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Supernatural Elements Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare Essay

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Whether or not someone accepts the supernatural does not mean it does not exist for another. The power of the supernatural is something that has been around since civilization began because people recognized there was something beyond their control. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is confronted with supernatural firsthand, however, they were viewed as forces of evil. Although the witches, the ghosts, the prophecies, and all the other supernatural elements in the play are dramatized and feared, they represent how society has come to transition away from viewing these supernatural manifestations negatively. In Shakespeare’s era, the pure belief in the supernatural was much more widely expressed but not accepted. Macbeth shows that Shakespeare wrote not only for entertaining audiences but also for playing on the widespread fear of the supernatural. I think that this play being so heavily doused in supernatural elements suggests that he wanted to use these beliefs, whether or not he personally believed in them. I think that while he is playing with these ideas, they hold at least some truth for us now because of the way we interpret what Shakespeare was interpreting. For Macbeth, the witches and the role of their prophecy was hugely instrumental because of the stakes for him. When we transport ourselves into Macbeth’s shoes, maybe not his time, we can see how anybody would be less likely to take the prophecy with a grain of salt. Maybe we would not exactly go to the lengths

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