terry pratchett's discworld wyrd sisters

In classic Discworld fashion, the book doesn’t pull many punches when making fun of monarchy, especially in the face of the usual romanticizing. Shakespeare having written a lot about royalty, it also plays heavily with the legends and beliefs behind the importance of kingship, those destined for it, and the power it grants. This is the first time (perhaps except Mort) that Pratchett has shifted the subject from that genre’s tropes to another that still works in the setting. The book’s parodying of Shakespeare’s plays supplants the usual jabs at the Fantasy genre. The works of Shakespeare are a particular subject in this novel, with a traveling theatre troupe playing a huge role, and story elements from the plays Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear being adapted as well. She is part of a coven with her old friend Nanny Ogg and a younger witch Magrat, the trio serving as a parody of the three witches from Macbeth, as well as a play on the archetype of the Crone, the Mother, and the Maiden. It is also the second book to focus on the Witches, reintroducing Granny Weatherwax, who first appeared in Equal Rites. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett is the sixth book in the Discworld series. But even she found that meddling in royal politics was a lot more complicated than certain playwrights would have you believe, particularly when the blood on your hands just won’t wash off and you’re facing a future with knives in it… Granny Weatherwax was the most highly-regarded of the leaders they didn’t have. Witches don’t’ have these kind of dynastic problems themselves – in fact, they don’t have leaders. A child heir and the crown of the kingdom both missing… A king cruelly murdered, his throne usurped by his ambitious cousin. Three witches gathered on a lonely heath.

Terry pratchett's discworld wyrd sisters