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Macbeth - The Supernatural (The witches are a supernatural force (Social…
Macbeth - The Supernatural
The witches are a supernatural force
They're not in many scenes but they drive the action of the play. It's unlikely that Macbeth would have committed so many terrible crimes if he hadn't been influenced by the witches.
The Witches are associated with chaos - they try to impose an unnatural order on what is good and natural. Macbeth says they "untie the winds" and make "castles topple". The Witches are motivated by "destruction" rather than goodness - they represent the struggle between the natural and unnatural order.
The Witches are an evil supernatural force - their "strange intelligence" and ability to predict the future gives them power over humans. However, when they are planning to harm the sea captain, they say that his ship "cannot be lost", which hints that their power is limited.
Shakespeare presents them as completely evil. They are cruel, inhuman and don't show any remorse.
Writer's techniques - The supernatural elements add to the atmosphere - they make the play darker and more frightening. Shakespeare only hints at what is real and what is not which adds to the drama.
Social context
At the time Shakespeare was writing, many people thought Witches were real, so the Weird sisters would have seemed believable and frightening to an audience in the 1600s
Visions are supernatural signs of guilt
The visions are ambiguous - they could be real or imaginary.
Lady Macbeth's language when she sleepwalks is desperate :O, o, o!", and shows that she's disturbed by the vision of blood on her hands. The Doctor says that her heart is "sorely charged" - he sees that the vision is a result of her guilty conscience.
The visions fill the characters who see them with fear. Macbeth is "blanched with by Banquo's ghost and his language is alighted and nervous: "Prithee, see there! Behold, look, lo!" His fear has made him lose control of his speech. Macbeth calls his own reaction a "strange infirmity" - it links to other signs of madness later in the play.
Examples of visions
Act 3, Scene 4
Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost.
Act 5, Scene 1
Lady Macbeth is driven mad as she imagines that her hands will "ne'er be clean" of Duncan's blood.
Act 2, Scene 1
Macbeth sees a vision of a dagger just before he is about to kill Duncan.