Feminist+Reading+of+MacBeth's+Witches



**__History of Witches__** Back in Shakespeare's day, nine million women were put to death due to them being perceived as witches. In the seventeenth century, witchcraft was not tolerated and was considered a betrayal of religion, and therefor created witch hunting which was known as a very respectful job. Usually witchcraft is a form of worshiping the devil. Here are some beliefs on witches.. The four essential points of witchcraft were renunciation of the Catholic faith, devotion of body and soul to evil, offering up unbaptized children to the Devil, and engaging in orgies which included intercourse with the Devil.
 * Pact with the devil
 * Transportation only at night
 * Cannibalism
 * Orgies
 * Secret nocturnal meetings
 * Sacrificial infanticide
 * Etc.

**__Shakespeare's__** __** Strong Willed Women **__ In all of Shakespeare's plays he makes all of the women characters very independent and strong willed. There are the type that don't let a man push them around, the kind that do what they want, when they want. These female characters don't imply that they are perfect, but just physically and mentally strong, and their ability to stand strong no matter what the circumstances are. All off these women show masculine traits. Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth could be perceived as a witch due to standards that were set back in Shakespeare's day. Lady Macbeth tries to have more power than anyone in her family, even her husband Macbeth. Even several of her actions show she's witch-like. She challenges her husbands manhood by being more aggressive than he is and taunting him. When she says Macbeth is "too full o' the milk of human kindness," she is stating that Macbeth is very weak and soft hearted to proceed with murdering Duncan. Another reason why she could be perceive as a witch is because she always calls upon spirits to help her get through her daily battles. She is a very strong willed woman, and manipulates Macbeth to murder Duncan even after he calls off the murdering plot. She makes the statement, " **Come, you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,** **And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full,** **Of direst cruelty!** " which shows that she works with the Weird Sisters to influence Macbeth and suggests that she is at least indirectly allied with them. Lady Macbeth is the real power behind the throne, and is the more dominate spouse. The Three Weird Sisters The three witches in Macbeth are known as the weird sisters by most of the characters in the play. The three witches are very powerful women in the play Macbeth and they tend to show up out of the clear blue in many of the acts. The witches have a strong desire for Macbeth to become king. The witches can be very cold hearted and cruel in some scences. For example, In one of the movies of Macbeth we watched the witches purpously killed a man and then ripped his heart out of his chest for no apparent reason.



__** Macbeth and Feminism **__ Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. People knew Shakesphere as a feminist but some say he just had a great sensativity towards women. Many of Shakespheres female characters are called heroines. A heroine is a women who is equal or greater to a man in intelligence and wit. There has been several episodes throughout Macbeth that showed feminism. Lady Macbeth asked to shed all her femine traits and to made strong like a man, so she could get through all of the mess Macbeth had caused. A feminist view of Macbeth was when the witches said " Fair is foul, Foul is fair " which kind of showed that they strong willed women. __**The Focus on Macbeth **__ The three witches and Lady Macbeth have a very strange relationship towards Macbeth. Throughout the play, It seems like Macbeth likes the attention he gets from the Witches when they told him he would be king. Lady Macbeth got so wrapped up in convincing Macbeth to become king that she got herself involved with the Murder of Duncan. As the play goes on Lady Macbeth starts becoming restless and begins sleep walking and she can't deal with herself anymore. Macbeth faced the same issues but he displayed it differently. He became cold hearted and becoming king started to get the best of him and he would have illusions about the people he killed. tt is highly questionable if Macbeth would have took the murdering as far as he did if the three witches didn't instagate him into becoming king, as well as Lady Macbeth.

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__**Bibliography **__ Coony, Caroline. //Enter Three Witches//. New York: Scholastic Press, 2007. 241-63. Print. Ferrel, David. "Shakespearean Feminism, Desdemona and Lady Macbeth." //Shakespearean Feminism Lady Macbeth//. N.p., 07 Mar 1999. Web. 13 Dec 2011. .  Iagnolia, Susan. //Shakespeare the Feminist?//. __Shakespeare Online__. 20 Aug. 2000. (29 Nov. 2011) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/faq/shakespearefeminist.html >. Mabillard, Amanda. //Macbeth Question and Answer//. N.p., 13 Sep 2011. Web. 13 Dec 2011. . Swisher, Clarice. //Readings on Macbeth//. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. 198-14. Print. <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Thrasher, Thomas. //Understanding Macbeth//. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1968. 115-117. Print.