. outer appearance was merely a reflection of inner condition" (Papp and Kirkland 74). To be considered beautiful and desirable, a woman was to be very feminine and have " . . . Ivory skin, rosy cheeks, a round face, rounder hips, and yielding flesh . . ." (Papp and Kirkland 75). Women labeled as being witches were the opposite of a beautiful Elizabethan woman. The Weird Sisters are described as not even looking like women at all. They are so skinny and unfeminine that on seeing them Banquo says, "You should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so" (1.3.45-47). "The beard, also, . . . was the recognised characteristic of the witch" (Dyer and Oxon 28). Women that were thought to be witches were " . . . without sex or kin" (Dyer and Oxon 27).A woman's appearance was not the only thing that classified her as a witch. Her actions also made her appear to be a witch. The primary means of travel for a witch was by flying through the air on her broomstick and the only way that she could do this without being detected was if she could " . . . hover through the fog and filthy air" (1.1.12). The Elizabethans believed that witches had power over the atmosphere. The giving and selling of winds were thought to be a practice of witches. They were " . . . supposed to have the power of creating storms and other atmospheric disturbances . . ." (Dyer and Oxon 31). Macbeth reveals the Weird Sisters' power of being able to do all of those things when he says,Though you untie the winds and let them fightAgainst churches, though the yeasty wavesConfound and swallow navigation up,Though bladed corn be lodged and trees blownDown . . . answer meTo what I ask you (4.1.52-55).It was believed that to become a witch, a woman had to sell her soul to the devil, " . . . who later presented each new witch with a familiar, a devil in the form of a . . . small animal" (Eaton xxxiv). An animal with no tail was the distinguishing...
