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What is the significance of the three witches in Macbeth In this essay I am seeking to answer the question What is the significance of the three witches in Macbeth In order to answer this I will look at the following things what I believe Shakespeare intended the witches to represent what the witches aim to achieve throughout the play and what they do ultimately achieve and its ramifications by the end of Macbeth First of all who and what are the witches Clearly they are not your friendly neighbourhood types overplayed somewhat with the rather excessive pathetic fallacy Some Shakespeare scholars have speculated that the three witches on Macbeth are intended to represent the three Fates of ancient mythology However as the latter are goddesses with powers far greater than the three hags of Shakespeares tale and the connection I believe is at best dim Interestingly enough three seems to be a recurrent figure in Macbeth In Act I Scene3 one of the weird sisters invokes magical powers Thrice to thrice and thrice to mine And thrice again to make up nine Act1 Scene3 Again at the start of Act IV the first witch projects the time of Macbeths second encounter with the weird sisters by noting Thrice the brindled cat hath mewd Act4 Scene1 There are several other instances in the play in which the number three resonates with the incantations of the witches as for example in the three murderers of Banquo or the hailing of Macbeth by the witches Whether this is meant to echo the three hammer blows of fate or the three baths a day that was customary at the time I dont know Some doubts about the nature of the witches in Macbeth have been aroused by the fact that they are called the Weird Sisters a phrase that Shakespeare is believed to have borrowed from Holinsheds Chronicles
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