Shakespeare's witches are prophets They make predictions of Macbeth’s rise as king. They decide the individual fates of the ancient Greeks Clotho – “the spinner” Lachesis – “drawer of lots” Atropos – “inevitable”Ĥ The Three Old Weavers Their original purpose was to determine the fate of individuals at birth Typically envisaged as three old women they spun man’s fate like thread Clotho spun the destinies on her spindle Lachesis measured the length of the thread on her rod Atropos cut the thread with her shears The Three Fates The Weird Sisters in Macbeth It is argued that the Sisters reflect the historical and religious changes occuring in English society as paganism is repressed and Christian elite ideas demonize all forms of magical practice and supernatural entities.Īlexandra Jeler, Faculty of Letters, Babeș‐Bolyai University, Cluj‐Napoca, Romania.Presentation on theme: 'The Weird Sisters in Macbeth'- Presentation transcript:

In the second part of the paper, the figure of the witch is analyzed both off stage, in popular belief and the Protestant faith, and on stage, as the Weird Sisters are moulded from fair fairies into foul witches, so as to reflect the interests of the early modern English audience. Their ancient origins are examined, starting from the Norns and the Anglo‐Saxon force of fate, wyrd, then proceeding into Greek and Roman mythology and beliefs, coming to the conclusion that the Weird Sisters are part of a destiny complex in which they play the role of agents in delivering Macbeth’s fate. The present paper offers a historical‐religious analysis of Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters and their multifaceted and equivocal nature. Shakespeare, Macbeth, Weird Sisters, witch, pagan, mythology, fairy, fate Abstract

Faculty of Letters, Babeș‐Bolyai University, Cluj‐Napoca, Romania.

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