The Weird ‘Others’: An ‘Alternative’ Understanding of the Witches of Macbeth from Feminist Perspective

723 views

Reema Chakrabarti1, PhD & Shah Al Mamun Sarkar2, PhD

1Assistant Professor of English, Techno Main Salt Lake, Kolkata-700091, India, chakrabarti.reema2012@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2136-7349

2Assistant Professor of English, ICFAI University Tripura, Kamalghat, West Tripura-799210, India, shahalmamunsarkar@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9019-6577

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Volume 13, Number 1, 2021 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n1.39

The Weird ‘Others’: An ‘Alternative’ Understanding of the Witches of Macbeth from Feminist Perspective

Abstract

This paper attempts to re-interpret the witches of Macbeth from a Feminist perspective. Both critics as well as the ordinary readers mostly receive them in a negative light. Doing so, they overlook the fact that women like these witches are relegated to the margins and share a history of being discriminated and vulnerable to attacks. Within the text, they are humiliated as the ‘weird others’ and compared to ‘bubbles’ on earth. To this date, people have the tendency to marginalize and discriminate women who posit their individuality in their socially reclusive lifestyle. While analyzing their character from a Feminist perspective, the paper will explore their trauma and identify their mischief as a source of rebellion. By making such an alternative reading of the text, the work aims to create a ‘shock-effect’ among people who continue to discriminate such marginalized women.

Keywords: Women, Witches, Macbeth, Feminism, Identity.