Notes

Witches...

In Shakespeare’s time, around 1585, people believed in witches. They were known to be people who had made an agreement with the Devil in exchange for supernatural powers.

Examples:
If your cow was ill, it was easy to decide it had been cursed.
If there was plague in your village, it was because of a witch.
If the beans didn’t grow, it was because of a witch.

Witches might have a familiar spirits – a pet, or a toad, or a bird, even a supernatural creatures like fairies – which were supposed to be demon advisors (they would assist the witches in their cunning plans). People accused of being witches tended to be old, poor, single women. It is at this time that the idea of witches riding around on broomsticks (a common household implement in Elizabethan England) becomes popular. It is still used today as a stereotype for witches.

There are lots of ways to test for a witch. The most common way in the Elizabethan times was to use a ducking stool; They would duck the accused under water into a pond or a river. If she floated, she was a witch! If she didn't, she was innocent but probably died anyway! Anyone who floated (therefore being a witch) was burnt at the stake. It was actually legal to kill witches because of the Witchcraft Act that passed in 1563. This went against witches who used spirits to kill people.

King James I became king in 1603. He was particularly superstitious about witches and even wrote a book on the subject. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth especially to appeal to James – it has witches and is set in Scotland, where he was already king. Other magic beings, the fairies, appear in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Elizabethans thought fairies played tricks on innocent people – just as they do in the play.