Read the following extract from Act 1, Scene 3 and then answer the question that follows.
At this point in the play Macbeth and Banquo have just spoken with the Witches. Macbeth
has been told he will be King.
MACBETH(aside) Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme. (to ROSS and ANGUS) I thank you, gentlemen.
(aside) This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor.
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings.
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man
That function is smothered in surmise,
And nothing is but what is not.
Starting with this extract, write about how Shakespeare presents witchcraft and the
supernatural.
Write about:
How Shakespeare presents Macbeth’s reaction to the witches
How Shakespeare presents witchcraft and the supernatural in the play as a whole.
In this scene, Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s reaction to the witches to explore the profound
impact that the witches begin to have on him and his conscience. Firstly, Shakespeare
presents witchcraft and the supernatural in ‘Macbeth’ as inherently unnerving. It is
something to be feared and not embraced. He also presents the witches prophecies as
unduly convincing through Macbeth’s reaction to the witches, tricking even a once noble
Thane in Macbeth to commit multiple atrocities. Finally, Shakespeare presents witchcraft
and the supernatural as falling just show of an all-powerful force- it is Macbeth’s own actions
which secure the success of the witches’ prophecies.
Shakespeare presents witchcraft and the supernatural as inherently unnerving. It is
something to be feared and not embraced. Macbeth himself recognises the effect just
looking at the witches alone had on him, noting their “horrid image doth unfix my hair.” The
personification exemplifies just how chilling the witches’ presence is; they are so wayward
that their image upsets Macbeth’s physiology from afar. Macbeth employs more
personification, again noting that the witches “make my seated heart knock at my ribs.”
Macbeth seems to be making a comparison of seeing the witches/hearing their prophecy
and a pure heart that has been imprisoned by the ribs in his body. It is clear that Macbeth
experienced discomfort with the who the messenge4rs of the prophecy were, but he seems
to go even further in this quote by indicating that he felt trapped by their presence and their
prophecy. It is perhaps unsurprising for the contemporary audience that Macbeth has such a
At this point in the play Macbeth and Banquo have just spoken with the Witches. Macbeth
has been told he will be King.
MACBETH(aside) Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme. (to ROSS and ANGUS) I thank you, gentlemen.
(aside) This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor.
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings.
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man
That function is smothered in surmise,
And nothing is but what is not.
Starting with this extract, write about how Shakespeare presents witchcraft and the
supernatural.
Write about:
How Shakespeare presents Macbeth’s reaction to the witches
How Shakespeare presents witchcraft and the supernatural in the play as a whole.
In this scene, Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s reaction to the witches to explore the profound
impact that the witches begin to have on him and his conscience. Firstly, Shakespeare
presents witchcraft and the supernatural in ‘Macbeth’ as inherently unnerving. It is
something to be feared and not embraced. He also presents the witches prophecies as
unduly convincing through Macbeth’s reaction to the witches, tricking even a once noble
Thane in Macbeth to commit multiple atrocities. Finally, Shakespeare presents witchcraft
and the supernatural as falling just show of an all-powerful force- it is Macbeth’s own actions
which secure the success of the witches’ prophecies.
Shakespeare presents witchcraft and the supernatural as inherently unnerving. It is
something to be feared and not embraced. Macbeth himself recognises the effect just
looking at the witches alone had on him, noting their “horrid image doth unfix my hair.” The
personification exemplifies just how chilling the witches’ presence is; they are so wayward
that their image upsets Macbeth’s physiology from afar. Macbeth employs more
personification, again noting that the witches “make my seated heart knock at my ribs.”
Macbeth seems to be making a comparison of seeing the witches/hearing their prophecy
and a pure heart that has been imprisoned by the ribs in his body. It is clear that Macbeth
experienced discomfort with the who the messenge4rs of the prophecy were, but he seems
to go even further in this quote by indicating that he felt trapped by their presence and their
prophecy. It is perhaps unsurprising for the contemporary audience that Macbeth has such a
