| Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details that people who haven't experienced the source material yet might wish to avoid. |
| “ | Fair is foul, and foul is fair: hover through the fog and filthy air. |
” |
— The Three Witches.
| ||
| The Witches | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Naming | |||
| Others | The Weird Sisters The Wayward Sisters | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Species | Witches | ||
| Gender | Female | ||
| Place of origin | Scotland | ||
| Affiliation | Hecate | ||
| Current status | Active | ||
| Biology | |||
| Body type | Humanoid | ||
| Abilities | Magic Teleportation Shapeshifting Clairvoyance | ||
| Sentience | Sentient | ||
| Sapience | Sapient | ||
| Behind the scenes | |||
| Universe | The Tragedy of Macbeth | ||
| Created by | William Shakespeare | ||
| Performed by | Various | ||
The Witches, a.k.a. the Weird Sisters or the Wayward Sisters, are a trio of Scottish witches who delivered prophecies to General Macbeth and Banquo; revealing that the former would be king and the latter's descendants would form a lineage of kings. Both prophecies turned out to be correct, although the fact that Macbeth's plans to become king were heavily influenced by them might mean that the prophecies were, at least in part, self-fulfilling.
Overview[]
The three witches are first seen gathered in the Scottish woods, at a desert location assailed by thunder and lightnings. Their appearance is grotesque, as they're described with "chappy fingers", "skinny lips" and beards, and dressed in wild attires. Their conversation before the arrival of Macbeth and Banquo makes clear that they can not only predict the future, but also assume the form of animals, and seem to take delight in cursing people and sinking ships. After delivering their prophecies to Macbeth and Banquo, the witches ignore the former's questions and, refusing to offer explanations, vanish right into the air, much to the surprise of the two men.
When they reappear later, in Acts III and IV, the Witches are associated with and take orders from the goddess Hecate. They're seen in a cave brewing ingredients in cauldrons, including such things as "eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog", to conjure apparitions of disembodied heads that deliver further predictions to Macbeth. The first apparition tells him to beware of Macduff; the second predicts that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth"; and the third claims that Macbeth will only be defeated when the Great Birnam Wood itself marches to the Dunsinane hill against him. Finally, the images of the future Scottish kings appear, all recognizable as Banquo's descendants, much to Macbeth's confusion.
As it turns out, all of these predictions are once again correct: Macbeth will be killed by Macduff, who was not "of woman born" since he'd been "untimely ripped" from his mother's womb as an infant. The moving Birman woods represent the army assembled by Malcolm, as the warriors will be wearing tree bark and foliage as camouflage during their march. After Malcolm's reign, Banquo's descendants will inherit the throne.
Appearances[]
- The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare (1606)
Notes[]
- The inclusion of these characters in the play was inspired by the accounts of the life of the historical King Macbeth, as presented in Raphael Holinshed's The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587). The designation "Weird Sisters" is used by Holinshed, although he doesn't identify them as being witches, and claims that the expression refers to the "goddesses of destiny", but that these three supernatural women might also have been nymphs, or fairies, for all that is known.