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shakespeare use of supernatural
shakespeare use of supernatural
how does shakespeare portray witches
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In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there are several references to supernatural activity. This supernatural activity is very crucial to the storyline. Supernatural defined by Webster relates to an existence beyond the visible observable universe. The Three Apparitions are spoken of in Act IV of the play, but the supernatural is first introduced by the three witches in Act I. The three witches who speak the apparitions are the opening characters in Macbeth. After reading the book, I fully understand Shakespeare reasoning for including them in the story. Each of the three apparitions depicts a clue of Macbeth’s future.
William Shakespeare, in my opinion starts the play off with supernatural beliefs. The first of characters to speak are the three witches. I feel that the witches are a supernatural element that Shakespeare used. The introduction of the witches depicts the plan they had to meet Macbeth. I would describe the witches as a set of mysterious characters that plot mischief against Macbeth using things such as the apparitions. There predictions are what I think caused Macbeth to par...
Without a general supernatural stigma from the witches, the story would not be as interesting as it is and wouldn’t lay a clear foundation. The reader can enhance their experience by making predictions about the prophecies, thus grabbing the readers attention to continue to read. The role of supernatural is to also create suspense. Suspense of the prophecies gives the reader a sense of what’s to come next. In contrast this will make the reader have motivation to continue as it is a difficult text to understand. The following quote creates suspense as it shows the reader Macbeth is at decline point while constantly relying on the prophecies to save him The mind I sway by and the heart I bear. Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.
One of them is the floating dagger: this was shown when Macbeth was changing his mind about killing the King: Duncan. This daggers was the supernatural way for pushing Macbeth to commit the murder. Shakespeare also uses the dagger to tell the audience that something bad as going to happen.This is shown: “Is this a dagger, which I see before me,/ The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee./ I have thee not, and yet I see thee still./ Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/ To feeling as to sight?Or art thou but / A dagger of the mind, a false creation” (II.I.41-46). The second supernatural that influence Macbeth actions is the Ghost of Banquo: the ghost appears because of Macbeth’s guilt conscience of killing his friend. Banquo was the only person he didn't kill by himself, and the guilt of being involved in his friend's death killed him. That is why he hires assassins to kill him to get rid of Banquo that was in his way. Macbeth doesn’t want Lady Macbeth to know what was going to happen after what she did by helping him kill Duncan:"What's to be done?/ Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck."(III.ii.51-52). In Act three, Scene two, Macbeth talks about his desire to die rather than live in this endless torment of guilt and sleepless nights.This is shown: “In the affliction of these terrible dreams/ That shake us nightly. Better be with the dead,/ Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52. One of these brilliant tragedies was
Apparitions were also involved in the telling of the story and helped to portray an eerie air. The Apparitions appeared in the first scene of the fourth act after being summoned by The Witches, “Come, high or low; / Thyself and office deftly show!” (4.1.71-72) As The Apparitions spoke to Macbeth about his future and his ultimate demise, the first witch warns Macbeth that the apparition can hear his thoughts so he should refrain from speaking to them, “He knows thy thought: Hear his speech, but say thou nought” (4.1.69-70). This warning gives off a feeling of fear and unpredictability that proves the supernatural world is beyond any human control or comprehension (Boyce 1). The Apparitions, along with The Witches, add a unique theme to the play itself, however, The Witches bring the theme to life at the beginning of the play and The Apparitions carry it through until the
In this passage Macbeth has come to visit the witches and demand that they tell him his fate. The witches decide to tell him his fate in the form of apparitions. The first apparition (not included in this passage) is to beware Macduff. The second apparition is called the “bloody child” ( 97), while the third is named “a child crowned, with a tree in his hand” ( 97). The witches play into Macbeth's ego when informing him of his fate, making them appear simple at first glance. These prophecies give Macbeth the idea that he’s invincible, leading him to believe that he can manipulate and control his fate.
The themes of love, supernatural, and tragedy in Macbeth make this tale loved by many. The supernatural ideas are most noteworthy and dramatic. Witches, apparitions, and hallucinations give the play the sense of the unknown. Shakespeare used the supernatural occurrences and witches to show humans wickedness and depravity. The characters in this play were not at all hesitant to do evil acts once prophecies had been given showing their innermost desires come true. In the end, while the prophecies may have come to fruition, it was not how the characters had anticipated.
The three witches use cleverly chosen words and prophecies to exert control over others. These prophecies seem to be more potent than any action, as they can be interpreted in any number of ways, and have the ability to provoke otherwise hidden thoughts and desires. For instance, upon hearing the first prophecies and seeing the first part come true, Macbeth says, “This supernatural soliciting, cannot be ill, cannot be good … If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs.” This shows the power of the witches, and indeed the supernatural in general. The prophecies, of which Macbeth is convinced are true, have provoked thoughts and ideas, both good and evil.
Everyone has a slightly different interpretation of the supernatural but the interpretation which we can start with is Shakespeare’s. Everyone of Shakespeare’s time found the supernatural fascinating. Shakespeare interpreted the supernatural as witches, magic, unnatural and evil and he expressed his beliefs in the play, “Macbeth” very clearly, as he portrayed the three deformed women with control over the weather and the ability to predict the future. These three evil witches with magical powers were the creation of Shakespeare’s interpretation of the supernatural. Shakespeare’s contemporaries believed in the supernatural very strongly and a majority of them were frightened of it, including the king of that time, King James I of England.
Macbeth experiences his first strange encounter of the supernatural when he meets the three witches in Act 1, Scene 1. The witches greet Macbeth by saying "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!" (1.1). The witches insinuate the idea of power, and by doing that, push Macbeth to the next level of greed and evil that did not exist prior to the supernatural encounter.
The apparitions has the supernatural power that they can predict the future of Macbeth and they come true at the end of the play, they are supernatural elements.
Although Macbeth is not classed as being a supernatural play or a play of the occult, there are some elements in the play that Shakespeare uses to effect. It is necessary however, to define what is meant by the terms ‘occult’ and ‘supernatural’: the term ‘occult’ is defined as being ‘supernatural beliefs, practises or phenomenon’ and the term ‘supernatural’ is defined as being ‘attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature’; both these terms can be associated with gothic writing. Gothic writing usually involves elements that invoke a feeling of fear, repulsion and abhorrence from its readers or audience. Writers use imagery of the supernatural to achieve this effect, for example in Shelley’s Frankenstein the descriptions of Frankenstein’s creature: language and imagery here being used to invoke the emotion of fear.
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.
In both Hamlet and Macbeth, the supernatural plays a very important role. Supernatural elements are crucial to the plot and they also have a more thematic part as well. Shakespeare presents the ghost in Hamlet, and the witches and ghost in Macbeth, as disrupting elements that not only enhance drama, but also tear apart the existing order of things. They force the title character of each play to undergo their own internal struggle that grows from their insecurity of living up to the image of a man.
...he 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.
To conclude Shakespeare used the supernatural, to show how easily someone’s fatal flaw can be exploited to bring them to an end. This is extremely relevant to his audience at that time as well, no one knows, but Shakespeare could have been a non believer in the supernatural and wanted to show it as a figment of the mind, that can only result in insanity or he could have believed the popular opinion that the supernatural did exist and caused terror and evil throughout that period. Either way he wrote Macbeth in such a way to leave questions about the supernatural in peoples mind.