The play starts off in an extremely gothic way, there is ‘Thunder and lightning’ a classic example of pathetic fallacy presenting ominous sounds and a dark tone to kick off the play. Three Witches enter and leave as asking questions; what relevance do they have to Macbeth? Why are they planning a second rendezvous? They are mischievous, evil characters that manipulate Macbeth. They represent the supernatural and unknown; a renowned gothic feature. As quickly as the three witches arrive, they disappear, leaving the audience with questions and a fear of the unknown.
When the three witches appear again in scene 3, greeted by thunder once more, one talks of ‘killing swine’ and another talks of plotting revenge on a sailor whose wife wouldn’t share her chestnuts. This conversation between them illustrates how ruthless and murderous the witches are, this can be compared to how ruthless Macbeth acted in war ‘with bloody execution’ the audience start to question whether there are similarities between the evil witches and Macbeth, it’s gives the audience a clue that the witches will entice him and what events will unravel in the play. The theme of death is a huge part of the play and a traditional gothic element. When the witches hail Macbeth it is as if they are on his side and praising him, we question the witches motives at this point; why are they so keen for Macbeth to become king and leave a bloody trail behind him? This gives the audience a further fear of the unknown towards the witches.
Banquo lightens the mood in scene three when he comments on the witches beards, there are different ways the audience can interpret this; he could be showing that he has the power and is not scared of them so makes mean remarks with no consideration for consequences, however he could be doing this because he is actually very scared by the witches and needs to lighten the mood to feel at ease. The fact that the three witches have beards illustrates that they are not traditional well kept females of the time. They have a masculine quality to them in beard form which could be suggesting a power they hold in a patriarchal society. They differ from the norm which is what makes them gothic characters in the play.
Good points. Do gothic texts pose questions about gender roles or about identity? I like the way you've looked closely at the text. Also, do you think that an element of gothic texts is the way they pose questions of the reader?
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