Whereas “hurly burley” only means a minor issue where as normal people would be very affected by war trauma, which then sets them aside from society, which the audience at the time would be very aware of. As the 17th century audience watching the bloody story of the flawed protagonist Macbeth unfold, Shakespeare shows the witches disregard the brutal was going on and don’t care about people with the quote “When the hurly burley’s done”. In act 1 scene 1 Shakespeare uses the quote “There to meet Macbeth” before the battle where they couldn’t have known they he’s survive the battle, so that would have also spooked the audience as this prediction and knowledge of the beyond couldn’t be known unless they had some sort of supernatural ability. As the play begins, Shakespeare creates a dark and sinister atmosphere to present the concept of evil in using the witches to open his play, which would have spooked the audience, because at the time, in the 17th century lots of people were superstitious because of the King James I book on Daemonology. Which is a paradox and implies that all is not what it seems, Shakespeare uses this to set the witches apart from the rest and make them seem supernatural, further adding to the superstition of the audience and the concept of evil in the play. Throughout the play, Shakespeare explores the concept of evil through another technique using trochaic tetrameter for supernatural characters, “When the hurly burley’s done, when the battle’s lost and won.” Which sets them apart from the other characters who speak in iambic pentameter, or when they all chant “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”. Also it could be referring to the belief at the time that witches could control the weather inferring that what the witches are doing is bad. In addition, it foreshadows some of the events of turmoil that occur during the play. They talk amongst themselves about a meeting with Macbeth but at that point they would not have known if Macbeth had been victorious in battle, “When the hurly burley’s done, when the battle’s lost and won.” The audience are given a clear taste of what is to expect in the play and the role of evil personified by the witches and their influence over Macbeth. In act 1 Scene 1 the witches show that they have the gift of prophecy. This chant sets the tone for the rest of the play giving the audience a feeling of gloom as is reflected in the gloomy weather. At the beginning of the play the witches chant an incantation to the heavens “In thunder lighting or in rain”. Shakespeare uses various techniques throughout the play to present the concept of evil, using pathetic fallacy to create a dark and sinister tone. In this way ordinary people had somewhere to lay blame when things went wrong in their lives. People thought they could cast spells, cause storms and inhibit the bodies of animals or familiars. Many women were accused of being witches being blamed for crop failure and drought. King James I wrote a book called ‘Daemonology’ which outlines the powers of witches and added to the people’s superstitions. The reason people believed in the King was due to the Great Chain of Being where the King was the only one to answer to God, as well as the Diving Right of Kings which explains that The King was God’s representative on Earth and as such his ideas and reasoning was believed to be God’s ideas and reasoning. After several terrorist attacks including the 1605 Gunpowder plot, so the King wanted to make sure the people knew. King James I wanted the play to teach the English people that regicide was the ultimate sin. The play was set in Scotland to appeal to the King at the time who was also from Scotland, also he only used real historical figures in the play. He wrote the play for James I who later became a patron to his theatre. The play Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare who was famous in the 17th century for his poems and plays during the Jacobean period.
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