Macbeth Key Theme: Corruption of Nature

• Corruption of nature timeline  

  The corruption of nature theme in each act of Macbeth:

  
• Which elements link to the corruption of nature in Macbeth?

  • Descriptions of nature and the weather: Shakespeare uses descriptions of the weather to foreshadow the deaths to come:
  • For example, the witches meet in “thunder” and “lightning” and Macbeth pronounces the day as “foul” 
  • Duncan’s murder: Macbeth has consciously and deliberately acted against nature and as the play progresses, he continues to destabilise ordered patterns:
  • He acknowledges the dead Duncan is happier than he is and admits how “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”
  • In contrast, Shakespeare presents Duncan’s character as aligned with nature through pleasant descriptions (which Macbeth destroys): “the air/ nimbly and sweetly recommends itself/Unto our gentle senses”
• • Unnatural events after Duncan’s murder: Duncan’s death occurs during a night Lennox describes as ”unruly”, with “strange screams of death”: 
  • This reflects the evil nature of Duncan’s death
  • Lady Macbeth’s unnatural role: Lady Macbeth subverts the typical Jacobean gender roles, and demands the spirits to strip her of her femininity to achieve her ambition: “unsex me here”. 
• The impact of the corruption of nature on characters

  
• Macbeth

  • Macbeth’s unnatural actions lead to a disruption of both nature and his own mental state
• Lady Macbeth

  • Lady Macbeth’s close relationship with her husband and her knowledge of his ambitious nature enables her to manipulate him, by questioning his character: “I fear thy nature”:
  • Her complicity in Duncan’s unnatural murder leads to her rapid descent into madness
• Duncan

  • Duncan’s murder is the primary event that corrupts nature in the play and his death throws the natural order into chaos:
  • Duncan’s horses “contending ‘gainst obedience” are symbolic of the collapse of the country’s social hierarchy into “most admired disorder”, leading to civil war
• The witches

  • The witches are symbolic of nature’s corruption as they appear to have the power to predict the future, to defy the weather and have guiding spirits:
  • Their ability to “untie the winds” and disrupt nature symbolises their corruption of both the human and natural order
• Why does Shakespeare use the theme of the corruption of nature in his play?

  1.  Setting and atmosphere 

  • Establishes a disrupted natural order from the beginning of the play 
  • Creates an eerie and foreboding tone

  2. Plot driver 

  • Drives Macbeth’s downfall as his actions continue to corrupt nature

  3. Audience appeal 

  • Appeals to the audience’s interest as the play reflects the volatile nature of society during the Jacobean era and the social expectations that unlawfully killing another man would be justly punished 
  • Challenges ideas about the role of women as Lady Macbeth’s ambitious nature and controlling influence over Macbeth could be perceived as unnatural and unfeminine
• 4. Dramatic device  

  • Heightens the tension by using unnatural occurrences to signify the fundamental evil of the characters’ actions