Three witches from Macbeth

The class watched three interpretations of act 1 scene 1 of Macbeth. All of the video clips were really gruesome. The first video clip was broadcasted by BBC. This clip started out with all the characters in a circle. Two famous characters were in it, a man who was Gandolf in the Hobbit and Petunia from Harry potter. Two witches are doing witch craft by sucking out the powers of a mentally ill woman. On the other hand the priest of Scotland is praying and worshiping God. He is dressed in all white. All of the witches have familiars which are spirits in a form of an animal. They are all worshiping and talking to their familiars and the demon just like the priest worshiping the spirit of God. The three witches represent the three themes in Macbeth which are false appearance, breaking natural order, and fate vs. free will. This clip was dull and not understandable. The video clip mostly represented breaking natural order because the three witches were doing witch craft and going against the rules.

The second video clip that the class watched was directed by Polanski. This scene starts out with a barren desert and then the desert turns into a beach. The scenery was very gloomy. The three witches meet together and draw a circle in the sand with a stick. Then the dig up the sand and put witch craft materials in it to cast a spell. The important thing the witches put in the dug up circle was a hand of glory. A hand of glory is a of a human who has been hung and used for a spell. The hand was holding a dagger. Later in the play Macbeth sees a magical dagger which might have been the dagger the witches buried. After the witches burry everything they poured blood and spat on the circle. One witch is blind but can see other things figuratively just like the Greek oracle. This clip was calming because of the sounds in the background but strange because of the witchcraft. The video clip mostly represented the theme of free will vs. fate because the witches made choices that will effect Macbeth's fate.

The last video was broadcasted by PBS. This clip was very disturbing and freaky. The scenery and costuming was based on World War 2. The start of the video is scene 2 but it leads into scene 1. This clip also had some twist and turns that the class didn't expect. There are three nurses taking care of an injured solider and they cut out his artery. Blood squirts out of his neck and he dies. The three nurses turn out to be the three witches which was unexpected. One witch pulls out the man heart and all the witches chant "fair is foul, and foul is fair, Hover through the fog and filthy air." They chant this repeatedly which might be a motif in the play. This video mostly represents false appearance because the witches were disguised as nurses.