The Supernatural in Macbeth
Uploaded by Admin on Jan 22, 1999
In the play "Macbeth," there were many interesting sections which could be concentrated on due to the suspense and the involvement of the supernatural. The use of the supernatural in the witches, the visions, the ghost, and the apparitions is a key element in making the concept of the play work and in making the play interesting. Looking through each Act and Scene of the play, it is noticed that the supernatural is definitely a major factor on the play's style.
The use of the supernatural occurs at the beginning of the play, with three witches predicting the fate of Macbeth. This gives the audience a clue to what the future holds for Macbeth. "When the battles lost and won"(Act I, Scene I, l.4) was said by the second witch. It says that every battle is lost by one side and won by another. Macbeth's fate is that he will win the battle, but will lose his time of victory for the battle of his soul.
After the prophecies of the witches' revealed the fate of Macbeth, the plan in which to gain power of the throne is brought up. The only way to gain power of the throne was for Macbeth to work his way to the throne, or to murder King Duncan. Murdering the king was an easier plan since the motivation in his dreams urged him on. Lady Macbeth also relied on the supernatural by her soliloquy of calling upon the evil spirits to give her the power to plot the murder of Duncan without any remorse or conscience(Act I, Scene V, ll.42-57). The three sisters are capable of leading people into danger resulting in death, such as the sailor who never slept(Act I, Scene III, ll.1-37).
Lady Macbeth has convinced her husband Macbeth 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. He sees the vision of the floating dagger. The interest of the dagger is that it leads Macbeth towards the chamber by the presence of evil of the dagger being covered with blood. Then the bell rings and Macbeth stealthily proceeds up the staircase to Duncan's chamber.
Once the murder has been committed, eventually Banquo has his suspicions about Macbeth killing Duncan to have power of the throne. There is constantly more...