Background
- Witchcraft is supposed to be the manipulation of supernatural forces through casting spells, conjuring or invoking spirits
- All ancient cultures and religions, with the notable exception of christianity, applied their own kind of witchcraft in their belief systems
- Witchcraft included using spells for healing, to bring good weather and prosperity, etc.
- Communities often had wise women (priestesses, healers, etc) that were honoured and respected
Demonization
- In the Middle Ages the church began to feel threatened by Pagan religions
- Paganism was associated with Satanism
- Since Christianity did not have their own form of witchcraft, any act of witchcraft, even naturopathic healing, were associated with the devil.
- The "spirits" the control the elements and the world that witches were supposed to manipulate were interpreted by christians as the demons that walk the earth creating disease and pestilence - Anyone who invokes these demons was associating with the devil, and no matter what they used their powers (even if it was just healing or rain dancing), they had the power to bring disaster.
- The church began to treat practitioners of witchcraft as heretics, and started rumours that witches gather in forests at night for secret meetings where they would fly through the air, have sex with the devil, etc.
- Beginning in the 11th century (Macbeth ruled from 1040 to 1057) witches were considered sinister, hideous creatures that were often linked to disease, misfortune, death, and evil, and practitioners of witchcraft were burnt alive for heresy.
- The stereotype of the witch as a female probably came from the visible role played by women in many heresies.
Shakespeare's time
- The time period that Shakespeare lived in (1564 - 1616) was later referred to as "the burning times;" it was when the most intense persecution of witches was taking place.
- The King, King James I, was highly superstitious and was convinced of the existance of witches and devils
- In 1604 he introduced laws that made hanging of witches mandatory, and introduced trial by torture. There were about a thousand executions between1542 and 1684.
Public views towards witchcraft during the actual reign of King Macbeth weren't as strong as during Shakespeare's time. Although they were still generally hostile, the depiction of the witches in Shakespeare's play was probably influenced by the views of his time and his king.
http://www.erzulies.com/site/articles/view/17
http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-214883
http://www.scan.org.uk/knowledgebase/topics/witchcraft.htm
http://medieval.etrusia.co.uk/witch/
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/renaissanceinfo.htm
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There is an irony within the novel Macbeth and King James I. Shakespeare used the three weird sisters to express the Demonology in Macbeth. Also the play was written for King James I and he was very superstitious and believed in witchcraft, necromancy, possession, demons, were-wolves, fairies and ghosts. Therefore when connecting my group's topic with this plog on witchcraft, we can conclude that King James was a hypocrite. This is because he enjoyed stories/plays with witches in them, however in real life, he executed and burned witches and all forms of witchcraft.
ReplyDelete- Albert Lee
It seems that there is a link between the information concerning witchcraft and Daemonology, and Raphael Holinshed's CHronicales of Scotland. From the Chronicles, we see that the Weird Sisters were originally meant to be nymphs or fairies, and that Shakespeare decided to change them to witches. From this information explaining how witches were associated with death and disease, and were burnt alive, we can see that Shakespeare changed the nymphs to witches to instill fear into the reader, and to create a darker atmosphere.
ReplyDelete-brandon
Your plog brought out an interesting fact that laws were made in 1604 that made witchcraft mandatory because it coincided with the release of the Newes of Scotland which was a pamphlet written by King James concerning witchcraft. The Newes of Scotland was just written a mere 8 years before in 1597. Also Macbeth was written in 1606 which was not long after the laws were introduced and when King James's skepticism of witchcraft was at a high. Furthermore, that was why it was a good time to write the play and garner the king's praise.
ReplyDelete-Alex Hsieh
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ReplyDeleteIn the mid 17th century, the fear of witches and the devil spread like wildfire in Europe. Both men and women were accused of using witchcraft but in almost all cases, these alleged "witches" were women. The topic of witchcraft strongly intertwines with the role of women in the 17th century. The reason why women were frequently accused of witchcraft and not men was because they lacked influence and power within their society. During the time when Macbeth was written, the role of a midwife was to stay at home and look after the children and complete their household duties. Most slaves and servants were women as well. If something unexplainable occurs within a household, the midwife or the servant will most likely be accused of witchcraft. The men and children are judged lightly because the men spent the majority of their time outside and the children are harmless. These accused witches were always people who were weak, poor, different, powerless and old. Many people found it convenient to blame their problems on these defenseless women.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, women were the main victims of these witch trials in the 1600's. Their lack of power and role in society made them easy targets for others to blame their problems on.
- Hyun Nam
Macbeth, the Scottish Play, was written by Shakespeare for King James. Since King James was a believer of witchcraft, Shakespeare included the three witches in Macbeth. However, from this blog, we learn that King James was also a prosecutor of witches. Therefore, from our blogs, we can conclude that although King James was a believer and was interested in witchcraft, he feared the powers of witchcraft and other mysterious arts due to his efforts to punish those who practice it.
ReplyDeleteAdrian Wu