Essay on Supernatural Forces in "Macbeth"

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.

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is

Macbeth and Banquo was coming home from battle and stumbled onto the witches. There they were given their fates, Macbeth prophecy was to be thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and finally king of Scotland. As king he couldn’t be killed by anyone of woman birth and he couldn't be defeated unless the Birnam Woods march on Dunsinane. The witches were tricking and deceiving Macbeth into thinking he is invinceable.

Macbeth and another general, Banquo, travel home from the battle and they meet the three witches, who predict that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor, then later King of Scotland, and that Banquo will be the father of kings. They disappear and then a messenger tells Macbeth that the King has made him the Thane of Cawdor. Because

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

To begin, the witches are the catalyst to Macbeth’s crimes because the convince him that he will become king. Macbeth first meets the witches while returning from a gruesome battle and it is safe to say that they greet him with some audacious titles. They initially greet him as the Thane of Glamis and the Thane of Cawdor, but it is their final greeting which has the greatest effect on Macbeth. The witches hail Macbeth as someone “that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.53). This ignites a fire inside Macbeth, who is an immensely ambitious person. He begins to fantasize about the luxurious life he would have if he were the king of Scotland and he suddenly has the temptation to kill King Duncan. Although the witches’ prediction is favourable, Macbeth has no reason to believe them, at least until one of their other predictions turns out to be true. This

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner dictionary, `supernatural' refers to things that cannot be explained by natural or physical laws. The presence of supernatural forces in "Macbeth," provides for much of the play's dramatic tension and the mounting suspense. In this paper we shall look at some of supernatural elements in 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

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

What if the supernatural had an influence on everyone's life? Would those influences change one’s fate or just the steps? In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare the audience is shown Macbeth, a soldier, fighting for his country and King Duncan. Macbeth is then confronted by three witches’ and given his first set of prophecies, his past, present and future titles. Because of these prophecies he goes on a murderous rampage to gain the title of King. He is then given four more prophecies, all misleading, that build his ambition on wanting to stay king. Although supernatural powers persuaded Macbeth into his demise, he still would have followed the same path without the witches as evidenced by the fact that he is bullheaded and self-centered.

The witches prophecies and Lady Macbeth’s influence intensifies his ambition and drives Macbeth to obtain and maintain his title of Scotland by whatever means, even murdering his best friend, Banquo. “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, ...no son of mine succeeding. If’t be so, for Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan I have murder’d; ...To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! (Act III. sc.I) At this point Macbeth’s passion becomes more and more extreme to the point where no one stands in his way. His greed, violence, and hunger for power drastically declines his

When the witches’ first prophecy becomes true as King Duncan titles Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth considers whether “chance will have [him] King” (Shakespeare I.iii.140). Since, Duncan is the present king, Macbeth supposes to kill Duncan in order to become king. J. Lyndon Shanley explains in Shakespeare for Students, "the witches force nothing; they advise nothing; they simply present facts." (253) yet it is hard to make a judgement just on one single event. Nevertheless, the witches prophecy encourages him that he commit the murder of Duncan to become a

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

The witches in Macbeth play a critical important role as at the beginning of the play the witches describe that all that is “fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Mac 1.1.10). Meaning that every thing that is pretty is ugly and everything ugly is pretty. The witches

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.