Hecate's Role In Macbeth

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, many can say that Shakespeare did not write the part of Hecate, but if she had not been written by Shakespeare, her name would have to be added into Act II Scene i, when Macbeth sees his first apparition: the dagger. Although in Act III Scene v and Act IV Scene i, Hecate’s speech loses Shakespeare’s well-known iambic pentameter, Hecate is the goddess of the witches, and her lines lead into song, which Shakespeare does not write in iambic pentameter. Shakespeare wrote Act III Scene v in Macbeth. When Macbeth sees the dagger, his first apparition he mentions that “Witchcraft celebrates/ Pale Hecate’s offerings” (II.i.53-4), yet he has never met her. If another person tampered with Shakespeare’s Macbeth, why would

Since she is a sadist, and “The close contriver of all harms” (III.v.7) involving the witches’ powers, it is odd that she never directly interacts with Macbeth. In fact, she conveniently leaves before he enters, and his behaviour in the scene would have enthralled her.

The witches and Hecate are all supernatural forces in the play. Although the witches speak in iambic pentameter, it may be to show that they spend more time interacting with other people. Hecate who is only in two scenes which feature the witches, and her speech uses a slightly different meter, which may indicate that she does not interact with most of the non-witches in this fictional Scotland. The different meter might just be artistic expression, to truly show how eerie or separated Hecate is. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in its entirety, plot holes, confusing lines, and songs. It is important to remember that he was only human, and could make mistakes. There are some important questions to be answered if it is true that Thomas Middleton wrote parts or edited