DAVINA: Ralph, the references to witchcraft in Lady Macbeth’s speech are undeniable. Do you really think Shakespeare’s intention was to portray Lady Macbeth as a witch in compact with the Devil?
RALPH: I think there’s no doubt that everyone in Shakespeare’s audience would have picked up on these references. But some of them were skeptical and thought that all this stuff about witchcraft was folklore nonsense. Queen Elizabeth, for example, had an official court fortune-teller for a while, but when it became apparent he couldn’t actually predict the future, she dumped him.
DAVINA: So this scene is probably another example of Shakespeare being intentionally ambiguous. Those who believe in witches could view Lady Macbeth as a witch, while others might see her speech as just metaphorical language that reveals the wickedness of her character.
RALPH: I think that’s right, Davina. And as we discussed earlier, within the play, the three strange figures are referred to as the “Weird Sisters”, the Greek goddesses of destiny. This encourages viewing them not as actual characters in the play, but rather as metaphors for fate.