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Choose one principal character in the Shakespeare play you have studied compare the presentation of your chosen character in the play with the presentation of the same character in an adaptation of the play . Use examples from both the play and adaptation in your response. The Character I have chosen are the Witches . The witches have a big effect in the play, not only are they evil, but this is emphasized by the hate against witches and witchcraft in Elizabethan times.
In the book the witches are first portrayed as scary and dangerous because of the surroundings thunder and lightning on a moor is an evil image: we associate thunder and lightning with scary and dangerous things, also the moor is a very lonely place. One of the witches asks the other witches “when shall we three meet again, In thunder, lightnig or in rain” By the witch asking this it makes the reader think why would they want to meet in dangerous weather, maybe they witches like the scary weather.
The Witches language is also very evil and powerful. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair; hover through the fog and filthy air” This quote tells me that the Witches have a hatred for anything good, and their love for things good. Shakespeare could have used internal rhyme to emphasise the evilness. When Macbeth meets the witches at first they greet him as “Thee thane of Cawdor” and even more as “That shalt be king” This shows that the witches are not normal human creatures because they could be suggesting that they can see into the future.
In Polanski’s movie the witches are first seen on the beach burying a hand, a rope and a dagger these items could be representing Macbeth’s future. The hand could represent the witches forcing Macbeths hand. A rope because the Thane of Cawdor was hanged. Finally the dagger because Macbeth stabs Banquo and king Duncan. Macbeth also see’s Banquos ghost carrying a dagger. Also in the movie the witches are portrayed as ugly and are dressed poorly, this could mean that they don’t care about they’re appearance. Overall the witches might not be all evil because they never lied to Macbeth, they just gave half truths.