Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Macbeth analysis and interpretation
Symbolism essay on the play macbeth
Symbolism essay on the play macbeth
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Macbeth analysis and interpretation
Do you believe in supernatural forces or human nature? Supernatural forces mean beings and events that are beyond what can be explained by nature. Some people believe in supernatural forces because they could not be explained certain events that happened in their lives. For example, they feel sick, and the doctors do not find anything wrong with them.Then, they go and see people who supposedly know what happen with them. Human nature means the ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are common to most people. Others believe in human nature. They think they are the only ones who rule their lives and know how to behave. Moreover, who has the reason. Everyone has the right according to their beliefs. In The Tragedy of Macbeth by Shakespeare, …show more content…
Macbeth does not think in the power until the witches tell that he will become a king. He does not give too much importance at the beginning because he is the king of Glamis. Moreover, his wife stimulates him his ambitious when she knows about the prophecy of being King of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth persuades him with her words to kill King Duncan. She wants the power quickly and does not think in the consequences of her actions. Macbeth starts killing innocent people without thinking that it is a mistake. The characters change throughout the story. Macbeth is mercenary and selfish until the last minute, and Lady Macbeth dies feeling guilty about the people her husband kills. The Tragedy of Macbeths starts with the supernatural forces that come out with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth human nature, who governs their lives with ambition and power because it causes that Macbeth kills innocent people after his wife manipulates …show more content…
My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope.
(I.III.54-59)
Naturally, Macbeth continues being incredulous because the witches also imply that Banquo could be a king. Macbeth opens his mind and remembers the words that the witches says. Then, he decides to send a letter to his wife after he arrives at his destination. He writes and gives details of the predictions about to become a King of Cawdor.
Besides, the witches who represent the supernatural forces come to trigger Macbeth’s human nature of ambition and power because he says “Glamis and Thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind” (I.III. 125-126). Although, he thinks in it, he has some doubts at the same time. Therefore, when he comes back to his home, her wife, Lady Macbeth, starts manipulating him only with her words because “Her wife as a stronger force than the weird sisters” (Dillon 116). She is ambitious and wants a life of a queen. Lady Macbeth wants her husband kills King Duncan and says,
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue. Look like th’ innocent
The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare starts off with a noble warrior Named Macbeth that is titled thane of Glamis by his own uncle, King Duncan. Macbeth is awarded thane of Cawdor due to the switching sides of the original title holder who is hanged for treason. Macbeth who is deceived by his wife kills the king in a plot for power and they put the blame on the guards by laying bloody daggers next to them. Macbeth begins to lose himself as the play goes on. He kills his best friend Banquo and Macduff’s wife and kids. Lady Macbeth kills herself as she goes crazy from all the killings and then that is when Macbeth completely loses himself. Macbeth is told by the witches that he cannot be killed by any one of women born. Macduff and Malcolm, heir to the throne who fled Scotland think of a plan to kill Macbeth. Macbeth faces Macduff and Malcolm’s army alone as he is labeled a tyrant and is abandoned by everyone. He faces the army fearlessly as he cannot killed by any one of woman born but fails to realize that Macduff was born of C-section leading to his downfall and Macbeth is Beheaded. Malcolm becomes the new king. Lady Macbeth's deception had a dramatic effect on the play leading to a dramatic change in many lives. The three main points that will be discussed are how Lady Macbeth becomes deceived; how Lady Macbeth deceives others and the results from Lady Macbeth deceiving others. Lady Macbeth, was simply minded and became easily deceived.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious, controlling and domineering. She is the one who encourages him to kill the king, she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself, which shows her determination and persistence."Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o’th milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way thou wouldst be great. Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (Act 1, scene 5). Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth’s sudden ambition and she tries to manipulate him into feeling guilty and unmanly for not following through with the murder, by using her husbands emotions, she manages to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan.
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.
The last person you would expect to encourage you to commit a crime would be your wife. Macbeth is motivated by his wife and by three Witches and gradually becomes more ruthless, evil, and murderous as the play progresses.
Macbeth only knows what the first witch is saying to be true, because he is already Thane of Glamis. However, he doesn't know what to think when the second and third witches say he will be Thane of Cawdor and soon after, king. Both the Thane of Cawdor and the king are still alive. At this point, Macbeth isn't sure if he can actually trust the witches because he doesn't know about what they have said. The witches then continue with their prophecies. They tell Banquo that, "thou shalt get kings, though thou be none" (I.iii.67). After telling Macbeth that he will be king, they tell Banquo that his sons will be king. Macbeth remembers that fact, and acts upon it later.
Myths and religions often include divine or devilish beings with incredible powers. William Shakespeare incorporated witches with bizarre powers in his play, Macbeth. These witches possessed devilish powers to set the course of events in the plot and added to the flavor of the story. The witches' powers included omnientness, vision and apparition creation, and the ability to set the conditions for disaster, and the utilization of these abilities sets the movement of the play.
One of the first supernatural occurrences in Macbeth involved witches giving a prophecy to Macbeth and Banquo. The witches tell Macbeth, “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (Shakespeare, 30). After this prophecy, the witches give another prophecy to Banquo: “FIRST WITCH. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. SECOND WITCH. Not so happy, yet so much happier. THIRD WITCH. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (Shakespeare, 31). These prophecies signify that while Macbeth will become king, only Banquo’s heirs will obtain the crown.
Macbeth’s visions and the prophecies of the witches cause Macbeth to make poor decisions, which lead him to his eventual downfall. Macbeth started off as a noble, virtuous man, he was loyal to the king and was well respected by the other noblemen. The prophecies and hallucinations corrupted Macbeth’s intentions and as a result, Macbeth became power hungry and overzealous. A combination of Macbeth’s ambition and paranoia lead to many senseless murders.
William Shakespeare's tragic play, Macbeth shows the gradual descent of the character Macbeth into the moral abyss. Macbeth's yearning for power draws him to the murder of King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff's family. It is difficult to understand how a courageous, gentle man such as Macbeth, could be involved in such villainous activities. In truth, it was the witches and Lady Macbeth that transformed into evil Macbeth's natural desire for control and authority. The play, Macbeth clearly illustrates that wicked intention must, in the end, produce wicked action.
supernatural is explored as a representation of good vs. evil. Shakespeare explains the supernatural as witches, magic, unnatural and evil. Supernatural things that are present in the play is Banquo’s ghost as a symbol for Macbeth’s guilt, As soon as he sees Banquo's Ghost he is completely shocked by fear, horror and guilt "The Ghost of Banquo enters, and sits in Macbeth's place. Prithee, see there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. If charnel houses and our graves must send those that we bury back, our monuments shall be the maws of kites. " Banquo's ghost is that it represents the down fall of macbeth of course only he can see the ghost and overwhelming guilt that reminding him that he murdered his former friend. Other supernatural things that are present in the play include three evil witches with magical powers for instance the battle at the end of Macbeth, witches create a false story for Macbeth where Macbeth believes he is invincible because of what the witches told him “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” but because Macduff is not “woman born” he killed Macbeth. Theme of the supernatural is still relevant today because witches in the Macbeth are very close to witches that we will see in movies and cartoons and witches represent the evil side of human kind and so the Theme supernatural becomes more relevant to modern
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.
“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” Once said by Marc Twain, this is an excellent example of the human nature that is represented in the play: Macbeth. Shakespeare demonstrates that all humans have the ability to do good or evil. This is strongly affected by the choices that we make and by our actions. These decisions will have a huge impact on our lives and the lives of others. Throughout the play, Macbeth experienced a huge decent into evil and violent action that lead him to his death. With his thirst for power and constant paranoia, he killed his way to seize the crown. By killing Duncan at the beginning of the play, Macbeth soon realizes that nothing can be undone and his blood stained hands can never be cleaned. “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.3 70) said by Lady Macbeth after Duncan’s murder. But what they don’t know is that this is the start of the bloody massacre that will change who they are and how they think forever. Macbeth has multiple hallucinations and his paranoia leads him to hire murderers to kill Macduff’s family out of anger and spite. Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and gets to the point of madness when she kills herself at the end of the play. This demonstrates that our actions can be affected by human nature and our thoughts can be easily corrupted by temptation.
However, this experience is not one that gives him courage or ambition but one that gives him fear, enough to make a man go mad. At the party, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost which he describes as “a bold one that dare look on that which might appall the devil” (III.vi.63). He begins to act like a madman in front of all those loyal to him and reveals that Banquo is dead. Despite Lady Macbeth’s attempt to cover up his act by blaming it on a childhood illness, Macbeth’s followers begin to lose question their king, lose trust in him, and even wonder if he is the one who murdered Duncan. After the banquet, Macbeth seeks the witches out of their cave so that he can learn more about his future and silence those who are plotting against him despite what the consequences may be. This reveals that Macbeth has completely fallen for the witches prophecy. There, he sees a line of eight kings followed by Banquo’s ghost. The last king holds a mirror to reflect a never-ending line of kings descended from Banquo. When he sees this, he exclaims“ thou art look like the spirits of Banquo: down!” (IV.i.123). This vision confirms that Banquo’s descendants inherit the throne and contributes to Macbeth’s anxiety, fear and to his further loss of control. He becomes even more insecure about his position as king and can no longer make his decisions
...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.