The Authenticity of Hecate in MacbethThe problem of the authenticity of Hecate in Macbeth continues. Recent reviews still question whether the scenes are Shakespearean, why they are or not, and what the implications are one way or the other. Some critics cling to the Folio's authenticity while others brandish their copies of Middleton's “The Witch” in protest. The modern director and reader will then find no clear guidance to read or not to read from textual scholarship. Instead, would-be travelers into Macbeth's world would be wise to consider their options and ask specifically: What does Hecate add to her appearance, and what impact do these additions have on the play? Some critics have made the mistake of trying to dismiss Hecate as an attractive character. girl who sings and dances. In his Introduction to Macbeth, editor Kenneth Muir remarks: "The Hecate passages were clearly invented to introduce the songs and Middleton is generally blamed for these insertions" (xxxiii). But more recent critics like Henri Suhamy take offense at both the form and substance of this argument. Suhamy notes: “the direction printed in italics in the Folio, after line 33 (III,v) – “Musicke, and a Song” – does not mention any identifiable song, contrary to what is indicated by most editors” ( 274). Stallybrass also seems to believe that Hecate is there to dance, but at least he gives her a particularly important figure: "the dance of Hecate and the six witches gives a concrete dramatization of the 'unnamed act' (IV.i. 49) which overturns the entire order of “Nature”” (200). What Hecate's interpolation actually provides, however, is order and much more: balance, authority, direction, and reason are all part of the substance it provides. ....... middle of paper ......ology. Minor works in prose. Ed. James Craigie. Edinburgh: Scottish Text Society, 1982. Muir, Kenneth. " Introduction ". visual effects in Macbeth. " In Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. Boston: Routledge, 1982. Perkins, William. The Damned Art of Witchcraft. (xeroxed copy) Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Kenneth Muir. New York: Routledge, 1992. Stallybrass, Peter. “Macbeth and Witchcraft.” Focus on Macbeth. Boston: Routledge, 1982. “The Authenticity of the Hecate Scenes in Macbeth: Arguments.” In FrenchEssays on Shakespeare and his contemporaries: "What would France do with us?" Ed. Jean Marie Maguin and Michele Willems.Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1995.