preview

Nature and Supernatural in Macbeth Essay

Better Essays

Use of Nature and Supernatural in Macbeth

The aura of darkness, deception, and horror present in William Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, envelopes the entire play and is created mainly by the sense of violence and foreboding that is evoked by the imagery. The dominant images of nature and the supernatural contribute to the atmosphere of this tragedy. The predictions of the weird sisters, along with natural forces and supernatural images, have lead to chaos in Scotland due to their impact on the characters of the play, which brings about many delusions and deaths.

Nature is an image brought up many times, in both physical and human aspects. The storms made by the witches, consisting of heavy …show more content…

Some may argue that Macbeth possesses free will and therefore chooses himself to commit the murders. It is the evilness and greed within his own human nature that persuades him, rather than it being the fate of the witches. It is obvious though that the witches affect him because he does not think to kill Duncan until the witches inform him of his fate of being king. According to William Dodge Lewis, a professor at Syracuse University, even Banquo becomes suspicious of Macbeth, thinking that he played foully for the witches' predictions to come about quicker (289). The predictions influence Macbeth's actions to where he thinks to have Duncan in home not only as a guest, but as a victim as well. It is so clear that even his best friend, Banquo, has gained suspicion that the witches have given Macbeth a motive for killing Duncan, and that he has carried out the deed for greedy and power driven reasons. As said in the Macbeth article in Shakespearean Criticism, several critics feel that Macbeth is susceptible to external forces and is affected by the witches' influence. In this article, A. C. Bradley said that the witches represent "'not only the evil slumbering in the hero's soul, but all those obscure influences of the evil around him in the world'" (167). The witches symbolize every force in the outside world that can persuade his destiny in the direction of evil.

The witches use deception by telling

Get Access