Supernatrual

• The Witches


  • The most prominent supernatural element in "Macbeth"
  • Also known as the Weird Sisters
  • They first appear in Act 1, Scene 1
  • Their prophecies set the events of the play in motion
  • Their ambiguous and cryptic predictions fuel Macbeth's ambition and lead him to commit murder to fulfill his desires
• Prophecies


  • The witches prophesy Macbeth's rise to power, which both tantalizes and terrifies him
  • They tell him he will become Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland
  • These prophecies drive Macbeth to take increasingly drastic actions to secure his position, ultimately leading to his downfall
• Supernatural Events


  • Throughout the play, there are references to supernatural events occurring in the natural world
  • For example, there are reports of unnatural occurrences such as horses eating each other and owls killing falcons
  • These events reflect the disorder and chaos that arise from Macbeth's usurpation of the throne
• Ghost of Banquo


  • After Macbeth orders the murder of his friend Banquo and Banquo's son Fleance, Banquo's ghost appears at a banquet hosted by Macbeth
  • This supernatural visitation unnerves Macbeth, revealing his guilt and foreshadowing his eventual downfall
• Hallucinations and Visions


  • Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth experience hallucinations and visions that blur the lines between reality and the supernatural
  • Lady Macbeth, for example, is haunted by the imagined blood on her hands, symbolic of her guilt over Duncan's murder
• The vast amount of supernatural events comes as no surprise considering that Shakespeare almost certainly wrote the play as a tribute to King James I, the British monarch whose belief in the power of witchcraft ran so deep that he led several witchhunts throughout Britain, in addition to writing Daemonologie, a text that argued for the reality of witches and the study of witchcraft's place in legitimate theological studies at the time.
• "so fair and foul a day I have not seen"- Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 3


  Macbeth's first lines of the play

  echoes the witches lines which is the start of the prophecy aspect, however the witches who symbolize evil and supernatural only occur when evil is about to begin which means from the beginning of the play Macbeth is destined for evil
• "that look not like th' inhabitants o' th' Earth and yet are on 't"- Banquo, Act 1 Scene 3


  unusual and strange occurrence of supernatural leaves an unsettling atmosphere for the play
• "come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts"- Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5


  calling upon supernatural evil for help
• "is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand?"- Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 1


  decay of Macbeths mind, act of the supernatural or mind playing tricks?

  the three witches (who symbolize the supernatural) are trying to lure and control Macbeth for evil. Whenever there are signs of the supernatural, evil is there

  unsure of the prophecy so unsure of the reality of the dagger
• "his design moves like a ghost"- Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 1


  hints at supernatural ghost aspect that will come later

  disturbed by the evil in his mind creating a supernatural morbid atmosphere
• "...O full of scorpions is my mind"- Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 2


  scorpions represent Macbeth's uneasiness about the dark desire overcoming his mind to murder his friend Banquo and his son

  Macbeth cannot rest easy while they are alive due to the evil taking over his soul from the supernatural witches' prophecy
• "double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble."- witches, Act 4 Scene 1


  rhyming mimics chanting which can be associated with the supernatural

  witches often speak like this when something evil is about to occur symbolizing that
• "My wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still"- Macduff, Act 5 Scene 7


  just like Macbeth is haunted by the supernatural ghosts of Banquo, Macduff is haunted by the ghosts of his murdered family

  This supernatural encourages ambition to take revenge against Macbeth
• "Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth"- witches, Act 4 Scene 1


  another apparition from the witches (supernatural)

  witches tricking Macbeth into thinking he is invincible however he is not as Macduff was born by cesarean

  witches never wanted Macbeth as king but instead stayed to encourage evil
• "fair is foul and foul is fair"- witches, Act 1 Scene 1


  rhythmic, chant-like lines

  means things are reversed

  means things that look pretty ("fair") will become ugly ("foul") and things that are ugly will become beautiful. The witches are referring first to themselves. They look ugly, but the predictions they offer are beautiful to Macbeth