Influence of Supernatural on William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Influence of Supernatural on William Shakespeare's Macbeth

During Shakespeare's time people were frightened of witches as they

were associated with evil. Many people were accuse of being witches

and automatically burnt at the stake. Some of these people were old,

deformed in some or people who were living alone, therefore considered

as abnormal and a threat to society. Witchcraft was taken very

seriously which probably made this play extremely interesting for

people in Shakespeare times as it also settled peoples views of

witches at the time.

Shakespeare has chosen to open the play with the witches on a moor in

thunder and lightening. He has done this to grip his audience from the

beginning and use the witches to play on their fears and emotions.

People at the time believed that witches had the ability to predict

the future, fly, create storms, fog and mist, shorten the hours of

day, appear and disappear, posses people or cause them to be possessed

by the devil and put curses on people which could make them ill and

kill them. Almost all of these powers were used by the witches in the

play.

For example in the opening scene when the witches were in thunder and

lightening also the storms they caused the night of Duncen's death and

how they shortened the hours of day.

When thinking about the influence of the supernatural in Macbeth, I

think it is also important to consider the concept known as the

"Divine Right of Kings," which states that the king has been chosen to

reign by God. Any attempt to remove him from power is therefore an act

against the natural order of life and therefore against God. This

shows the importance of Duncan's murder being started by a

supernatural, unholy source - the witches - as this would make sense

to a Shakespearean audience. Which would also explain why Shakespeare

chose to begin the play with the witches as without them regicide

would not have been justified by the Shakespearean audience.

Shakespeare might have chosen to begin the play with the witches also