Witchcraft in the English Renaissance

1. Witchcraft in the English Renaissance

2. Witchcraft • Shakespeare included the 3 witches because James I had openly expressed his belief in witches. • Witchcraft was a topic of controversy in 17th century Europe and America • The attitude toward witches and witchcraft varied widely

3. Elizabethans Believed… • Witches could talk to the dead • Witches could see into the future • Witches could make people fall ill by using spells and potions • Witches could fly and make themselves invisible • Witches used animals such as cats as disguises for the evil spirits who served them • Witches could cause bad weather and storms, affecting ships at sea and spoiling crops

4. Witchcraft • Some regarded the existence of witches to be nothing more than a harmless superstition. • Others felt witches to be real and a source of evil that needed to be wiped out.

5. Witchcraft • Waves of hysteria over witches and their supposed links to the devil swept over the land. • Between the 15th and 18th centuries, thousands of people were convicted of being witches and were executed. • The most famous trials in America occurred in Salem, Massachusetts where 19 people were convicted and hanged.

6. A Cursed Play • Shakespeare is said to have used the spells of real witches in his text, purportedly angering the witches and causing them to curse the play. Thus, to say the name of the play inside a theatre is believed to doom the production to failure, and perhaps cause physical injury or death to cast members. A large mythology has built up surrounding this superstition, with countless stories of accidents, misfortunes and even deaths, all mysteriously taking place during runs of Macbeth (or by actors who had uttered the name)

7. The 3 Witches’ Spell – Act IV, Scene i Witch 2: Fillet of fenny snake, 
In the caldron boil and bake; 
Eye of newt, and toe of frog, 
 Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, 
 Adders' fork, and blind-worms sting, 
 Lizards'sleg, and howlet's wing, 
 For a charm of powerful trouble, 
 Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. All: Double, double toil and trouble, Fire, burn; and, caldron bubble.

8. Create your own spell! • With a partner or on your own. • Make a list of ingredients and compose your spell (about 10 lines) • Try to make your spell rhyme • On the paper provided, write your spell and decorate your paper/draw images that go with your spell. Be CREATIVE!!!