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The Supernatural Element Of William Shakespeare 's Macbeth

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What is interesting is what each supernatural element represents in Shakespeare’s society and in our current society. The supernatural elements in Macbeth include fate, the witches, mythological beings, ghosts, and apparitions. I believe that the witches in Shakespeare’s time, in the play and in real life, represent the power of choice. The power to be able to decide to commit murder or any other heinous act or decide to let things naturally happen shows the classic choice between good and evil, but the witches themselves are not evil. While they are viewed as treasonous in this time, that is simply because they were believed to be associated with the devil and a threat to the king. In reality, Macbeth is the evil one because of his actions. I would even argue that Macbeth was the one who sealed his unfortunate fate once the king was murdered. Because of the downward spiral Macbeth, and even Lady Macbeth, faces after the murders, his eventual insanity proves that the act he committed was in fact evil because of the repercussions he faced. The repercussions themselves could be viewed as evil because the “supernatural evil could prove to be a better sanctioning mechanism than a punishing god” (Martinez, 334). I think this is comparable to our society today because of how the belief in fate itself constitutes the belief of karma, either good or bad, in that a person gets what he or she deserves. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, I think, got what they deserved in the end. Moreover,

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