The Role of the Witches in Macbeth  When Shakespeare wrote his play, Macbeth in 1606 a large majority of people were interested in witchcraft. This is why Shakespeare made the witches and the witches’ prophecies play a major part in the storyline of the play. In the time of Macbeth witches were not thought to be supernatural beings themselves, but supposedly gained their powers by selling their souls to Satan. There can be little doubt that most of Shakespeare’s audience would have believed in witches, and for the purpose of the play, at least, Shakespeare also accepted their reality. The three witches in the tragedy Macbeth are introduced at the beginning of the play and the brief opening few scenes give an immediate impression of mystery, horror and uncertainty. This is a sign of things to come as witchcraft is used as one of the main themes of the play. The witches create an atmosphere of evil and disorder. In the opening scene the weather is thunder and lightning which is a mirror image of the way the witches are perceived. When you think of thunder and lightning you think of evil and destruction, this is exactly the way witches are represented in this play. They are evil and cause destruction in Macbeth’s life. Banquo says in act 1 scene 3 line 124: "The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray's In deepest consequence." He thinks and says bad things of the witches. He calls them instruments of darkness and the devil. He believes that these prophecies will only bring harm even before anything begins to happen. He sees beyond the witches and can see that they are evil where as Macbeth is taken in by the witches and this ‘blindness’ is what causes his downhill spiral o... ...e is responsible for his own destiny. This is an essential theme in this tragedy. Macbeth chooses to gamble with his soul and when he does this it is only him who chooses to lose it. He is responsible for anything he does and must take total accountability for his actions. Macbeth is the one who made the final decision to carry out his actions. He made these final decisions and continued with the killings to cover that of King Duncan. However where as some facts show that the results were all of his own doing, in act 4 he returns to the witches voluntarily to find out his fate in order to see what actions he should take. This suggests that the witches did have a great influence on his actions. Work Cited Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999.
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1/9/2020 0 Comments A Concise History of Latin America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 wordsA Concise History of Latin America - Essay Example The term Latin America was first used during the 19th century as a way of reaching a compromise. The Latin America region consisted of all the countries that were colonized by the Spanish administrators and authorities; the only exception of these large parts is Brazil because it was colonized by Portugal. The term came into force when almost all the regions that lie south of North America started using Spanish or Portuguese as their official languages. The settlement of Spanish administrators was preceded by the voyages of Columbus who discovered the new land as part exploration and conquest. His made the Spanish monarch at the time to struggle in an effort to seize its newfound opportunities. By 1500, the Spanish had explored the entire region that spans the Caribbean shore. After the 14th century, the speed of the Spanish conquest, expansion and consolidation was fast considering the vastness of the region. By the year 1516 all, the islands of the Caribbean were under Spanish administration, therefore, acting as the launchpad for further expansion in the region (Rosenthal 78). Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Latin American democracies, flourished, economies grew, and republics were established. This paper focuses on the political, social and economic transformations that were characterized in Latin America during the 19th century. The paper seeks to highlight the formation of republics that ended the imperial rule of monarchies across the region (Holloway 89).The early years of the 19th century witnessed a period of radical transformations on the Spanish dominated territory of Latin America. Latin America was characterized by monarchies that collapsed as republics started being formed. The regimes that were in power became disregarded or dismembered as colonial Latin America split into numerous parts. This split was followed by revolutions that established new politics and [political territories.
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