Supernatural Events In Macbeth

The Play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is shaped by supernatural forces with the use of the weird witches, the apparition of the ghost, and the floating dagger. These forces lead Macbeth to act in the way he did and add suspense to the play. The play opens with the three witches, and later on Macbeth and Banquo encounter them. They prophesized that Macbeth will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor, and then become King of Scotland. In addition to that, Banquo was told that his sons shall be kings, but never himself. Macbeth was skeptical about the prophesies, but until some of King Duncan’s men came to inform Macbeth that that he was to be named Thane of Cawdor due to the betrayal of the previous and condemned to death. Then Lady Macbeth

But the witches who could supposedly foretell the future, add temptation, and influence Macbeth. They had told Macbeth that he would be King he became impatient and tried to hurry it as quickly as he could. But they cannot control his destiny. Macbeth creates his own misery when he is driven by his own sense of guilt. This causes him to become insecure as to the reasons for his actions, which in turn causes him to commit more murders. The witches offer great enticement, but it is in the end, each individual’s decision to fall for the temptation, or to be strong enough to resist their captivation. The three Witches are only responsible for the introduction of these ideas and for further forming ideas in Macbeth head, but they are not responsible for his actions throughout the play.

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

    The aura of darkness, deception, and horror present in William Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, envelopes the entire play and is created mainly by the sense of violence and foreboding that is evoked by the imagery.  The dominant images of nature and the supernatural contribute to the atmosphere of this tragedy.  The predictions of the weird sisters, along with natural forces and supernatural images, have lead to chaos in Scotland due to their impact on the characters of the play, which brings about many delusions and deaths.

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there are many fascinating sections which could be focused on due to the suspense and the connection of the supernatural. The supernatural is what causes conflict in the play and the prophecies from the witches in act one scene three is the inciting action in the piece. The supernatural causes the forthcoming conflict by inspiring Macbeth to execute Duncan so he could become king of Scotland. Through temptation, the supernatural stimulates Macbeth to contemplate arrogantly and for his own advantage. The supernatural in Macbeth presents prophecies which tempt Macbeth with the idea of power. This leads Macbeth to contradict his faithful and courageous nature by planning an assassination on King Duncan with the egotistical intention of becoming king and later annihilating other characters in the play with the determination of retaining his own powers. Macbeth was tempted by the original prophecies and showed clear motivation to act upon them.

In this essay I am going to explore the use of the supernatural in the

In the story Macbeth written by William Shakespeare. The supernatural forces alter Macbeths ambitions which in turn causes his careless actions, therefore the ability to deceive is the ultimate factor of influence. Throughout the book there are many examples of influence both supernatural and not with in the story, first off the withes prophecies are what caused Macbeth to want to become King. They changed his ambitions from just being a loyal soldier into thinking he could actually become the king if he went through with killing the other king. The prophecies are what sparked his tyrant actions and deceived him into thinking he was also invincible through the second prophecy. His wife Lady Macbeth deceived him into thinking what he was doing

The supernatural elements presented in The Tragedy of Macbeth each demonstrate hints of wickedness or evil. For example, the three witches. When presented in the story, their presence always gives off bad vibes. In the exposition of the tragedy, the First Witch asks, “When shall we three meet again? / In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” (I:I, 1-2). The use of “thunder, lightning, or in rain” indicates to the reader of the malicious nature of the three witches. Upon encountering the three witches, Macbeth is astounded. Their prophecies alarm him, causing him to ask what they mean by “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (I:iii, 50). Many times, the paradoxes used by the witches confusing. In one scene, the witches appeal in favor of Banquo. The use of their paradox, “Not so happy, yet much happier,” indicates their intention of portraying things not as they really seem. (I:iii, 66). Meeting the three witches is Macbeth’s first step in losing his sanity. He struggles to differentiate what is real and what is not.

Thunder and lightning is used once again to open Act I Scene 3. As the

In Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare uses an underlying motif of the supernatural to control the characters and add a new dimension to the play.

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.

The three witches advance the use of dramatic irony throughout the entire play. First, the witches reveal to Macbeth that he can achieve the role of being king. In Act One, the witches say, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (1.3.50). Macbeth gullibly believes the prophecy, and from here on, his motives and ambitions change. Though he does eventually take the role as king, it does not result in the life he wished to have. Shortly after Macbeth is enthroned; the witches reveal three apparitions about him that cause him to believe he will remain a powerful king. The first apparition is an armed head that symbolizes that Macbeth should only beware of Macduff. The second shows a bloody child that means nobody born of a woman can ever harm Macbeth. The third is a child holding a tree which depicts that, “Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him” (4.1.87-90). These three apparitions boost the confidence in the king, and he believes he has nothing to fear. The predictions end up being true, but not at all what is expected. A summary, written by David Schlachter, explains how the witches bring suspense into the play. Schlachter says, “This irony would make the audience mistrust the witches in the back of their minds, and therefore, also put a vague fear over the whole play because of the realization of the witches’ relentless sinister determination to disrupt peace and order in Scotland.” The ironic event that takes place through this is what happens towards the end of the play. At the end, Macduff reveals that he is not born of woman; therefore, he can kill

In the Shakespearian play, Macbeth cannot be solely responsibly for the tyranny that he causes. Macbeths close relationship with lady Macbeth and his own ambitions to become king lead him to many evil actions. This relationship causes many fatalities, which is turn leads to changes in the personality of lady Macbeth and this can be seen, as she has difficulty in coping with the situation that she has put herself in. However, slow reactions by other characters in the play, may have been the cause many unnecessary events to occur. But, theses may not have mattered is it wasn’t for the apparitions given to two characters by the evil sisters, these

Act 2 scene 1, Macbeth talks to the ground, as if it could hear him,

In the play, “Macbeth” it talks about a story of tragedy. This story is about Macbeth who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. He is soon fed up with this information that he decides to do whatever it takes to rule the throne. Due to all of this, he later becomes paranoid and starts hallucinating. One opinion is that Macbeth was the crazy one compared to his wife. He is crazy because he was an odd person, he became more ambitious for power and he started seeing things.