The Supernatural in Macbeth
Everyone has a slightly different interpretation of the supernatural but the interpretation which we can start with is Shakespeare’s. Everyone of Shakespeare’s time found the supernatural fascinating. Shakespeare interpreted the supernatural as witches, magic, unnatural and evil and he expressed his beliefs in the play, “Macbeth” very clearly, as he portrayed the three deformed women with control over the weather and the ability to predict the future. These three evil witches with magical powers were the creation of Shakespeare’s interpretation of the supernatural. Shakespeare’s contemporaries believed in the supernatural very strongly and a majority of them were frightened of it, including the king of that time, King James I of England.
The witches have a strong effect on Macbeth's character; they highly influence him in his accomplishments and awake his ambitions. They give Macbeth a false sense of security with their apparitions of truths. Instead they prove to be harmful for Macbeth who takes too much comfort and confidence in his interpretation of the truths. They are the ones who plant the actual idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth's mind. But if it were only the witches prophecies, then Macbeth surely would not have murdered the king. 'When you durst to do it, then you were a man,' (Macbeth, Shakespeare Act 1 Scene 7) Lady Macbeth's constant harassment pushed Macbeth and made him commit all this evil. When you reason things out by yourself you tend to now what is right and what is wrong, a conscience. But with the outside influence from the witches he thinks that that is his destiny and he must do everything to fulfill it. One can wonder if Macbeth ever had a chance of doing what was right after he met with the witches. He is overthrown and killed. Through his own ambitions, the ambition of his wife and the witches' prophesies, Macbeth has caused his own destruction and downfall. We can now clearly see that ambition not achieved through our own ability leads to destruction. 'Hail Thane of Glamis and of Cawdor and shalt be King hereafter'. (Act 1 Scene 3) These prophecies from three strangers are taken without question and probably without good judgment. Just the thought that he may be King clouds his thoughts and ambition takes over. The witches can predict the future, they can add temptation, and influence Macbeth, but they cannot control his destiny.
Myths and religions often include divine or devilish beings with incredible powers. William Shakespeare incorporated witches with bizarre powers in his play, Macbeth. These witches possessed devilish powers to set the course of events in the plot and added to the flavor of the story. The witches' powers included omnientness, vision and apparition creation, and the ability to set the conditions for disaster, and the utilization of these abilities sets the movement of the play.
The Supernatural in William Shakespeare's Macbeth
In Macbeth the supernatural is used to entertain and terrify the
audience. Supernatural things are those that do not belong in the
natural world. In Elizabethan times, people were so terrified of the
supernatural because they believed that there was a natural order
which effectively governed the universe, and when this order was
misaligned things would start to go very wrong. For instance, were a
Thane to kill a king and then become king, he would have changed the
natural order and thus strange things would happen, and in Macbeth
they did – horses started eating each other and weather became very
irregular. Today we are not terrified in the same way by the
supernatural.
The Supernatural in William Shakespeare's Macbeth
Supernatural happenings are out of the ordinary and unexplainable in
the natural world, for example ghosts and witches which both play an
important part in Macbeth. In Shakespeare's day, many people believed
in witches and prophecies. It was said that supernatural happenings
were from the devil and some people even got killed because they were
said to be evil. Shakespeare's play Macbeth has many mysteries and
actions that were thought to be supernatural, which could be either
supernatural or real. I am going to write about the different
supernatural happenings in Macbeth, each of them leading Macbeth to
act sinfully.
The Supernatural in William Shakespeare's Macbeth
Macbeth is a play in which moral themes are divided into good and
evil. The narrative of the play is simple. There is clearly distinction
the images of good and bad. ' Fair is Foul' is both a statement about
the weird sisters' moral preferences.
In the play of Macbeth we notice the works of how the supernatural can control or change
Shakespeare's Use of the Supernatural in Macbeth
The supernatural is widely used in Macbeth, and covers major sections
of it. It is used to generate interest, and to provoke thought and
controversy.
At the time the play was written, James the 1st was the English
monarch. James the 1st was originally James the 4th on the Scottish
throne, until there was a union of crowns between England and Scotland
in the late 16th century. Shakespeare wrote the play for him, so the
play Macbeth is popularly known as 'the Scottish play'.
The Importance of the Supernatural in Macbeth by William Shakespeare
The supernatural is to play an essential part in the play 'Macbeth';
this is made clear from the first paragraph of the play, when the
three witches are introduced. It is represented in many different
forms, mainly: the witches, the dagger and the ghost of Banquo.
Shakespeare's use of imagery and creative language in the play creates
tension, fear and clearly displays the importance of the supernatural
theme.
At the start of the play, the supernatural is disguised in the form of
nature, in this case a storm. Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to
describe the strong force of nature- "Thunder and lightning - Enter
three Witches.
The Role of the Supernatural in William Shakespeare's Macbeth
Living in the 21st century, ideas such as ghosts and witches seem
ridiculous to many people in everyway and many people would agree when
said that supernatural elements were much more effective back during
Shakespeare's time than it is today, but why did he include so much
supernatural material?
Before Christianity came about the Elizabethan way of thinking in the
17th century was an overall good vs. evil world and people often used
witches to answer the questions regarding evil and all things linked
within that. This was because during Shakespeare's time, people
struggled to understand life and the world itself. After Christianity
was found, witches were known to be in league with the devil.
Agnes Sampson was a witch supposedly Scottish.