『맥베스』에 나타난 마녀의 의미와 역할

Abstract

This paper is focused on the witches from the viewpoint of decentralism. In Macbeth, decentral viewpoint becomes clear when the witches say that "fair is foul and foul is fair" in the first scene of the play. In the middle of confusion, the witches exist. Witches' role suggests various meanings and possible interpretations. One of the major critical views concerning the witches in Macbeth is to regard them as symbolic representations of the unconsciousness of Macbeth. The other is that witches are the most wicked beings. They are neither immaterial nor merely appearances. The witches are real although they are described as ambiguous beings. The witches are the leading characters of the play although they appear only in short scenes. They exist outside of the society, blurring its boundaries, distorting its rules, and attacking its center. The phrase－"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"－is a metaphor which pervades almost all the scenes in Macbeth. They speak ambiguously with riddles, and their speeches tend to subvert the patriarchal order in the play.In the Renaissance period, women who criticised the value of patriarchal society and exposed the instability of ideology, were regarded as dissidents and a threat. They were often demonized as witches. The frequent witch-hunting reflected the patriarchism that attempted to remove aggressive women from the maile dominant society. The magic is a form of another anti-social movement. It refuses irrational structures of systems that are generalized The witches deny those closed and fixed generalization, and make the world open ended. They suggest the possibility to break the absolute value of patriarchism and authority.