Macbeth And The Supernatural Powers Essay, Research Paper

Macbeth and the Supernatural Powers

In the year 1564 a man by the name of William Shakespeare was born. He was born in a small town by the name of Stratford-upon-Avon, England. This small town of about fifteen hundred inhabitants had a low percentage for the population living through their late twenties. Shakespeare was born among the lucky ones. His mother was Mary Arden, who was the daughter of a wealthy landowner in a neighboring town, and his father was John Shakespeare, who was an honored citizen and officer in the village.

Shakespeare had lived a typical life for a boy in those times. He didn t have very much education, and yet he still had more than many famous and well-known figures. He lived in this small town until he was eighteen when he moved away and married a woman by the name of Anne Hathaway in 1582. They had three kids; a daughter in 1583 Susanna, and twins in 1585, Hamnet and Judith. After this Shakespeare traveled everywhere with his family putting on his plays and writing Sonnets and new plays. Shakespeare died in the year of 1616 of unknown causes.

The play Macbeth was originally written in 1605 when Shakespeare was thirty-one years of age. He originally wrote this play to be performed for the new monarch James the VI of Scotland. This was just one of the many tragedies that Shakespeare wrote, some of which include Romeo and Juliet , Hamlet and another that many people closely relate to Macbeth is Othello . One thing that is special about Macbeth is that it is the only one of Shakespeare s plays that resembles contemporary history of his time. The pay is about a man named Macbeth who has a wife to help him murder the king. After the king has been murdered Macbeth starts to kill off all the rest of the characters mainly because of paranoia. All of the characters in this play had their own little flaw, which added to their demise.

A key element that made this play was the use of the supernatural forces. The supernatural forces in the play include ghosts, visions, apparitions, and of course the three witches. All of these together play a key role in the play.

The witches play the most important role in comparison to all the other supernatural characters. In the beginning of the play the three witches predict the fate of Macbeth, and say that he will win the battle for the throne, but lose the battle for his soul. First Witch: All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thanne of Glamis!, Second Witch: All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!, Third Witch: All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter! (Macbeth,1.3.50.) After this is revealed the plan to take over the throne is brought up. To murder King Duncan Macbeth had a little motivation through his dreams. Lady Macbeth used the soliloquy of calling on the evil spirits to give her the power to plot the murder of Duncan without any remorse or conscience. The three witches are capable of many tasks like leading people into danger leading to death.

The night that Macbeth was to murder the king he sees the vision of the bloody dagger leading him to Duncan’s chambers. Is this a dagger which I see before me, come, let me clutch thee (Macbeth, 2.1. 45.) After the murder has been committed Macbeth and his wife decide that Banquo is to be killed only because of the guilt inside of them. Macbeth and his wife attend a banquet where Macbeth will see the ghost of Banquo sitting in his regular seat, this makes Macbeth act in a wild manner, making people suspicious of his actions. So shall I, Love. And so I pray be you. Let your remembrance. Apply to Banquo; present him eminence. Both with eye and tongue: unsafe the while that we must lave our honors in these flattering streams and make our faces vizards to our hearts, Disguising what they are. (Macbeth, 3.2.35.)

The use of supernatural forces has increased the suspense now that Macbeth is constantly relying on the prophecies of the three witches. Because the witches have not revealed their plan to their master, she is extremely angry with them and makes them stop. How did you dare, to trade and traffic with Macbeth (Macbeth, 3.5.4.) So because of this they have to lead Macbeth to his downfall, they accomplish this by making him feel overconfident.

Further on in the play Macbeth finds his way to the witches cave and demands to know what lies ahead for him. The three witches predict what he is going to ask and produce the first apparition. It says “Macbeth, Macbeth! beware of Macduff; beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me: enough” (Macbeth, 4.1.81.) This apparition tells Macbeth to beware of Macduff. Then the second apparition appears , and this one says, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (Macbeth,4.1.90.) This one says that no man born from woman shall harm him. Now the last apparition appears, and the last one says ” Be lion melted, proud, and take no care who chafes, who frets, or where conspires are: Macbeth shall never vanquished be until great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill come against him” (Macbeth,4.1.103.) This one said that he would never be defeated until Great Birnam wood shall come against him to High Dunsinane Hill. These apparitions have convinced Macbeth that this was his fate and made him overconfident, and lead him to his death.

The use of the supernatural forces in Macbeth contributes to the unknown forces in the play. Without the witches, ghosts, visions, and the apparitions Macbeth would have been a tiresome and boring play.

All of the characters in Macbeth had on major tragic flaw that helped lead them to their demise. Many of the characters in this play had a very small flaw that killed them off. Not all of the characters are deserving of their fate though.

Macbeth s flaws were the most major of all the characters in this play, because he had to deal with the witches and all of the paranoia that is caused by them. Throughout this play Macbeth is confronted by fear. This is the one thing that makes Macbeth so paranoid in the play, it is the fear of being caught and the throne taken away from him. After all of the planning that he went through to take the throne he didn t want it to be taken away from him over a couple of friends like Macduff or Banquo.

The supernatural is a recurring aspect in many of the plays by William Shakespeare. In Hamlet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night s Dream, the supernatural is an integral part of the structure of the plot. In these plays the supernatural provides a catalyst for action by the characters. It supplies insight into the major players and it augments the impact of many key scenes. The supernatural appeals to the audience s curiosity of the mysterious and thus strengthens their interest.

Macbeth shows us that evil doesn t pay and that ambition is blind. The play Macbeth contains so much imagery of evil, darkness, blood, supernatural, untimely death and murder.

34e