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This is a place for us to discuss openly and honestly the literature we are reading. Here we are all just communicating our thoughts on what we are reading. There are no right and wrong answers. However, you are expected to be polite, mature, and on topic.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Would a witch by any other name be as wicked?

Notice that the Weird Sisters are referred to as "witches" only in the stage directions. No one sitting in the audience seeing the play will hear the word witch even once. Rather, in the text Banquo and Macbeth call them "Weird Sisters." They, in fact, even refer to themselves by such a title. The word "weird" is derived from the Old English "wyrd," meaning fate or destiny. Thus far in the play, how have the predictions of the Weird Sisters influenced or controlled Macbeth's fate/destiny? Do you believe that their influence is the greatest influence upon him? If so, why? If not, what or who influences Macbeth most? (The deadline to comment on this blog post is midnight, Wednesday, October 12, 2011.)

12 comments:

Abi J. said...

The weird sisters are the greatest influence upon Macbeth. Two of their predictions have already came true and one is about to. Some people would argue that Lady Macbeth is the greatest influence, but if they put thought into it, they would realize that his wife is also being influenced by the weird sisters' prediction. Therefore the predictions have influenced Macbeth to change his living caring personality into a power hungry man.

Joseph J said...

The weird sisters are the greatest influence upon Macbeth. They told him two things that would come to pass, already knowing that it would, thereby gaining his attention. These predictions and the way in which they appeared caused Macbeth to write of the incident to his wife, causing her actions upon the storyline. Macbeth would neither have concieved the idea of himself becoming king, nor have had the resolve to do so, without the witches' influence.

Dillon said...

The weird sisters are a big influence on Macbeth, but they are not the greatest. Macbeth may have been thinking of going after the crown before his wife started spinning her web, but he would not have acted upon the thoughts. His wife is the major influence on his decission to kill the King. She is twisting his arm, so to speak, about keeping his word, and basically calling him a coward.

TiffanyT said...

The Weird Sisters have greatly influenced the fate of Macbeth. Their predictions have caused Macbeth to obsess over the idea of a marvelous future. This influences every move Macbeth makes and has such a grip on him that it will ultimately destroy him.

Mallory P said...

The greatest influence upon Macbeth comes from the Weird Sisters. Because the Weird Sisters plant the idea into Macbeth's mind that he could become King, they persuade him to plot to kill King Duncan. Therefore Macbeth will commit the ultimate sin of killing a king and become the tragic hero.

Melinda P said...

The weird sisters are definitely the greatest influence upon Macbeth. The weird sisters predicted that Macbeth would become king. When they told Macbeth this, Macbeth believes it. Their predictions contribute to Macbeth's decision to kill Duncan in order to become king. Therefore, the weird sisters greatly influence Macbeth's desitny.

Jordan said...

The weird sisters are in fact the greatest influence on Macbeth. If they had not told him about his future, his wife, the second largest influence in his life, would not be relevant at all because she wants the weird sisters prediction to come true.

Aaron Bermond said...

The three sisters have influenced Macbeth by placing the knowledge that he would become Thane of Cawdor into his mind, and the possibility of him becoming king. Naturally as the first one became fulfilled, the rest of the prophecy seemed likely to happen, and they certainly have the greatest hold over Macbeth. The sisters planted the idea that the crown could be his, and he published this idea to his wife, so she herself is influencing Macbeth even though she is being indirectly influenced by the sisters. So, the sisters are the root of the long chain of evil influence.

Mikey said...

Lady Macbeth is the greatest influence on Macbeth. Although The Weird Sisters made many predictions towards his future, they are not making him act the way he does. Macbeth's conscience started leading him away from making a bad choice, but Lady Macbeth's lust for the crown leads her to persuading him to keep his word. The sisters' prediction became true, but even if they would not have told Macbeth what was going to happen Lady Macbeth would still have the want of being queen thus bringing her cynical thoughts about killing the king. Also, the sisters never said anything about Macbeth killing the king or anything about the king being murdered. The Weird Sisters were not the greatest influence on Macbeth.

Heather H said...

The weird sisters have the greatest influence on the way Macbeth thinks after meeting them. After two of their predictions came true about him he decides that he must be rid of the people in his way of being on the throne. However they left their influence upon him to his wife, Lady Macbeth. Their prediciton sparked a fire in Macbeth that he did not even know he posessed.

Samantha said...

The Weird Sister's predictions by far have the most significant influence on Macbeth's fate. Because the Weird Sister's prediction that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor came true, Macbeth's obsession to become the King greatly increased. This obesession then lead him to commit the conspiracy of killing King Duncan.

karceneaux said...

Thus far, the weird sisters have greatly influenced Macbeth and his decisions. If it weren't for the weird sisters, he would never had thoughts of killing his own king. Although they have influenced him in so many ways, I believe Lady Macbeth has influenced him the most because she pushed him to follow through with the sinful deed. If it wasn't for her, he would have successfully talked himself out of murdering King Duncan.