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Shakespeare's witches are prophets who hail Macbeth early in the play, and predict his ascent to kingship. Upon killing the king and gaining the throne of Scotland, Macbeth hears them ambiguously predict his eventual downfall. The witches, and their "filthy" trappings and supernatural activities, set an ominous tone for the play.
William Shakespeare's play Macbeth is said to be cursed, so actors avoid saying its name when in the theatre (the euphemism "The Scottish Play" is used instead). Actors also avoid even quoting the lines from Macbeth before performances, particularly the Witches ' incantations.
The traditional origin is said to be a curse set upon the play by a coven of witches, angry at Shakespeare for using a real spell. [2] One hypothesis for the origin of this superstition is that Macbeth, being a popular play, was commonly put on by theatres in financial trouble, or that the high production costs of Macbeth put theatres in financial trouble.
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, where he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V of England.
In Shakespeare's day, Banquo was thought to be an ancestor of the Stuart King James I. [12] (In the 19th century it was established that Banquo is an unhistorical character; the Stuarts are actually descended from a Breton family which migrated to Scotland slightly later than Macbeth's time.) The Banquo portrayed in earlier sources is ...
The Plays of William Shakespeare, a painting containing scenes and characters from several plays of Shakespeare; by Sir John Gilbert, c. 1849. Shakespeare's works include the 36 plays printed in the First Folio of 1623, listed according to their folio classification as comedies, histories, and tragedies. [146]
The Shakespearean fool is a recurring character type in the works of William Shakespeare. They are usually clever peasants or commoners who use their wits to outdo people of higher social standing. In this sense, they are similar to the real fools , and jesters of the time, but their characteristics are greatly heightened for theatrical effect.
Shakespeare's poetic genius was allied with a practical sense of the theatre. [17] Like all playwrights of the time, Shakespeare dramatised stories from sources such as Petrarch and Holinshed. [18] He reshaped each plot to create several centres of interest and show as many sides of a narrative to the audience as possible.