Macbeth: Supernatural Influences

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that the captain’s wife would not give the witch a chestnut. Another hag is bragging about a thumb she has acquired “Here I have a pilot’s thumb”(I,iii,29). These are the first actions that are observed of the witches and the menacing force that is at work.
When the witches encounter Macbeth and Banquo for the first time, they make three predictions for Macbeth which cause him great suffering ,and he develops a conscious that plagues him throughout the entire play. The predictions that they make are that he will be “Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King hereafter”(I,iii,51). Being inquisitive, Banquo also asks about his future, and the hags hail Banquo as “lesser than Macbeth, and greater, not as happy, yet much happier”, and they conclude by telling him that “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”(I,iii,70). As the witches vanish, Ross and Angus appear and announce that Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor. Banquo realizes that the witches, who represent the ...

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