Supernatural Forces in "Macbeth"

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The Play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is shaped by supernatural forces with the use of the weird witches, the apparition of the ghost, and the floating dagger. These forces lead Macbeth to act in the way he did and add suspense to the play. The play opens with the three witches, and later on Macbeth and Banquo encounter them. They prophesized that Macbeth will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor, and then become King of Scotland. In addition to that, Banquo was told that his sons shall be kings, but never himself. Macbeth was skeptical about the prophesies, but until some of King Duncan’s men came to inform Macbeth that that he was to be named Thane of Cawdor due to the betrayal of the previous and condemned to death. Then Lady Macbeth comes up with the idea to murder King Duncan and take their place of kingship as prophesized. She persuades Macbeth to kill him that very night and he is led by a floating dagger to do the evil deed. Fearful of the witches’ prediction that Banquo’s sons will seize the throne, Macbeth hired murders to kill Banquo and his son Fleance and the boy escapes. Later that night Banquo’s ghost appears at Macbeth’s dinner. In the second encounter with the witches, they warn Macbeth of Macduff, and tell him no women born will harm him, and about moving trees. These events are lead by the supernatural, and lead to the fall of Macbeth.

The Three witches are the most important supernatural phenomenon. Early in the play there “are but an echo of the rune of the witches” (Wiley, 35) “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.10). Early in the play it is a dominant line that leads to a motive of doom and the beginning of shaping the actions of the play. In “Macbeth”, the weird sisters’ first prophecy is “All hail, Ma...

... middle of paper ...

...ral forces caused Macbeth’s greed for power and actions. The fall of Macbeth happened when he was killed by Macduff. He was not born of a woman, but ripped out from the corpse of his mother, just like the witches prophesized.

Works Cited

Hibbs, Stacey, and Thomas Hibbs. "Virtue, Natural Law, and Supernatural Solicitation: A Thomistic Reading of Shakespeare's Macbeth." Literary Reference Center. EBSCO, Sept. 2001. Web. 29 June 2011. .

Shakespeare, William, and Sylvan Barnet. The Tragedy of Macbeth: with New and Updated Critical Essays and a Revised Bibliography. New York: Penguin Group, 1998. Print.

Wiley, Edwin. A Study of the Supernatural in Three Plays of Shakespeare. 4th ed. Vol. XV. Berkeley: Berkeley, Cal,. University of California, 1913. PDF.

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