Spirits In Macbeth

From the beginning, Macbeth chose to follow the witches instead of letting things just naturally occur. Banquo serves to show how the predictions were not just destiny and did not control his life. Even when he sees that many are becoming true, he states, "may they (witches) not be my oracles"(Act III, sc.i, 9). He is stating that he will just let events occur and not try to fulfill the prophecies. Macbeth also had this same choice. If he had taken the same approach as Banquo, a claim could be made that it was destiny that Macbeth would murder Duncan. However, Macbeth lived on account of the prophecies, not the reverse.

  More than a few elements of the supernatural can be discovered within the action and dialogue of Shakespeare's plays.  However, the extent and nature of those elements differs to a large degree.  There are traces of it to be found in Henry V, "Pardon, gentles all,/The flat unraised spirit that hath dar'd...to bring forth/So great and object" (Lucy  1).   There are also elements of it apparent in Winter's Tale, "What I did not well I meant well" (Lucy  1).  The supernatural is used most fearsomely in Hamlet, with the ghost of Hamlet's father representing the most frightening apparition in all of the Bard's plays.  However, the supernatural is used to an almost whimsical degree in  A

“The supernatural is the natural not yet understood.” (Elbert Hubbard) Within the realm of Williams Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, supernatural elements play a prevalent role throughout the telling of the tragedy. Created in a time period in which fear of the unknown ran high and belief in the supernatural was rampant, the incorporation of mystical components resulted in a compelling story for the people of the Elizabethan era. Moving forward into the modern age, today we can see that the paranormal is not only a captivating aspect of the play, but a crucial piece in determining the end result of the production. Integral to the sequence of events that occur, the supernatural is a motif that acts as a major driving force throughout the play, influencing various themes and subjects. Without it, many of the characters would lack the proper motivation to commit the actions that they did. With the arrival of supernatural characters, an air of suspense and dramatic atmosphere is created, as all otherworldly beings appear to play a pivotal role in the drama. The Three Witches first appear in Act 1, and from the start, it is evident that they play a crucial role in influencing the actions of characters such as Macbeth and Banquo. This allows the supernatural to have a strong effect on the theme of ambition, as powerful desires to achieve an outcome are invoked within characters following the proclamation of prophecies. In addition, the

The supernatural has always fascinated and continues to intrigue mankind. In many of Shakespeare’s plays, he uses the supernatural to strengthen a particular scene or to influence the impression the audience has about someone or something. This was not strange or uncommon in Shakespeare’s time. In fact, during the 1500s, many people still believed in witches and witchcraft. Even in today’s society, with such advanced science and technology, many people are still influenced, if not dictated by the supernatural. For example, religious people have the belief that their saviour, Jesus Christ was a man of many miracles; one of which was he turned water into wine. Despite the fact that it

From witches to apparitions, supernatural elements are the constituents of the play, Macbeth. The supernatural occurrences served as role as a manifestation of evil temptations that seduced Macbeth into murdering, even his own comrades. Macbeth’s first meet with the supernatural was the ignition of his ambition to kill for his own success; the second encounter of the supernatural allowed his sanity and judgment to wander off to a murderer’s mind with the basis of his before gained ambition. Supernatural’s third fated meeting with Macbeth had left him the unbearable token of guilt and insecurity in which compelled him to act in a petrified way during his banquet. The last meeting ultimately left Macbeth with the evading thought of killing

An important question every serious reader of Macbeth will probably ask himself at one point is, would Macbeth have killed Duncan and become king if the witches hadn’t tell him he would? Even though we do not get to know Macbeth before he is revealed such crucial prophecy we have no indication to think that he had serious aspirations to the throne before that. Yet it seems as if “The Sisters of Destiny” knew that if they made Macbeth aware of his fate he would by instinct seek for the throne. This means their prophecy cannot be considered a true, complete one, as it needs its own existence to be fulfilled. If we try to look, once again, for the motive of the witches’ revelation we reach a dead end. Apparently the witches do so without an aim or reason at all, fact which adds to the great

If Macbeth didn’t know about this prophecy he would have happily took his position as Thane of Cawdor, but knowing he will be King drove him to commit murder. Macbeth was rapidly changed from an honorable general to an evil tyrant. “The witches did not tell him to commit murder; all that was necessary was for them to suggest the fact of the crown, and they could trust Macbeth to overcome the obstacles in his way just as they would have him” (Wiley, 45). This emphasizes the fact that the play is shaped by the supernatural. This lead to the murder of Duncan, then to get rid of his obstacles he kills the guards. The Witches also reveal “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (1.3.67) to Banquo. This knowledge leads Macbeth to send Murderers to kill Banquo and his son. This is more evidence to show that the words of the witches construct the plays events.

Many critics of William Shakespeare’s play, “Macbeth,” have argued no to use an actor for the part of Banquo’s ghost in Act III, scene IV of the tragedy. The ghost of Banquo should be filled by an actor to make the scene clearer, add detail, and add a powerful effect on the audience

In the beginning of the play, the witches make three prophecies. First, that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor. The second part of the prophecy is that Macbeth will become King. The third prophecy being that Banquo will be father to future kings. When Macbeth first hears the prophecy, Duncan holds the position as king. King duncan is also a very loved king by his people. Macbeth and Duncan even have a good relationship. Macbeth is Duncan’s greatest war hero and because of Macbeth’s great success in battle, Duncan rewards him by promoting him to the position of Thane of Cawdor. With this promotion, Macbeth realizes that the witches first prophecy was true. With this realization, Macbeth’s head begins to fill with thoughts of killing King Duncan to speed up the process so that he can become king. When he tells his wife of the prophecies and his promotion, she becomes extremely

The supernatural contributes significantly to the story in the thrilling play Macbeth, written by Shakespeare. The paranormal signs and powers show considerable overlap with insanity in the case of several characters throughout the play. The superhuman agents that appear or contacted in the play are used for evil purposes in almost all the cases, and are predominantly resulting in the death of a human being. First of all, the three witches are using supernatural powers throughout the play to achieve their baleful plan. In the beginning of the play, the three witches are murmuring incantations for perpetrating metaphysical communications escorted by the supernatural agents. The

Abraham Maslow once said, “We need not take refuge in supernatural gods to explain our saints and sages and heroes and statesmen, as if to explain our disbelief that mere unaided human beings could be that good or wise.” In an odd way, this applies to William Shakespeare’s tragedies. Shakespeare seemed to frequently fall back on the use of supernatural elements in order to pull his plays together. He would turn to them for aid in his story telling and use them to further explain the scenes that were taking place, and that would eventually take place. By tying the supernatural world into his plays, Shakespeare was able to draw in his audience and keep them entertained. Because pieces of his plot were able to apply to their lives, the audience members were captivated by it; therefore, William Shakespeare was a genius for that. However, by using elements of the supernatural, such as the three witch’s in Macbeth sharing their prophecies, Shakespeare is able to tie in religion. In Elizabethan England the religious beliefs would frequently flip-flop between Catholic and Protestant, two religions that were similar yet different; however, a major point that is stressed in the Bible is that there is to be no communicating with the dead. It’s forbidden by the highest power of them all… God.

The supernatural gave Macbeth the ambition and push to kill or conquer whatever he sought to accomplish. In the very beginning Macbeth sought after the supernatural for the right thing to do even against his morals and ethics. He also had their prophecies lead him to death of the tragic hero during the novel Tragedy of Macbeth made by William Shakespeare. Macbeth let the supernatural get involved with every decision he made which lead to the ruin of those around him also. From the ghost, three witches, apparitions and visions it took a total on Macbeth’s story.

In the play, there were many thrilling segments which could be focused on due to the suspense and involvement of the supernatural. The use of the witches, the visions, the ghost and the apparition is key to making the idea of the plot work and it adds the elements of thrill and suspense to the audience. Reading through each act and scene of the play, it is noticed that the supernatural is in reality a primary concept of the play’s plot.

The witches appeared and told Macbeth that he would be king, Thane of cawdor, and that Banquo’s son would be king. But he doesn’t see the bad sides of all the prophecies that the witches are telling him. Macbeth is not worried or suspicious like Banquo is when he really should be. Banquo starts to think about how they randomly told them good things. Even though two of those things came true he still explains to Macbeth that there may be some disasters that might come with the good things. But he still does not think about the consequences he may face with the good things they are telling them. Macbeth also does not second guess anything.

From the time he first heard the witches prophecy, Macbeth liked the idea of becoming king, but his loyalty to the reigning King Duncan prevented him from taking any action. The mere thought of harming his king makes his hair stand on end (1.3.135), his heart pound (1.3.136), and his body tremble (1.3.140). This description of himself hardly sounds like a man planning to murder his beloved ruler in his sleep. This does, however, give a glimpse at the internal battle that Macbeth faces; his ambition craves for the prophecy to come true as soon as possible, even if that means some horrible deed committed on his part. His devotion to the king wins out and in lines 143 and 144 of Scene 3 in Act 1, Macbeth shows that he is unwilling to take action against his king to assure the