Quick Answer
The witches are presented as supernatural agents of chaos who exploit Macbeth’s ambition rather than create it. Shakespeare uses their prophecies as a test of faith that Macbeth fails and Banquo passes, making the witches a mirror for the moral choices each man faces.
Key aspects of the witches’ portrayal:
- The witches open the play with “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” establishing the moral inversion that defines the tragedy.
- Shakespeare presents them as agents of temptation rather than compulsion, granting Macbeth agency in his own destruction.
- Their ambiguous prophecies exploit Macbeth’s desire to hear what he wants, rather than what is true.
- The witches’ riddling language, notably “none of woman born,” demonstrates how supernatural power works through deception.
- Banquo’s calm response to their prophecies contrasts with Macbeth’s obsession, showing the witches as a test rather than a cause.
Full Free Grade 9 GCSE 3 Witches essay and how to write it.
No Fluff! Just what you need! On this page:
Go through section by section and actually learn how to write a quality GCSE exam essay OR use the content section AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE to jump around to what you need.
Three Witches‘ Character Development
When answering a question about any character, you’ll get top marks if you understand and explain how that character grows and improves as the story progresses.
However, a tragedy like Macbeth is different because the Tragic Hero shifts from being good to being bad. The three witches only hang around for the first few acts- so what’s going on?
How are the Witches Presented in Macbeth?
By being evil troublemakers, the three Witches are used as a plot device to unleash the greed within Macbeth who should’ve chosen Banquo’s path, trusted in fate and God’s plan to provide rather than trying to alter fate himself.
Let’s find out more…
Three Witches’ Character Story Arc.
Your examiner will love it if you analyse how your character transforms as the story progresses.
We can learn valuable things about a character about their change and even lack of change!
The witches don’t change – they start mean and stay mean all the way through. This suggests that evil will always exist in the world and it’s our job to resist it and stay good as some kind of test in life. (We’ll look more into this later).
Your exam essay should have an introduction, conclusion and 3 main paragraphs. Each paragraph will explore either the beginning, middle or end of the character’s transformation (or lack of transformation). Here’s how these characters don’t develop…
The 3 Witches’ Speedy Character Timeline
Every character has a personal storyline (a story arc) that fits within the overall story. To get the highest grades, you must understand how each character functions as a tool of the writer helping them to deliver the overall message.
REVISION TIP! You won’t reach the highest grades if you don’t even know the story!
Try writing the plot points out on flashcards. jumble them up and practice putting them into the proper order so you don’t get mixed up with events in the exam.
3 witches prophecies fully explained
The 3 witches’ prophecies in modern English were…
- Macbeth shall become Thane of Cawdor and then become king.
- No man born of woman can kill Macbeth.
- Macbeth will only die when Birnam Wood comes to his castle.
I’ll explain what these mean below in a minute, But here are the actual quotes and where you can find them in the play…
The 3 witches’ prophecies quotes were…
- “All hail, Macbeth! … thane of Cawdor! …that shalt be king hereafter!” Act 1 Scene 3
- “[to Banquo] Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.” Act 1 Scene 3
- “none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth.” Act 4 Scene 1
- “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him.” Act 4 Scene 1
TIP: You don’t need to memorise these, you just need to know what the prophecies were in normal English so you can talk about them in your exam.
There are other quotations further down this guide that you should learn so you can write the best essays!
Witches’ Prophecy 1
All hail, Macbeth! … thane of Cawdor! …that shalt be king hereafter! Act 1 Scene 3
What this means
- Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor. A thane is a type of Scottish Lord. Cawdor is a place in Scotland. King Duncan has just defeated and executed the old Thane of Cawdor for treason (which is a serious crime against any ruler of a country).
- Macbeth will become King. You’d think this one is obvious but for some reason Macbeth decides to murder King Duncan rather than wait and let fate make him king. It kind of like finding out you’ve won the lottery and then going out and robbing a bank and ending up in jail.
When does this happen? The moment just after the opening battle when the witches meet Macbeth and Banquo and reveal the prophecies.
Witches’ Prophecy 2
[to Banquo] Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. Act 1 Scene 3
What this means
- Banquo’s heirs will become kings (therefore Macbeth’s heirs will not). This is interesting because people with the ambition to be king want to be remembered throughout history.
For Macbeth, this means having a son and grandsons that will continue his name. The idea that Banquo will be a greater name in history drive Macbeth to further murder.
Just being king wasn’t enough for him which links to his impatience that led him to kill King Duncan to create an overall impression that Macbeth’s ambition is out of control.
He will stop at nothing to get what he wants so Banquo is next to die on his hit list.
The main message of Macbeth the play is a warning about the dangers of extreme ambition.
Witches’ Prophecy 3
none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth.” Act 4 Scene 1
What this means
- No man born of woman can kill Macbeth. Wait! What? Sounds like Macbeth is safe then, right? Nope. Macduff (who eventually kills him) wasn’t born in the normal way.
He was cut out of his Mother’s womb by a surgeon because there must have been some medical problem. (This is often known as a ‘Cesarean Section’ or by its nickname C-Section).
It’s a riddle that the witches use to torment Macbeth (they love messing with him for some reason). Macbeth thinks it means he is invincible because he thinks it impossible for any person not be born.
Witches’ Prophecy 4
“Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him.” Act 4 Scene 1
What this means
- Macbeth will only die when Birnam Wood comes to his castle. Yep, you guessed it… it’s another riddle.
Near the end of the play, enemy army forces use branches from the trees of Birnam Wood (a small forest near Macbeth’s castle) as camouflage. They then attack the castle disguised with leaves which in a way is when Birnam Wood comes to his castle.
Grade 9 Essay: How does Shakespeare Present the Three Witches?
Writing Your Essay Introduction
In your GCSE exam, you will get a question about a character or a theme. A standard essay contains a introduction and a conclusion and a main body with a number of analytical paragraphs in it.
Typically, during an exam, you want to write three paragraphs in your main body – each paragraph can depict the beginning middle and end of each character journey and transformation.
Some of you have to write an entire essay from memory, whereas others will need to refer to an extract that you are given in the exam.
If you have an extract question, the information on this guide is still super useful. Decide where the exam extract comes from in the character’s development and use quotes from that extract to create that specific paragraph. You can then use the ideas in this guide for your other paragraphs – simple!
What To Put In Your Introduction
FORMULA for INTRODUCTIONS
Character’s Function + Writer’s Message + Story Arc = Introduction
So, what is 3 Witches’ Character Function?
The three witches are used to tempt Macbeth (like the devil) and unleash the inner hubris and greed within him that is present in all of society.
After hearing about the witches’ prophecy, Macbeth is consumed with greed to become king. instead of waiting to see how fate will deliver the crown to him, he inexplicably to kill King Duncan even though he has been told he will become king.
You can learn more about Macbeth’s character here.
What is the Message of the play?
Character Story Arc
The vindictive witches show the future to Macbeth at various stages who inexplicably murders Duncan rather than wait and trust in fate and God to provide.
Introduction example.
Here are the 3 elements combined to create an introduction. See how the colours link to the FORMULA for INTRODUCTIONS above.
The witches are used as a device to tempt (like the devil) and unleash the inner hubris and greed within Macbeth that is present in all of society and to help demonstrate the dangers of selfish ambition. The vindictive witches show the future to Macbeth at various stages who inexplicably murders Duncan rather than wait and trust in fate and God to provide.
Writing the Main Body of your Essay.
The 3 points of your 3 essay paragraphs
Your examiner will love it if you analyse how your character transforms as the story progresses. So, your exam essay will have an introduction, conclusion and 3 main paragraphs.
Each paragraph will deal either the beginning, middle or end of the character’s transformation.
HUH?
The points of an essay link directly to the three stages of development for a character.
So, the 3 points below link back to the three stages of the The Three Witches’ development.
Scroll back up to the section about the 3 Witches’ Story Arc if you can’t remember.
BEGINNING
Point 1
The witches remind society that good and bad co-exist as a Christian test for society.
MIDDLE
Point 2
Shakespeare hints at an unrevealed backstory through the witches’ vindictiveness.
END
Point 3
The witches’ intention is to hurt or punish Macbeth and not help him.
These 3 points will be the first lines of each of your main paragraphs. They explain how the character changes in the three different stages of the story.
You will also see them in the first section of the 3 individual table paragraph plans below.
Paragraph Plans: Quotes and Analyses.
Paragraph 1 Plan
| Point 1 | The witches remind society that good and bad co-exist as a Christian test for society. |
| Quote | “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” Act 1 Scene 1 |
| Quote Means | There is good and bad in everything and everyone. |
| When? | In the very first scene of the play. |
| Language Analysis | Mirrored Structure – The mirrored structure reflects the opposition of good and bad in everything and everyone. Symbolism “Fair” Macbeth’s status at the beginning of the play is good “brave and noble.” Symbolism “Foul” foreshadows that Macbeth, as the tragic hero will fall because (in the tradition of a tragedy) he has a tragic flaw hidden with him. |
| Writer’s Intention | – Shakespeare intentionally uses the very first moment of the play to introduce the idea that the world contains both good and bad and to foreshadow Macbeth’s failure to control his greed. – Linking the evil supernatural witches to Macbeth also ensures that he can not be supported by Christian audiences. |
| Audience Response | Audiences will feel a sense of foreboding from the supernatural imagery. |
| Context | – Ambition and greed are tests of temptation laid down by evil that is present on earth after Adam, considered the original tragic hero, gave into temptation in the biblical story of Adam and Eve. – When the witches tempt Macbeth to challenge the Chain of Being he commits a sin against God and pays the ultimate price of his life. in. – Messaging like this helps King James to maintain peace because it encourages his Christian society to view dissatisfaction and suffering as a test that must be passed to gain entry to heaven. |
| Personal Response | – The message warning against ambition could be viewed as a form of jacobean propaganda designed to keep society under control. Guy Fawkes had recently failed to assassinate King James I. – King James sponsored Shakespeare’s company and therefore it is unlikely that Macbeth could ever have been a play about the successful murder of a king. – However ambition is more acceptable in modern society – the modern lesson could now be about the limits of healthy ambition. |
The witches claim “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” Act 1 Scene 1
Paragraph 2 Plan
| Point 2 | Shakespeare hints at an unrevealed backstory through the witches’ vindictiveness. |
| Quote | “I’ll drain him dry as hay. Sleep shall neither night nor day.” Act 1 Scene 3 |
| Quote Means | I shall weaken him. He won’t be able to sleep. He won’t know what to do with himself. He will be fated to die. |
| When? | Before the witches meet Macbeth, they describe the revenge they enacted on a sailor just because his wife had refused them chestnuts. |
| Language Analysis | Metaphor and simile “drain him dry as hay””: Deprive him of strength or vitality. The sailor will feel like a dead man walking (emotionless/ no joy or spark), which is how Macbeth felt after killing Duncan. Metaphor “sleep shall neither night nor day” like Macbeth, the sailor will be mentally tortured relentlessly. |
| Writer’s Intention | Shakespeare wants to present the women as deeply evil and vengeful to anyone that crosses them to raise tension. The fate of the sailor appears to foreshadow Macbeth’s demise. |
| Audience Response | Audiences will worry for any potential characters that come into contact with these women. |
| Context | – During that time in England, people were very scared of witchcraft. Many were punished or killed because they were thought to be witches.. – King James I, who Shakespeare wrote “Macbeth” for, believed witches were real and harmful. |
| Personal Response | The similarity between the sailor and Macbeth raises the question whether the witches were taking revenge on Macbeth for the actions of another. Audiences may wonder whether Lady Macbeth, Like the sailor’s wife, upset the witches perhaps with her dark magic at some unseen point. (Feminist Perspective) Reveals biassed attitudes against women because all powerful women are depicted as unnatural and are even ridiculed with male traits such as beards implying that power in women is unattractive. |
Paragraph 3 Plan
| Point 3 | The witches’ intention is to hurt or punish Macbeth and not help him. |
| Quote | “Show his eyes and grieve his heart.” Act 4 Scene 1 |
| Quote Means | Show Macbeth that he will have no heirs so that his heart grieves. |
| When? | When Macbeth is told by the Witches’ masters that he will die and mad Macbeth misinterprets it to think he is invincible. Annoyed by his arrogance, the witches show him a ghostly image of Banquo and a long procession of his heirs. |
| Language Analysis | Symbolism “eyes” – Macbeth’s ambition blinds him to Banquo’s prophecy; he only wants to accept the part of the prophecy that makes him king. Emotive language/ personification “grieve” – the prospect of having no heirs will kill Macbeth’s burning ambition to be remembered. Wanting to inflict grief suggests the witches are not acting to help Macbeth – they have some other purpose or perhaps they just enjoy causing pain and mischief. |
| Writer’s Intention | The writer wants to reinforce that, unlike trust in God, evil and supernatural sources cannot be trusted and will lead to disaster. |
| Audience Response | Despite his reign of terror, audiences may still feel a little sorrow for Macbeth as he never stood a chance against the witches’ scheming. They appear to have spotted his tragic flaw and manipulated it. |
| Context | – Shakespeare’s society believed in Fate – God’s plan – that has already been decided and cannot be changed. – Therefore, the prophecy may have been uttered by evil beings but what it predicts is the good outcome (Macbeth’s death) that God intended. |
| Personal Response | – The message warning against ambition could be viewed as a form of biased Jacobean propaganda designed to keep society under control especially since Guy Fawkes had recently failed to assassinate King James I. – However ambition is more acceptable in modern society – the modern lesson could now be about the limits of healthy ambition. |
The witches boast “I’ll drain him dry as hay” Act 1 Scene 3
8 effective ways to learn this information!
- Write the notes up as questions and answers in your own words.
- Then turn them into flashcards and/or practice tests.
- Learn the elements of a good answer (the headings on the left-hand side of the tables above).
- Memorise key quotes using flashcards, noting their meanings and contexts.
- Practise writing out the quotes on a piece of paper and then annotating the analysis around it to make a spider diagram. You should be able to mind map each paragraph inside 4 minutes (you would get 12 minutes in an exam to plan the whole essay).
- Read the scenes around each quote so that you know what’s going on and don’t make mistakes in the exam. As far as examiners are concerned, there’s no excuse to have not read the text.
- Use the essay plan in the guide to write out your own version of an essay.
- Make sure you know your character’s timeline.
Full written essay: How does Shakespeare present The Three Witches?
This what the introduction and the first of the three essay paragraphs could look like with all the elements from the three plans written up.
Notice:
- How the colours link to the section headings in the tables above.
- Also not that not much extra is added.
FREE ESSAY | How does Shakespeare present the 3 witches?
SUMMARY
That’s everything you need to know about the 3 witches’ characters to get a Grade 9 in GCSE English for this question.
To learn about other Macbeth characters see our other guides.
There’s a lot of information here – probably too much to remember in one go. So, bookmark this page and come back to it whenever you need a reminder when you next have to analyse something.
For more tips on analysing LANGUAGE, check out our incredible GCSE English Language Analysis | EASY Beginner’s Grade 9 Guide.
If you want to learn more about analysing STRUCTURE, visit our incredible GCSE English Structure Analysis | EASY Grade 9 Guide
Need to learn about analysing Form? Visit our incredible GCSE English Form Analysis | EASY Beginner’s Grade 9 Guide.
Keep practising, stay curious, and you’ll be well on your way to mastering analysis in no time. Happy studying!
Peace.
The Oxbridge GCSE Tutor.
