following chant? 'Double, double toil and trouble,Fire burn and cauldron bubble'

  Trochaic tetrameter