Shakespeare's Portrayal of the Supernatural in Macbeth
The supernatural plays a considerable part in Shakespeare's "Macbeth".
"Macbeth" is one o the well admired historical tragedies by William
Shakespeare. It is believed to be written in the reign of James 1,
Elizabethan times. At that, particular time suspected witches were
greatly concerned.
The play is about the rise and fall of the Scottish king Macbeth who
ruled Scotland between 1040 - 57AD. Macbeth and his wife are seen by
those who watch the play as evil partners, ruthless murderers who
began as a normal couple but who took the wrong track led by their
evil thoughts.
Throughout the play, the audience is never sure exactly how far the
witches' control lasts. For example, what were the witches doing? In
addition, from where did the dagger and Lady Macbeth spot come from?
Here Shakespeare is suggesting that a mere mortal mind cannot
comprehend the awesome evil transpiring before them.
Lady Macbeth first hears about the witches predictions in a letter
from Macbeth and she's immediately intrigued. She first brings up
spirits on what she says.
"Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear."
Once the messenger had gone, Lady Macbeth went on to deliver one of
the most disturbing and supernatural speeches in the play. She wants
to kill king Duncan but doesn't have the heart to, so she asks the
sprits to possess her, to wipe all trace of good and conscience from
her.
"Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts unsex me here,"
She then goes on to say entirely weird things that suggest she wants
to be mentally stronger,
"Make thick my blood"
She is asking the evil sprits to
"Come to my woman's breasts and take milk for gall."
What Lady Macbeth is saying involves the supernatural and she has
obviously been sparked off by the witches predictions as she makes
decisions very quickly, and always has a quick answer to persuade,
when she was encouraging Macbeth to kill
Priscilla Asante J. Cousineau ENG 2D 21 December 2017 Influential Characters in Macbeth The author Napoleon Hill once said, “Without a doubt, the most common weakness of all human beings is the habit of leaving their minds open to the negative influence of other people”(Napoleon Hill, Az quotes). One should be careful of the people they decide to surround themselves with because they could influence you while having a hidden agenda that could impact your life negatively. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the reader is introduced to the supernatural and Lady Macbeth. The supernatural deliver prophecies throughout the play to Macbeth.
Throughout William Shakespeare's Macbeth, many characters evolve and many disappear into the background. The main character, Macbeth, travels through utter chaos when he proclaims himself monarch. When he first meets the witches of the supernatural, they tell him of the future. One of the themes amplified throughout the play is the circle of life, from the beginning to the end. The visions provided by the three witches begin Macbeth's quest for dominance. The three main effects of this theme are: the death of Macbeth's friends and family. Second, the deaths of his mortal enemies. The last point is the death of himself. The supernatural amplifies the theme of death.
The Witches and & nbsp; Evil in Macbeth & nbsp; No discussion of evil in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth would be satisfactory without considering its’ most famous symbol of evil: the coven of witches whose interactions with Macbeth play such a vital role in his thinking about his own life. Banquo and Macbeth recognize them as something supernatural, part of the landscape but not fully human inhabitants of it. They have malicious intentions and prophetic powers. And yet they are not active agents in the sense that they do nothing other than talk and offer visions and potions. The witches have no power to compel.
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.
In the play of Macbeth we notice the works of how the supernatural can control or change
at the end of the play. In the RSC's version, the sword fight is done
to almost possess you is not a normal thing to do but the words do
How could anyone ever imagine what their life would be like if it was controlled by supernaturalism? After Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603, King James I took over. He’s in bloodline with Banquo and by the time Macbeth was written, King James I was incredibly skeptical of witches. He told his judges to be wary and to not be deceived of the supernatural. The play Macbeth, written by Shakespeare was dedicated to King James I and the dedication is seen through various parts of this play. Supernaturalism, such as the witches and apparitions, are what influence Macbeth into committing horrific actions.
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 last person you would expect to encourage you to commit a crime would be your wife. Macbeth is motivated by his wife and by three Witches and gradually becomes more ruthless, evil, and murderous as the play progresses.
In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, imagery plays a key role in the audience's understanding of the theme of the play. One type of imagery that is prevalent in the story is supernatural or unnatural imagery. With the sense of the supernatural and interference of the spirits, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are led to dangerous, tempting things. Macbeth's character changes dramatically from the brave soldier to the evil king. Lady Macbeth's character also changes from the loving wife and strong woman to the crazy, paranoid woman. Shakespeare uses witches, apparitions, ghosts, and other unnatural events to show the evil effects and consequences that interference by these forces is anything but good.
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.
In the English Renaissance, there was a strong belief in the existence of the supernatural. Thus, the supernatural is a recurring aspect in William Shakespeare 's Macbeth and is an integral and important part of the plot. The role of the supernatural in Macbeth is to bring out emotional reactions within Macbeth that cloud his judgement, affecting his actions which ultimately leads to his downfall. This is demonstrated through the ambiguous prophecies of the witches, the supernatural phenomenon that Macbeth sees, and the apparitions that foreshadow how he will meet his end.
The supernatural was a popular element in many of the plays written in Shakespeare's time (including Hamlet) and everyone of Shakespeare's time found the supernatural fascinating. Even King James I took a special interest in supernatural and written a book, Daemonologie, on witchcraft. It must be remembered that, in Shakespeare's day, supernatural referred to things that were "above Nature"; things which existed, but not part of the normal human life and unexplainable. The play Macbeth involves many supernatural actions that act as a catalyst for suspense and thrill, insight into character, foreshadowing of future events as well as making connections with the theme.
In the Shakespearean era, there was an eruption of superstition and alleged witchcraft. The people of that time had strong hatred for the ‘devil worshiping’ witches and had various trials and tests to determine their fate. Shakespeare used this as inspiration for his play ‘Macbeth’