Here are a some different versions of the three witches from various sources - film, stage, fine art, comic books, etc. You can click on each image to enlarge.
Henry Fuseli
Théodore Chassériau
film adaptation directed by Roman Polanski
Austin Shakespeare Company
Long Overdue Theater Company
Jon Haward
Dream Puppets production
film adaptation directed by Orsen Welles
unknown stage production
unknown
Richard Westall
all are super creepy but i would say that the film adaption directed by orsen welles is by far the best at capturing the details in the play. For example, in the book, the witches always enter at a thunder and/ or stormy night with their wicked spells and chats and this picture surely shows that. also, in the picture, you cannot see hair from the witches and in the play it is said that the witches are bald. definetly the best piture of witches. really captures the mysterious and spooky character of the three witches.
ReplyDeleteI think that the witches in the painting by Henry Fuseli is closest to what Shakespeare intended, because they don't look too ordinary, and they don't look exaggerated, like the picture by the Shakespeare Company. From what we read in the play, we don't even know if the witches have magical powers; besides what was said in Act III, scene v, but that probably wasn't even written by Shakespeare anyway. In my mind, I always had compared the witches to people in a cult; they look mysterious and ominous, but don't really have any powers. And Henry, in my opinion, successfully captured that look.
ReplyDeleteThe Austin Shakesphere Company had the best, as the witches need to be both interesting and mysterious for a play and from that picture it looks as though that version captures just that. Macbeth was a stage play and everything had to be visually appealing, and those witches seem to fit it the best. Dream Puppers production wins the creepiest though, since those are the scariest puppets ever.
ReplyDeleteJae - I like that cult idea. Less supernatural, more just plain crazy. Nice.
ReplyDeleteZach - I'm thinking of picking up a set of those puppets for my kids from Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI think that Richard Westall's picture is the creepiest because they dont even look like witches or even ladies, they look like old deformed men in robes. Especially the one on the right because he is so creepy he looks almost like an animated character. also the smoke that is all around them and the fact thet the third one's face is almost hidden is very scary.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the picture with the caption, "Film adaption directed by Orsen Welles," best illustrates how Macbeth wanted to portray the three witches. I feel this way because in the picture, the witches seem mysterious. They have no face details nor does their surrounding have any true characteristics. The lack of detail allows the audience to decide for themselves whether the witches are good or whether there up to no good.
ReplyDeleteThe picture I think Shakespeare would like the least would be the one captioned, “Unkown.” Within the first couple of seconds upon looking at this picture, a feeling of evil flows through my mind. This illustration assumes that the witches are evil because the look like they are beneath the earth, in a hell-like surrounding. They seem to all withhold a cruel stern face that does not seem welcoming or friendly.
My favorite out of the bunch would be the one with the horse and two other men. I like how the illustrator was able to capture the fear the men and the horses both had. They were able to do this by the position of the horses’ feet. The man on the horse looks like he is attempting to hold it back. The witches look intimidating with their arms in the air, and the scenery gives off an eerie feeling of emptiness.
not a huge fam of Jon Haward's depiction of the witches. I look at it and to me, it says "Hi! I'm a silhoutte shadow of a firey being!" to it. Reminds me more of the devil than of a witch, which I don't think necessarily go hand-in-hand.
ReplyDeleteAs for Shakespeare's original intent, I would go with "unknown stage production"'s. Even in Shakespearian times and prior to, people were people. When reading this play, I can't even imagine there being some pointy-nosed cauldron-bearing female-- and three of them. There's enough crazy people to go around. Wiccans come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, even today, which makes this interpretation and depiction of the witches even more believable, especially for modern day. You can still perform spells no matter what you look like. The sterotypical pointy-nose-with-warts witch is more fantasy than reality. How many of you have actually seen a wiccan before? Even if you answer "never", they don't fit this stereotype at all. They're just like normal people. I think this is exactly where Shakespeare was going with his play, too, especially because his plays seem to be eternally-possible.
I think the picture by Richard Westall best portrays Shakespeare’s original intent. In the play they seem as if they are witches that do magic spells and tricks. In this picture it has the feeling of the witches doing dark magic or something evil. At first in the play they did not seem evil, and if you look closely at the faces in the picture it looks as if they are looking happy, innocent, and wanting to help. However, in the picture is what Macbeth didn’t see, them vanishing away in a black evil smoke. While they are not one hundred percent evil, they still have evil intentions.
ReplyDeleteThe way I see the witches is much like the way Théodore Chassériau illustrated them. My mental view of them is just a bunch of crazy, old, naked ladies in the woods. I'm still a little pullen towards them being creepy, otherwordly creatures, but I feel more strongly that unecessary fantasy like that would take away from the true meaning of shakespeare. I believe that Macbeth is ultimately about human desire and the tragedy that comes from it.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason why I think his is the best portrayal is because of a theory I have about the play. What if none of the magic is actually real? What if this whole series of murder started because of some crazy old women? It's impossible to tell because it's a play and in the end when its being read it can be whatever I want it to be. I guess I prefer pointless, ironic, tragedy started by insane old women to some fantasy land with witches and apparitions.
The lamest witch out of all the options definitely has to be the ones by, Jon Haward. These witches were looking too exaggerated and fake, something that you would see in a Scooby Doo movie, not in a Shakespeare play. They look very evil and are probably the creepiest out of all the pictures also, because of there exaggerated facial features and body. From the readings I would expect the witches to be more around the lines of a normal person that wears a cape and run’s around a caldron making potions. Shakespeare’s most probable intentions were probably the picture by the unknown artist. I believe so because they are around a caldron and the viewer has a dark and creepy tone from the smoke and the darkness. Also you can see a soldier walking towards them, sort of how Macbeth and Banquo went to the witches to see incite on the future. The one by the unknown artist is definitely, the best to portray to the modern audience because it makes the most sense according to the play, with the caldron and the smoke. The witches never seemed as if they were very strong, as depicted in the drawing.
ReplyDeleteI think the painting by Henry Fuseli is the best painting out of all of them because it has details and characteristics of the witches in the play. Also, the one by Théodore Chassériau is really nice, too, because it has great details with their clothes, hair and their facials when they are looking at the two men (guessing that they are Macbeth and Banquo).However, the most lame one is Long Overdue Theater Company one. In this picture, they don't really look like witches and it doesn't have the characteristics of the witches that comes to our mind when we imagine it. This picture looks more like "monsters" or "aliens" than the witches in the play.
ReplyDeleteI think that the best depiction of the witches of these few is the painting by Théodore Chassériau. I like it is the one I think Shakespeare had in mind when thinking of them. He seemed to like readers guessing and liked to keep all possibilities open about intentions, motivations or nature or characters. All of the other picture seem to make the viewer instantly think of them as evil demonic beings but only this one shows that they arent necesarily demonic, but at the same time could be. It also is a cool painting by itself because it is jsut how imagined Macbeth's first encounter with them had been like.
ReplyDeleteThe one I dislike the most is the one by the Austin Shakespeare Company because it seems absurd that the witches would be glowing turqoise. No where in the book does it even give a close description to that.
I really like the picture labeled "unknown stage production". It fits what I have visioned of the witches because they're in stormy weather and their faces don't have much emotion to them. They are all looking up sort of like some kind of magic or power is taking over them. It looks like the witches are getting their power from the weather. I like the black cloaks they have on because it sort of hides them and fits their character of being sneaky and mysterious. I definatly agree with Tony that the witches by Jon Haward aren't real looking. I also think that the big guy towering over the witches resembles hecate and the witches are scared of him but in the book they aren't like that. They use their power without his permission and in a way are bigger than him even though it is supposed to be the opposite. Also, the witches look like devil creatures in this picture but I feel like someone isn't supposed to know if they are good or bad and that just shows they are bad.
ReplyDeleteoh man some of those witches are pretty hot.
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