Supernatural in Macbeth

The Witches

Prophecies / Apparitions

Spirits / Ghosts

Hallucinations

they use chiasmus - 'fair is foul and foul is fair'

they make prophecies on the futures of Macbeth and Banquo that end up being true. this is not possible by a normal human, so they are considered witches

three apparitions are shown to Macbeth by the witches

Lady Macbeth calls on spirits to 'unsex' her

after Banquo was murdered, his ghost returned to haunt Macbeth at his banquet, a manifestation of Macbeth's guilt

Macbeth sees a dagger when he is thinking about killing King Duncan

Context

James I was fascinated by the supernatural, so much he wrote a book on it called 'Daemonology'

they all speak in trchaic tetrameter with rhyming couplets, making them sound different to other characters

their appearances re unhuman like, they are women but have beards - separates them from human stereotypes - unhuman like

the contents of their cauldrons are horrifying

people didn't have enough facts back then, so lots of people believed in the supernatural

James I believed that it was supernatural forces that tried to kill him

Weather

at the start of the play, the weather was thunder and lightning, weather that is typically associated with the supernatural