As in Wagner's Circle, ancient pagan cultures often represented the three mythological Norns, with their transcendent knowledge, as representatives of "holy things": nature in its the most serene and sublime form. (Vorspiel). In Christian interpretation, however, due to theists' aversion to knowledge as a progenitor of sinful ambition, the Norns are affiliated with Satan. Indeed, Genesis 3 and Macbeth are allegorical representations of the fall of man resulting from the loss of innocence. In Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates that knowledge inspires reckless ambition which, in the fallibility of humanity, is doomed to suppress morality in favor of selfish desire. First, the characters of the three Weird Sisters symbolize Satan, using knowledge to bring unnecessary suffering into the world. Second, the character of Lady Macbeth, symbol of Eve, goes mad as a result of an intrapersonal conflict. Finally, the character of Macbeth symbolizes Adam, rejecting morality and God, embracing nihilism, and ultimately doomed to a Faustian death. Thus, through the witches' prophecies, the collapse of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's nihilistic rejection of life, Shakespeare demonstrates in his play Macbeth that knowledge is essentially satanic: a solid moral basis is necessary to restrain ambition. and the immorality it engenders. The three strange sisters, or as Tolman explains, the “Norns of the past, present, and future,” embody the knowledge used to bring about the downfall of man (92). The Sisters are not realistic characters per se, but are constant and unchanging, suggesting a spiritual and demonic level of being. To begin with, the strange sisters are shown, the result of an obviously Mephistophelian exchange...... middle of paper ...... the boundary of Good and Evil has indeed produced the lustful fall of man, but it was in Christ that God fulfilled the covenant. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (King James Version, 1 Cor. 15:22). Works Cited 1 Corinthians. The Bible: Authorized King James Version. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print. Hudson, Henry Norman. Harvard Shakespeare. Boston: Ginn & Heath, 1880. Print. Rolfe, William J. Introduction. The Tragedy of Macbeth by Shakespeare. Harper and brothers, 1877. 9-42. Print.Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Ken Roy. Toronto, Ontario: Harcourt Brace, 1988. Print. Tolman, Albert Harris. Notes on Macbeth. Baltimore: American Modern Language Association, 1896. Print. Wagner, Richard. Gotterdammerung: Musical drama in three acts (five scenes) and prologue. Trans. Rodolphe Sabor. New York: G. Schirmer, 1960. Print.