October 08, 2022

Macbeth Act I, scene 3 - Concerning witches

13 minutes

Much thanks to Neil Oliver for his recent youtube video on witches and the hunt for witches. This discussion is about the mania that swept through England in the 15th, 16th, and 17th century. How does collective madness occur? How does Shakespeare mollify that madness? Could Shakespeare be suggesting that our own actions and choices, not witchcraft or fate, determine our lives?

As Banquo says to Macbeth;

oftentimes, to win us to our harm,

The instruments of darkness tell us truths,

Win us with honest trifles, to betray's

In deepest consequence.

or as Cassius says to Brutus in "Julius Caesar"

Men at some time are masters of their fates:

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,

But in ourselves

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