Some Questions in Macbeth
Drama
Macbeth, Assi 1
Is Lady Macbeth the fourth witch in the play?
So many educators and debaters of the English literature contributed in an online debate under this type of question whether Lady Macbeth should be considered the fourth witch. Some of them agreed that she is the fourth witch and others didn't. Each party has its own reasons.
For the team who agreed that Lady Macbeth is the fourth witch, here are their reasons: 1. Actually Lady Macbeth's character is changed from a normal human to the fourth witch starting from (Act 1 Scene 5). In this scene, Lady Macbeth while setting in a chair in her room, she receives a letter from her husband telling her about the Weird Sisters' predictions and the new titles he receives and might receive in the future. Here, Lady Macbeth after reading the letter, she starts to plan for the murder of Duncan, the king. for that, she asks some help from other supernatural characters, the witches, that are able to supply her with evil and courage "Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here;." the word "unsex me" clarifies that she wants the witches, the source of evil, to replace her feminine traits of love, fear, compassion and remorse with hatred, courage, and cruelty that she can use for her own purpose, to be the Queen. Some readers also think that she, by uttering these words wants to say "Make me like a witch because witches themselves are androgynous". The evidence is in (Act 1 Scene 3), "You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so", said by Banquo. In these lines, Banquo is not sure about the witches' gender for that they have both male and female characters. So for Lady Macbeth to become an androgynous witch and to achieve her plan, she has to remove her womanly virtues and replace them with manly virtues but still have woman appearance. 2. These bad traits that Lady Macbeth asks to have are the same traits that witches known by the Elizabethan
Macbeth, Assi 1
Is Lady Macbeth the fourth witch in the play?
So many educators and debaters of the English literature contributed in an online debate under this type of question whether Lady Macbeth should be considered the fourth witch. Some of them agreed that she is the fourth witch and others didn't. Each party has its own reasons.
For the team who agreed that Lady Macbeth is the fourth witch, here are their reasons: 1. Actually Lady Macbeth's character is changed from a normal human to the fourth witch starting from (Act 1 Scene 5). In this scene, Lady Macbeth while setting in a chair in her room, she receives a letter from her husband telling her about the Weird Sisters' predictions and the new titles he receives and might receive in the future. Here, Lady Macbeth after reading the letter, she starts to plan for the murder of Duncan, the king. for that, she asks some help from other supernatural characters, the witches, that are able to supply her with evil and courage "Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here;." the word "unsex me" clarifies that she wants the witches, the source of evil, to replace her feminine traits of love, fear, compassion and remorse with hatred, courage, and cruelty that she can use for her own purpose, to be the Queen. Some readers also think that she, by uttering these words wants to say "Make me like a witch because witches themselves are androgynous". The evidence is in (Act 1 Scene 3), "You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so", said by Banquo. In these lines, Banquo is not sure about the witches' gender for that they have both male and female characters. So for Lady Macbeth to become an androgynous witch and to achieve her plan, she has to remove her womanly virtues and replace them with manly virtues but still have woman appearance. 2. These bad traits that Lady Macbeth asks to have are the same traits that witches known by the Elizabethan