Although Macbeth is not classed as being a supernatural play or a play of the occult, there are some elements in the play that Shakespeare uses to effect. It is necessary however, to define what is meant by the terms ‘occult’ and ‘supernatural’: the term ‘occult’ is defined as being ‘supernatural beliefs, practises or phenomenon’ and the term ‘supernatural’ is defined as being ‘attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature’; both these terms can be associated with gothic writing. Gothic writing usually involves elements that invoke a feeling of fear, repulsion and abhorrence from its readers or audience. Writers use imagery of the supernatural to achieve this effect, for example in Shelley’s Frankenstein the descriptions of Frankenstein’s creature: language and imagery here being used to invoke the emotion of fear.
In the opening scene of Macbeth Shakespeare presents the audience with ‘a blasted heath’ at which point enter the three witches. This dramatic opening to the play immediately sets the tone for the opening scene and the appearance of the witches further contributes to this dramatic effect. The opening line in Macbeth is “When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” The use of weather conditions ‘thunder, lightning and rain’ allow the audience to associate the negative emotions invoked by this weather with the characters of the witches. To an Elizabethan audience these witches would have seemed extremely frightening, as women were burned at the stake after being accused of being a witch, however nowadays we are desensitised to elements of the supernatural such as witches, therefore the intended effect by Shakespeare would have less impact on a modern audience than...
... middle of paper ...
...ving a serious impact on the audience invoking fear and terror. These supernatural elements, combined with Shakespeare’s use of language and possible stagecraft, will have a dramatic effect on the audience as Shakespeare intended.
In conclusion, supernatural elements feature throughout Macbeth, from the witches to apparitions and daggers. The only elements of the occult present in Macbeth, if we are to abide by the given definition, are the characters of the witches. In order for the dramatic effect that Shakespeare intended for the play to have on its audience, which it did in front of an Elizabethan audience, then a heavy amount of stagecraft concerning costumes, scenery and props will have to be applied to the performance.
Works Cited
Oxford Dictionary of English : Catherine Soanes, Editor (OUP, 2005)
Macbeth : William Shakespeare (CollinsEducational, 1995)
Some pieces of literature are said to rely on the use of supernatural events to allow the plot to advance or to provide foreshadowing. An example of this would be one of Shakespeare’s plays, The Tragedy of Macbeth. Shakespeare applies many magical events, because it gives the play some more depth and to extract out the reader’s emotions. However, in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a play also written by Shakespeare, while it does have a few moments, its uses are only intended for indicating how the amount of tragedy sums up and how affecting it is. Shakespeare is not only known for adding in unnatural events, but he also uses his own unique style of writing to express the story through his own views. Throughout the play, The Tragedy of Julius
The legendary plot of Macbeth, like those of many Shakespearean plays, relies heavily on the influence of the supernatural. The play itself reflects on the dark inane tendencies of humans to be evil, especially when faced with a thirst for power. Throughout its course, the reader is able to witness a man’s transformation from a brave soldier to a murdering madman. Without the impact of certain apparitions, hallucinations, and three bearded witches, the events of the story would not have unfolded as they did. The root evil is first planted in the minds of two ambitious people, creating in their minds a projection of how things will turn out. Unbeknownst to our two leading lunatics, the eventual outcome of the play will not be the scenario drawn up in their twisted minds.
In the play of Macbeth we notice the works of how the supernatural can control or change
William Shakespeare, in my opinion starts the play off with supernatural beliefs. The first of characters to speak are the three witches. I feel that the witches are a supernatural element that Shakespeare used. The introduction of the witches depicts the plan they had to meet Macbeth. I would describe the witches as a set of mysterious characters that plot mischief against Macbeth using things such as the apparitions. There predictions are what I think caused Macbeth to par...
These unknown forces can cause great stress and fear causing changes on regular human behavior. In the Shakespearean play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the theme of the Supernatural and its effect on human behavior is ubiquitous throughout; this theme occurs in the weird sister 's manipulation of Macbeth, the appearance of Banquo 's ghost and the three prophecies.
" This creates a feeling of unrest and tension in the audience, as we can tell that the supernatural is going to be used in the representation of evil. Shakespeare constantly describes the weather - "The mist thins", which gives a vivid picture of the scenery and atmosphere. The gloomy, dark side of nature and the weather is always referred to; it seems that Shakespeare is trying to show how the weather is in union with the Witches, covering and hiding them when they wish to be unnoticed- "They stop suddenly, and a mist hides them. Enter Macbeth and Banquo." "The mist thickens.
If a picture tells a thousand words, than imagine the importance of an image upon a play such as Macbeth. In any literary work, it is extremely important that the author can effectively manipulate a reader's feelings towards a character. In Macbeth, that feat is accomplished magnificently by Shakespeare. Through his skillful use of imagery, Shakespeare shows us a deeper look into the true character of Macbeth. Though imagery is widespread throughout Macbeth, it is most dominant in clothing imagery, light and darkness imagery, and blood imagery. Through these images,
Macbeth experiences his first strange encounter of the supernatural when he meets the three witches in Act 1, Scene 1. The witches greet Macbeth by saying "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!" (1.1). The witches insinuate the idea of power, and by doing that, push Macbeth to the next level of greed and evil that did not exist prior to the supernatural encounter.
Truly, Shakespeare wonderfully used superstition and the supernatural to create a masterful literary work. As Ribner said “ We find Shakespeare approaching the matter of history with a surer hand, and out of it creating tragedy of a singular power” (Ribner 58). He accomplished his ultimate goal of using superstition to foreshadow important plot events, to delve deeper into character’s personalities, and to create excitement among the audiences of the Elizabethan era.
As the play continues the supernatural is used more. Act 1 Scene 3 is Macbeth’s first meeting with the witches, and is also the first time the audience sees or experiences the witches’ supernatural abilities.
From the very beginning of the play the witches are planning to give Macbeth the news of his future and so lead to his downfall. They speak to each other about their next action, to meet with Macbeth. The setting in which Shakespeare first presents the witches is On the Moor with thunder and lightening in the background. It is unusual the way the three witches meet in a storm. This atmosphere implies that the witches are frightening and its very location ‘On the Moor’ a remote and isolated waste land area, gives a scary feeling.
In both Hamlet and Macbeth, the supernatural plays a very important role. Supernatural elements are crucial to the plot and they also have a more thematic part as well. Shakespeare presents the ghost in Hamlet, and the witches and ghost in Macbeth, as disrupting elements that not only enhance drama, but also tear apart the existing order of things. They force the title character of each play to undergo their own internal struggle that grows from their insecurity of living up to the image of a man.
The deliberately ambiguous apparitions play on Macbeth’s hubris and they make him feel so overconfident that he feels invincible and unstoppable. In his castle, Macbeth jokes that he will never fail “till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane” (V.iii.2) thinking that the apparition literally means that the forest will pick itself up and move to Dunsinane which he thinks is impossible despite all the supernatural events he has experienced. However, the forest does not move by itself but it does move to Dunsinane because of Malcolm’s ingenious strategy. As Malcolm approaches Macbeth’s castle with the English forces, he orders each soldier to cut off the branches of the trees of Birnam Wood to use as camouflage. This greatly contributes to Macbeth’s downfall since he was nowhere near ready for an invasion of the English forces. However, because of his hubris, he is still confident that he is unstoppable as he believes no one “borne a woman” (V.iii.6) can harm him. Unbeknown to him, Macduff was born through a caesarean section and thus not “borne” so much as “taken” from a woman. This lack of access to the entire truth sees Macbeth eventually
As the play begins, we are introduced to the witches. They speak in rhyming couplets, just as all supernatural elements in Shakespeare’s work do. This could have been to let the audience, which would have been aware of this technique, that the witches are in fact, or simply appear magical. The stage directions indicate “thunder and lightning,” every time the witches appear, this same stage direction is given throughout the play to set the intended atmosphere, this is pathetic fallacy.
In the opening scene of the play, the entrance of the three witches depicts the first presence of supernatural in Macbeth. The presence of the supernatural forces of the witches was accompanied by the dark, gloomy and thunderous ambience, perhaps functioning as a foreshadowing of future events that involves evil, wickedness and darkness. This is important as it gives the audience an idea of what might happen later in the play. For example, we see that later on in the play, Macbeth turned evil and wicked, killing an old and honourable King Duncan and a loyal friend, Banquo. I take particular note of the significance of darkness as it was later used by Macbeth when he calls upon the "seeling Night" (Act III. Scene ii. Line 46) which `makes clear vision impossible', as a way to cover up his evil deeds. Foreshadowing of `evilness' which is also a theme in the play is also created when the witches, before leaving the first scene, cried in unison that "Fair is foul and foul is fair" (Act I. Scene ii. Line 11). This line suggests and gives the audience a foreshadow that ...