Examine The Role Of The Supernatural In

Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

Examine the role of the supernatural in Macbeth.

I am going to examine the role of the supernatural in Macbeth by looking at the main characters, the witches, and apparitions and the way that they affect Macbeth.

During Shakespeare.s time many people were superstitious and believed in witches, ghosts and other supernatural beings. This is greatly reflected in .Macbeth.

By the late 1550.s Shakespeare had established himself as a playwright. In 1599 he and six other associates founded the globe theatre. The new theatre was an open playhouse in London. Shakespeare and the six others called themselves the .kings Men. they called themselves this with the permission of King James 1.

Summary

Macbeth is a great tragedy that bounds together light and darkness, good and evil, jealousy, guilt, fate and fear. These themes recur throughout the text and without them .Macbeth. would have been a dull, lifeless play. The use of the witches, visions, the hallucinations, sleep, ghosts and apparitions are all key elements of the supernatural themes in the play and the use of each dramatically influences the style which causes the play to be more interesting, it seems to really bring it to life. The supernatural is also a key feature throughout the play. The first encounter is at the very beginning in Act one Scene one. Probably one of the most important lines in the entire play is said here.

.When the battles lost and won.

Although this says that every battle is lost by one side and won by another there is also the fact that not all winners are wholly victorious. In other words Shakespeare is saying that although Macbeth will win the battle his soul will be lost. Little does the audience know at the beginning, yet this is exactly what happens.

At the beginning of the play Macbeth is told that he will be king, From then on the use of the supernatural is increased as Macbeth is relying on the prophecies that are brought to him by the three witches. As Macbeth is relying on them it seems that the witches are capable of leading people to death. This is shown in Act one Scene three when they talk about the sailor who never slept.

.Here I have a pilots thumb

wreck`d as homeward he did come..

The image of the bloody knife before Macbeth causes Macbeth to be brutal cold hearted and cause the murder that immediately follows. Blood is a recurring image in this play to denote guilt. Lady Macbeth frets in her sleep of not being able to wash the blood off of her hands since she feels so guilty about the murder.

The two main characters of the play are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, they are strong characters and they are also well developed. Macbeth at the beginning of the play is an extremely strong ambitious character, yet throughout the play his character deteriorates into a feeble useless man that seems to have betrayed everyone, including his king to whom he was once a loyal servant. He becomes cold and even more ambitious after the murder, which consequently becomes full of fear and guilt, which causes him to commit the murder of Banquo and the rest of the heirs to the throne. It seems that Macbeth is being over confident which leads to his world falling apart subsequently leading to death. Lady Macbeth at the beginning of the play is a wonderful character, similar in strength and direction to Macbeth. Yet perhaps she is stronger than Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is strong, faithful and ambitious. In the early part of the play Lady Macbeth has to convince Macbeth that it is a good idea to kill the King Duncan. Yet after the murder has been committed she changes and becomes frightened and regrets what she has done this causes her to act extremely suspiciously further on in the play where she comes to the point of insanity where she sleepwalks and eventually commits suicide.

.Out damned spot out

I say one; two why

Then tis time to do.t

Hel is murky fie my lord Fie

A substantial amount of speeches in the text are not directly spoken from the character to the audience, but spoken in soliloquy. This adds to the power of the play giving the audience a sense of knowing what is going on, and what the character is feeling yet the rest of the characters do not. In the speeches they make it obvious that fate will come. This is shown particularly well by the witches. The witches not only add to the supernatural, they also act as narrators and give the audience insight in to what will happen further on in the play.

There are many scenes throughout the text which play key roles in the supernatural aspect. Just before Macbeth is about to commit the murder of Duncan he sees a dagger covered in blood.

.is this a dagger which I see before me The handle toward

my hand. Come, let me clutch thee

These visions seem to greatly trouble Macbeth. It is as though if he is to follow the dagger, there will be no turning back.

Once the murder has been committed Banquo has suspicions about Macbeth killing King Duncan in order to obtain the throne.

There is far more guilt inside Macbeth than Lady Macbeth, as they think that Banquo is suspicious they have a banquet and invite Banquo to it in order to divert his suspicions. Prior to this Macbeth however meets Banquo and says

.tonight we hold

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