Year 11 English “Macbeth” – Essay Structure

“From beginning to end, the witches are the most powerful characters in the
play. They are the catalyst for all of Macbeth’s crimes and for his demise.”
Evaluate the accuracy of this statement with reference to their impact on
Macbeth’s actions.

1. Introduction

Orientation sentences about the play’s plot/significance to culture:

‘Macbeth’ is a play in which three witches prophesise the power-hungry rise of the main
character Macbeth, who seizes the throne in 11th century Scotland. Through his
ascension, Macbeth discards his morals and kills many people to consolidate his power. In
the end the respect of his peers is lost and eventually his crown with it.

Thesis statement answering this question. (What does Shakespeare say exactly about
Power or Gender)

Throughout the play the witches remain the most powerful characters as their prophecies
come true. Forcing Macbeth to spiral deeper into tyranny. Providing they are the catalyst
for all of Macbeth’s crimes and for his demise.

List of main points from the play that answer the question.

The witches demonstrate their power by predicting Macbeth’s destiny in the play and
influencing his selfish actions. For example, they predict Macbeth becoming king. Predict
the dangers represented by Banquo and Macduff and finally predict Macbeth’s downfall

2. Body of Essay

1st Main point

Point sentence introducing first idea that answers question.

Initially, after the scots defeat the Norwegians, the witches prophesise that Macbeth will
become the thane of Cawdor and then king thereafter, They chant to the astounded
lords; “all hail Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be
king hereafter?”

Elaborate on the significance of idea in culture/society.

Medieval society was governed by the principle of the Great Chain of Beijing, whereby
kings were divinely appointed and there was ranking system in the social structure. Any
disruption to this order was a sin against god and his society.

Explain where in the play this idea is found (context).

Macbeth is a first dubious of ‘this strange intelligence’ as delivered by the weird sisters
until he is granted the title, Thane of Cawdor by king Duncan for his courage in the war.
This event convinces Macbeth that ‘this supernatural soliciting’ by the hags could be
actually truthful as the first part of the prophecy comes true.

Explain how a quote from the play supports this idea.

“If ill why hath it given me earnest of success/commencing in a truth?...” “my thought,
whose murderer yet is but fantastical/shakes so my single state of man” (Act 1 Sc3). This
is the point where Macbeth first has the idea to kill Duncan in order to win the crown,
indicating the power of the Witches to influence a mortal in disrupting the Great Chain of
Being. However, Macbeth says that he has to kill Duncan to gain power.

Link explanation back to you thesis statement.

Therefore, the witches are the most powerful entities in the play, as their prophecy to
enrich Macbeth through promotion comes to fruition as he is rewarded by the king and
has thoughts of killing Duncan for more prestige.

2nd Main point

Point sentence introducing second idea that answers the question.

Furthermore, the witches prove their influence by also starting that Banquo’s children will
be kings, and that Macbeth should be wary of Macduff, another powerful lord in the
Scottish court. These prophecies bring Macbeth to a state of paranoia over losing his
power, so he orders their deaths.

Elaborate on the significance of idea in culture/society.

The retention of power by a monarch sometimes entailed putting to death those who
were a threat to that power – Elizabeth the 1st had Mary the 1st executed. Alexander the
Great had his baby half-brother murdered.

Explain where in the play this idea is found (context).

“To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!” (Act 3 Sc1) rages Macbeth as he whines
to Lady Macbeth that the witches have placed a ‘fruitless crown’ on his head after he has
been crowned king of Scotland, after the king’s sons fled and are suspects in their father’s
murder. Consequently, Macbeth has Banquo assassinated but misses out on punishing
Macduff as he flees to England

Explain how a quote from the play supports this idea.

In act 4 scene 1, Macbeth after finding out that Macduff has fled, orders his family
murdered. “the castle of Macduff I will surprise/seize upon fife, give to the edge of the
sword/his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls, that trace him in his line” Macbeth’s
fear of the witches’ prophecy that Macduff will somehow stop his reign, encourages the
tyrant to commit even more evil and malicious executions through Scotland.

Link explanation back to you thesis statement.

Subsequently, the witches’ ability to provoke Macbeth to murder Banquo and Macduff’s
family, indicates their status as the most powerful characters in the play.

3rd Main point

Point sentence introducing third idea that answers the question.

Inevitably, the witches realise their power through contributing to Macbeth’s own
downfall by the play’s end.

Elaborate on the significance of idea in culture/society.

Many tyrants from history had rapid declines in power and lost their authority from being
tyrannical and even homicidal. The roman emperors Nero and Caligula had famous last
famous last moments in power, and even modern dictators like Saddam Hussein and
General Kaddafi continued this trend to fall from grace dramatically.

Explain where in the play this idea is found (context).

When Macbeth visited the witches the second time, he was told that no man born of
woman could harm him, and therefore thought he was invulnerable: “The spirits that
know/All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus:/”Fear not Macbeth: No man
that’s born of woman/Shall ever have power upon thee.” (act 5 Sc3).

Explain how a quote from the play supports this idea.

However, when Malcolm, Macduff and the English army besiege his castle, Macduff
confronts the “hellhound” with an awful truth about his birth; “despair thy charm/and let
the angel whom thou still hast served/tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s
womb/untimely ripped” (Act 5 Sc 8). Macduff explains that he was born by C-section and
this confession is the witches’ key moments of betraying Macbeth, who up until then had
believed that harmful prophecies could never come true. Thus, the witches interrupted
the Great Chain of Being through their duped agent Macbeth, Proving their skill and
power at manipulating events in Scotland for evil.

Link explanation back to you thesis statement.

It is evident that through Macbeth’s rise to the Kingship and eventual downfall, that the
witches’ coercion of the natural order of Scotland makes them all powerful.

3. Conclusion

Summary of the main points in detail.

To summarise, the witches in ‘Macbeth’ are the most powerful characters

because their prophecies directly influence Macbeth to act in an amoral
manner. Their initial prediction that Macbeth would become king galvanised
the Thane of Glamis to assassinate Duncan. Their second prophecy urged
Macbeth to dispose of the threat to his power, encapsulated by Banquo’s
children becoming king and Macduff’s valiant nature. Thirdly, blinded by his
belief that Birnam Wood could not come to Dunsinane, and that no man
born of woman could harm him, Macbeth felt invincible, a false sense of
security that the witches fed him with their foul concoction.

Evaluate how successfully the question has been answered by your

analysis.

Based on the overwhelming evidence determined by this analysis, the

question of the witches’ supreme power to affect the Great Chain of Being in
Scotland is undisputed, characterising the hags as more influential in this
tragedy than any other person.

Concluding sentences about the play’s significance to culture.

The power of supernatural beings to affect the human world is a theme that
continues to insert itself into contemporary culture through texts like ‘Harry
Potter’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘True Blood’. ‘Macbeth’ retains its
validity because human beings love to study the power of the unknown over
the mortal world.