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Emily Moore
Winter
British Literature, Pd. 2
16 December 2015
The Weird Sisters Sabotage
Wicca is a modern based religion where those who practice this faith also exercise ethical
forms of witchcraft; unlike the witches practice in Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Fate can be
interpreted in many different ways, but the most reliable definition is; a predetermined outcome
or consequence. Many readers believe that Macbeth is responsible for his own demise but they
are mistaken, the witches are responsible for Macbeths downfall. The weird sisters are
accountable for Macbeths ruination for the following reasons: they made their prophecies seem
like fate, they planned to target Macbeth, and because they are pure evil.
The witches are liable for Macbeths undoing because they fooled Macbeth by making
their words appear as fate. The witches catch Macbeths attention when they recite All hail,
Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All
hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!(Macbeth 1.3.51-53). The witches start out the play
by praising Macbeth. These predictions are in good favor of Macbeth, thus he wants to believe it.
He wants the witches words to come true so he urges them to tell him more; but, this is just the
beginning of their deceit. At the beginning of the play, Banquo sees through the witches lies
when he says Were such things here as we do speak about?/Or have we eaten on the insane root/
That takes the reason prisoner?(Macbeth 1.3.86-88). Banquo plays the voice of reason in the
whole play and even looks out for Macbeth at first. Banquo does not wish for Macbeth to fall for
the witches tricks by making Macbeth question their credibility. Banquo asks if they are really

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seeing what is in front of them referring to an insane root. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, it is
said that the witches use deceitful words Macbeth interprets as foreordained Fate
(Kalpakgian). Macbeth has good reason to interpret these words as fate because the witches are
so believable. They have a mysterious origin and he has not seen anything like it; he is intrigued
by the witches. The witches make Macbeth a fool by deceiving him and making him perform
actions he would not have done if they had not come along.
The weird sisters are at the helm of Macbeths degradation because they chose to target
him as their prey. The witches give Macbeth an exciting prophecy while they give Banquo a bad
one: Thou shalt get kings, though, thou be none(Macbeth 1.3.67). The witches say that
Macbeth will be king while they say that Banquos sons will be kings rather than him. Instead of
giving Banquo a good prophecy, they decide to give Macbeth a good one. They could have easily
targeted Banquo as easily as they did Macbeth. The witches start the play by laying a curse on
Macbeth: Sleep shall neither night nor day/ Hang upon his penthouse lid;/ He shall live a man
forbid: Weary(Macbeth 1.3.18-22). These witches start the play by targeting Macbeth. They
carry this plan on throughout the story with no reason to why they chose Macbeth. The weird
sisters cause Macbeth great trouble even when they are not around: But where fore could not I
pronounce Amen? (Macbeth 2.2.30). Since the witches got involved in Macbeths life, he has
had trouble. He mostly has trouble when they are around but now he can not even say Amen
and the witches did that to him; no one else. The witches know their actions targeted towards
Macbeth cause him great struggles and that is why they are responsible for his demise.
The witches caused Macbeths downfall because they are simply pure evil. The witches
are good at what they do, which is cause trouble, and that is why their clever temptations
(Kalpakgian) towards Macbeth make them responsible for his death. They had no reason to cause

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Macbeth all of the trouble they did. They did this because they are evil and others pain causes
them joy. One of the most famous lines in the play is Double, double toil and trouble;/ Fire
burn, and cauldron bubble(Macbeth 4.1.10-11). This quote shows the witches pure evilness well
because all they are doing is conjuring up evil spirits and trouble. The witches do this for no
particular reason. Well none the play shows anyway, they love causing trouble. The witches also
believe that Fair is foul, and foul is fair: (Macbeth 1.1.11). The deeper meaning behind this is
that sometimes, to do well, you have to perform deeds that are not moral. This proves wrong in
the play because the witches tricked Macbeth into performing all these horrible murders and it
still did not turn out well for him in the end. Ultimately, the witches are pure evil and that is why
they are the cause of Macbeths downfall.
The witches have many reasons to be blamed for Macbeths downfall such as: they
tricked Macbeth into seeing their lies as truths, they go for Macbeth as prey, and they are just
evil. It is crucial to readers to see that the witches are responsible for the tragic ending of
Macbeth because he is just an innocent man who was sabotaged so severely. Overall, Macbeth
by William Shakespeare is a play about how evil can override the most innocent and pure people.
Readers can also learn that deceit can be a powerful thing and not to believe everything one
hears through Macbeth. If only the witches followed the morality of those who practice the
religion of Wicca today.