Supernatural Forces in Macbeth
Uploaded by stygius on Feb 27, 2001
In the play "Macbeth," there were many interesting parts which could be looked at due to the interest of the supernatural. The use of the supernatural in the visions, the ghost, the apparitions and especially the witches are all elements that influence the theme of the play and make it interesting. Looking through each act and scene of the play, it is noticed that the supernatural is definitely a major part in the play's concept.
The first influence of the witches occurs at the beginning of the play, when the three are predicting the fate of Macbeth. This foreshadows what the future holds for Macbeth. “Macbeth, that shalt be called King hereafter!” exclaims one witch (I. III. 54-55). Macbeth's fate is that he will win the battle to be king, but will lose his soul and mind for the victory of his battle. Macbeth’s first impression is not to believe their wild talk, which will change later in the play.
After the prophecies of the witches' has revealed the fate of Macbeth, the plan in to gain the power of the throne is brought up. The only way for gaining power of the throne was for Macbeth to murder King Duncan. When Lady Macbeth hears the news of the witches she relied on the unnatural by calling upon the evil spirits to give her the power to be evil and plot the murder of Duncan without any remorse or conscience (I. V. 42-57).
Evil Lady Macbeth then convinced her husband to murder King Duncan. On the night they planned to kill Duncan, Macbeth is waiting for Lady Macbeth to ring the signal bell to go up the stairs to Duncan's chamber. This is when he sees the vision of the floating dagger. The importance of the dagger is that it leads Macbeth towards the chamber and shows his first mental instability. Then the bell rings and Macbeth stealthily proceeds up the staircase to Duncan's chamber and kill him.
Once the murder has been committed, Banquo has suspicions about Macbeth killing Duncan to have power of the throne. There is constantly more guilt and fear inside Macbeth and his wife that Macbeth now has Banquo killed, his second murder. Macbeth and his wife attend a banquet in which ghost appears. Once the murderer notified Macbeth that the deed was done, he observed the ghost of Banquo sitting in his regular seat (III. IV. 45-46)....