- Wyrd Sisters
infobox Discworld|id=6th novel – 2nd Witches story
characters=Granny Weatherwax Nanny Ogg Magrat Garlick
Verence the Fool
locations=Lancre
motifs=Shakespeare, especiallyMacbeth andHamlet
year=1988
publisher=Victor Gollancz
ISBNH=ISBN 0-575-04363-6
ISBNP=ISBN 0-552-13460-0
awards=
notes=Came 135th in theBig Read .
One of two books made into an animated film.
Adapted as a play byStephen Briggs ."Wyrd Sisters" is
Terry Pratchett 's sixth "Discworld " novel, published in 1988, and re-introducesGranny Weatherwax of "Equal Rites ".Plot summary
"Wyrd Sisters" features three witches:
Granny Weatherwax ;Nanny Ogg , matriarch of a large tribe of Oggs, who owns the most evil cat in the world, (Greebo ); andMagrat Garlick , the junior witch, who firmly believes in occult jewellery, covens and bubbling cauldrons, much to the annoyance of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg.King Verence I of
Lancre is murdered by his cousin, Duke Felmet, and the King's crown and a baby are given by an escaping servant to the three witches. The witches hand the crown and the child to a troupe of travelling actors, acknowledging that destiny will eventually take its course and Tomjon will grow up to defeat Duke Felmet.However, the kingdom is angry and doesn't want to wait 15 years so the witches move it forward in time. Meanwhile, the duke has decided to get a play written and performed that is favourable to him so he sends the jester to Ankh-Morpork to recruit the same travelling (now stationary) company that Tomjon is in.
The only problem is that Tomjon does not want to be king. Luckily, the jester turns out to be his brother and he becomes king instead.
Ideas and Themes
The plot of "Wyrd Sisters" is largely a
homage toWilliam Shakespeare 's tragedy "Macbeth ". The book's first line of dialogue is the first line of the play, in similar circumstances ("When shall we three meet again?", spoken by one of three witches on a stormy night). Further references include Duke Felmet's desperate attempts to wash the blood from his hand.The book also contains references and allusions to Shakespeare's other works, and to Shakespeare's own life. Olwyn Vitoller's acting company builds a theater they name "The Dysk" (after the
Globe Theatre ), and the company's plays include lines that allude to or are outright borrowed from Shakespeare's works.The overall theme of "Wyrd Sisters" concerns the effect words can have on reality. [ [http://www.rambles.net/pratchett_wyrd.html Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters ] ] This idea is explicitly stated by the Fool, who says that "the past is what people remember, and memories are words. Who knows how a king behaved a thousand years ago? There is only recollection, and stories." Duke and Lady Felmet then commission a play to serve as
propaganda , portraying the witches of Lancre and the former king as evil, and the duke as virtuous.Continuity
The sequel to
Equal Rites .Adaptations
There has been an animated version and a 4-part
BBC Radio 4 dramatisation, as well as a play adaptation byStephen Briggs , who has written a new adaptation to mark Discworld's 25th Anniversary. [http://www.studiotheatreclub.com/currentplans.html]Translations
ee also
*
Wyrd External links
* [http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/wyrd-sisters.html Annotations for "Wyrd Sisters"]
* [http://www.lspace.org/books/pqf/wyrd-sisters.html Quotes from "Wyrd Sisters"]
* [http://www.lspace.org/books/synopses/wyrd-sisters.html Synopsis of "Wyrd Sisters"]References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
