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The influence of the witches on macbeth
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Supernatural comes naturally. Another word Mystic, which means a person who finds contemplation who believes in spiritual apprehension. Macbeth can see daggers and ghosts because someone is controlling him. Macbeth represents fear of the unknown. The witches control Macbeth. They have power to see the future. The witches are the powerful of supernatural. They make Macbeth move towards killing the king. The dagger is also another example of the supernatural. The writer used supernatural to emphasize evil to the play to attach people that are reading the play. The witches in the play add an element of supernatural to Macbeth for example in act 1 scene 3 Macbeth for the first time meets with the witches. The witches can forecast Macbeth's destiny …show more content…
Later in the play Macbeth is the thane of cowdor. Then Lady Macbeth becomes aware of Macbeth's meeting with the witches. In this scene Macbeth says “Is this a dagger I see before me" Macbeth has a vision of a dagger before he is to murder the king. This vision of the dagger is an example of supernatural. The ghost, the dagger and the witches are three examples of supernatural. Each incident in the play is led by supernatural. For example the dagger is what used Macbeth to commit crime and the dagger shows us evil. Also the ghost of Banquo is another supernatural symbol of the acts Macbeth has committed. The ghost appear at the head of the royal table and finds Banquo’s ghost sitting in the chair. The dagger points to Duncan’s room and appears to be full of blood. Terrified Macbeth’s starts talking to the ghost which is invisible to everyone except to Macbeth. Without the ghost, witches, dagger, visions Macbeth would be a dull and uninteresting play. Having all this elements brings suspense to the play. Suspense is …show more content…
The witches grab attention to the play with evil so the audience get scared. Macduff killed Macbeth for revenge because he was a trader for Scotland and his family wouldn’t rest till he kills him. He decapitated him meaning he chopped his head off. Supernatural is in every scene of the play. This is what brings suspense to the play. Macbeth wanted to succeed that’s when the witches gave him the three prophecies and it was his choice to do what he wanted. Macbeth becomes hard and dull in the play. He is completely oblivious to everyone round him. The apparitions come in three forms one in armed head two a bloody child and three a crown. Macbeth’s first encounter is when he meets the witches in act 1 scene 3. Looking thru the play supernatural is an important factor in this play. This play is really good it has all the elements to make is suspenseful. The play ends by MacDuff presenting Macbeth slathered head to Malcolm and later inviting everyone to his coronation party. Malcolm the son of King Duncan takes on Macbeth and wins he is now the new king of
Murder, ghosts, and floating daggers are the usual attractions for most that read William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and yet there is an important theme that some might overlook. Written in the early 17th century, Macbeth is believed to be based upon historical events listed in Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of Scotland and other current events of the time. Shakespeare constructs the memorable world of Macbeth with a mysterious and sinister atmosphere, incorporating diabolical elements into this world with the appearance of Hecate, witches, prophecies and ghostly apparitions. Throughout his story, Macbeth becomes controlled by desire for power, by allowing himself to be influenced, using evil means to gain and maintain power to the point that Macbeth is blinded to all else. In Macbeth, Shakespeare vividly demonstrates a recognizable theme of the weighty pull that power holds over those with authority.
Macbeth’s heroic deeds at the beginning of the play soon seem insignificant next to the primary event in the Act: the revelation of the witches’ prophecy. Their insightful proclamation that he will be king someday is both shocking and pleasing to Macbeth. Without this occurrence, this play might not have traveled a road of ambition and death, but instead one of calm acceptance and enjoyment of an already-elegant lifestyle. The seeds of desire were here planted, however, eliciting what became a bloody ordeal. The spark ignited, and a plan began to take shape.
In the play of Macbeth we notice the works of how the supernatural can control or change
The Importance of the Supernatural in Macbeth by William Shakespeare The supernatural is to play an essential part in the play 'Macbeth'; this is made clear from the first paragraph of the play, when the three witches are introduced. It is represented in many different forms, mainly: the witches, the dagger and the ghost of Banquo. Shakespeare's use of imagery and creative language in the play creates tension, fear and clearly displays the importance of the supernatural theme. At the start of the play, the supernatural is disguised in the form of nature, in this case a storm. Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to describe the strong force of nature- "Thunder and lightning - Enter three Witches.
There are many types of supernatural phenomena in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. No matter which form each phenomena took, such as a witch or ghost, they all acted as a type of catalyst. When Macbeth first met the witches, they told him he would be a king and when Macbeth saw his friend Banquo's ghost, it set him off on a downward spiral. The Supernatural phenomena all influenced Macbeth and his wife to do things that they would never have thought of doing such as killing King Duncan. All of the projected outcomes came true, however the eventual outcomes that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth predicted did not.
When Macbeth becomes king he controls almost everyone, from servants to assassins. He even attempts to order the three witches to do his bidding. However, Macbeth’s actions and demeanor later in the play are the result of Lady Macbeth, who holds sway over her husband. It is she who at first coaxes and controls Macbeth, resulting in the change in his personality. The supernatural, in particular the three witches, exert control over both Macbeth and his lady. In fact, it is their influences that initiate the sequence of events, and are therefore an integral part of the play.
In “Macbeth”, the supernatural is linked to the superstitious beliefs of the period. It is by receiving knowledge associated with what only God should know, not man. Macbeth learns the prophecy from the witches making him create his own assumptions in how to become king causing him to commit murder eventually. The Jacobean audience would believe that Macbeth will get punished as he committed regicide. After Macbeth committed regicide, he was in so much shock that he brought the daggers with him and refused to put them back because he regretted what he had done. Macbeth says “I’ll go no more:” Shakespeare is trying to show that committing regicide caused Macbeth to be affected negatively that he is unable to even cover his tracks. He is in so
These apparitions, if done right, could potentially be visually spectacular, having a serious impact on the audience, invoking fear and terror. These supernatural elements, combined with Shakespeare’s use of language and possible stagecraft, will have a dramatic effect on the audience as Shakespeare intended. In conclusion, supernatural elements feature throughout Macbeth, from the witches to apparitions and daggers. The only elements of the occult present in Macbeth, if we are to abide by the given definition, are the characters of the witches. In order for the dramatic effect that Shakespeare intended for the play to have on its audience, which it did in front of an Elizabethan audience, then a heavy amount of stagecraft concerning costumes, scenery and props will have to be applied to the performance.
Good vs. Evil in Macbeth The good characters in Macbeth are less interesting than the evil ones. Everybody has an evil seed planted in them. Only the really evil person acts on them and commits something morally wrong. Like a Macbeth. When Macbeth first received the prophecies, he actually considered them.
From the very beginning of the play, supernatural and unnatural forces have inspired and encouraged Macbeth. They interfere with natural events and completely change the character of Macbeth and his wife. Witches, apparitions, ghosts, and other unnatural images are used to demonstrate the evil effects and consequences those forces can have. Shakespeare is successful in telling his audience that only evil will come when Macbeth or any other person tampers with natural forces for personal gain.
...rd apparition states, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn/The power of man, for none of woman born/Shall harm Macbeth (Shakespeare, 4.1.78-80). Macbeth believes that no one can kill him, when in reality Macduff can since he is born from a c-section. The witches’ ambiguous language concealed the whole truth from Macbeth eventually resulting in his gruesome death. Finally, without the witches, Macbeth would not have been so entirely affected by the supernatural. For instance, Macbeth sees a hallucination of a dagger before killing Duncan and he seems to believe that it is a sign that he is doing the right thing. He also begins to believe everything the witches’ say, even if it is outrageous, such as him becoming king. This belief in the supernatural leads Macbeth to commit corrupt acts such as killing Duncan and is one of the causes of his growing paranoia.
Evil is a destructive force; it causes harm to those who embrace it and their victims. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth and Lady Macbeth fall into the hands of evil. Evil is what drives people to commit unnatural actions of destruction. Macbeth succumbs to evil through his fatal flaw, greed, and it causes him to disrupt the chain of being. When Macbeth willingly murders, massacres, lies and deceives, he loses his heath and sanity. Evil corrupts everything it touches, and Macbeth decides to be evil's servant. But, when Macbeth embraces evil, it corrupts him, and it ultimately destroys him as well. Lady Macbeth is a victim of Macbeth's fatal flaw, since she is drawn in, and becomes greedy for power herself. She pushes Macbeth into destruction when she adds the small touch that plunges Macbeth into a chain of murder, destruction, and lying followed by the loss of their sanity and health. After Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are well into the depths of corruption and greed, it is clearly seen that their guilt will haunt them for the rest of their lives. The harm they have caused others will be returned to them as revenge and they have lost their sanity in order to gain power. The fate of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth clearly illustrates that to embrace evil is to negate our own need for order and well being.
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the supernatural and the role they play in motivating characters is apparent throughout the duration of the play. The supernatural is what causes conflict in the play and the prophecies from the witches in act one scene three is the inciting action in the piece. The supernatural causes the future conflict by motivating Macbeth to kill Duncan so he could become king of Scotland. Through temptation, the supernatural motivates characters to think arrogantly and for their own benefit. The supernatural in Macbeth presents prophecies which tempt Macbeth and Banquo with the idea of power. This leads Macbeth to contradict his loyal and courageous personality by planning a treacherous murder on Duncan with the arrogant intention of becoming king and later killing other characters in the play with the only purpose of keeping his own powers. Both Macbeth and Banquo were also tempted by the original prophecies and showed clear motivation to act upon them. However, there is a clear contrast between the immediacy in which the two characters began taking actions and the logic put into their decisions.
In the English Renaissance, there was a strong belief in the existence of the supernatural. Thus, the supernatural is a recurring aspect in William Shakespeare 's Macbeth and is an integral and important part of the plot. The role of the supernatural in Macbeth is to bring out emotional reactions within Macbeth that cloud his judgement, affecting his actions which ultimately leads to his downfall. This is demonstrated through the ambiguous prophecies of the witches, the supernatural phenomenon that Macbeth sees, and the apparitions that foreshadow how he will meet his end.
It is undoubted that the supernatural is one element in Macbeth that was used cleverly by Shakespeare to get various messages across to the audience. The messages are brought across between the lines of the plays which requires audiences to reflect critically to get the underlying meaning of his play. Shakespeare did not merely show ghosts and witches in the supernatural as a thriller, but also tied in the political and religious aspects of the society during his time. References: Internet Shakespeare Editions (2003). Witches and the King James.