Are the Witches in Macbeth Psychological Projections?

"No estate, no class, no group, however conceived, was completely exempt from the persuasiveness of belief in witchcraft witches could strike anywhere." . One of the most famous questions that still exists today is, do witches really exist or are they simply a creation of the human mind? Reginal Scott questions the intentions behind the witch craze. According to him witchcraft and those being accused were questionable. He was very skeptical about whether or not these accusations were legitimate or if people were accusing others simply in fear of their own lives. In writing his doubts about witchcraft his own life was in danger. He was aware that at anytime he could himself of being a witch.

"But whatsoever is reported or conceived of such manners of witchcraft, I dare avow to be false and fabulous (coosinage, dotage, and poisoning excepted) neither is there any mention made of these kind of witches in the Bible."

Reginal Scott had his doubts about the existence of witchcraft because there is no mention of the existence of witchcraft in the Bible. His quest

The Malleus Maleficarum states that many were reluctant to carry out the executions of the accused witches. In the mid sixteenth century a physician by the name of Johann Weyer, publicly questioned not the existence of witches, but whether or not the actions of which they were accused of were illusions.

Both the writings of Reginal Scott and Johannes Junius show that there is a doubt about whether or not witchcraft truly exists. We can question why those who confessed truly did confess. It was not because they were witches it was because they were tortured.

Macbeth is faced with a major inner conflict. He is not sure whether or not he should kill that king and after Banquo's death he is tortured. His soul, mind, and heart at being ripped apart because of what he has done. He wants to be sure he will be safe and tries to convince himself that his actions were justified. That is why he sees the witches. He wanted to reassure himself that what he id was right. According the examples given in the Malleus Maleficarum, we see that the reason people saw witches was to protect themselves from being accused of witchcraft. From this we can see how people would accuse others of being witches as well as why Macbeth would see the three witches.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1265
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)