the three witches in macbeth were called weird sisters or wayward sisters.
the three witches in macbeth were called weird sisters or wayward sisters.
what are the three witches in macbeth called?
weird sisters or wayward sisters
the three witches, also known as the weird sisters or wayward sisters, are characters in william shakespeare's play "macbeth" (c. 1603–1607). they hold a striking resemblance to the three fates of classical mythology, and are, perhaps, intended as a twisted version of the white-robed incarnations of destiny. the witches eventually lead macbeth to his demise. their origin lies in holinshed's "chronicles" (1587), a history of england, scotland and ireland. other possible sources, aside from shakespeare's imagination, include british folklore, such contemporary treatises on witchcraft as king james vi of scotland's "daemonologie", the norns of norse mythology, and ancient classical myths of the fates: the greek moirai and the roman parcae. productions of "macbeth" began incorporating portions of thomas middleton's contemporaneous play "the witch" "circa" 1618, two years after shakespeare's death.
three witches
j. k. rowling has cited the three witches as an influence in her "harry potter" series. in an interview with the leaky cauldron and mugglenet, when asked, "what if [voldemort] never heard the prophecy?", she said, "it's the 'macbeth' idea. i absolutely adore 'macbeth.' it is possibly my favourite shakespeare play. and that's the question isn't it? if macbeth hadn't met the witches, would he have killed duncan? would any of it have happened? is it fated or did he make it happen? i believe he made it happen." on her website, she referred to "macbeth" again in discussing the prophecy: "the prophecy (like the one the witches make to macbeth, if anyone has read the play of the same name) becomes the catalyst for a situation that would never have occurred if it had not been made." more playfully, rowling also invented a musical band popular in the wizarding world called the weird sisters that appears in passing in several books in the series as well as the film adaptation of "harry potter and the goblet of fire". the soundtrack to the third "harry potter" film features a song by john williams called "double trouble", a reference to the witches' line, "double double, toil and trouble". the lyrics of the song were adapted from the three witches' spell in the play.
three witches