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Is the supernatural to blame for the tragic events of the play?

James the 1 strongly believed in witchcraft, and Shakespeare used this idea to appeal to him. Shakespeare used the ideas of witchcraft, kingship, and the moral order to develop the play, as these themes were greatly admired in the Jacobean ere. The opening of the play contains many subtle links to the supernatural. The three witches open the scene in an open place with thunder and lightning, which was believed in superstitious times that fierce storms released forces of evil, and were omens of unrest in individual people and whole countries.

The witches themselves are a major part of supernatural, and the play, as they can be seen as starting it all off. In the first scene, we see them establishing a link with the supernatural. Their words also link them to Macbeth, and shows that right from the start, he has an influence from them. Their words, ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair…’ is said in a chant like way, and you can tell it is a mischievous way of saying it. It shows things will be confused, and moral order will be changed. It also shows that the witches believe that evil is good, and good they find repulsive. This shows their attitude to life, but it could also be a warning to the audience that things to follow are not what they may have seemed, and will be confused. This could also associate them with the disruption of both the natural and social order, as later when Macbeth kills Duncan, many things are affected, and the witches could be blamed for this.

These words are also used by Macbeth soon after, and this shows a revealing link between Macbeth and the witches. This shows that Macbeth may be greatly influenced by them, and whatever the witches plan, will involve Macbeth. The witches plan to involve Macbeth in their evil, ‘There to meet with Macbeth’. The witches are represented as evil, and you could say they are there to effect and destroy all that is good, as witches are usually women who were rejected by society or who rejected society. They are the ones who open the play to show that evil will effect what happens in the play, and that Macbeth will be involved.

Shakespeare makes it hard for us to know exactly why Macbeth kills Duncan, we only know he will be involved. Could it be the witches controlling him with their spells? like when Macbeth sees the dagger that leads him to kill Duncan ‘Or art thou but a dagger of the mind…’ this can show that the witches may be influencing him? Could he just be a puppet mastered by the witches? The witches tell Macbeth he will be king, which instigates his ambitions, they influence him, but they do not tell him what to do.

The subtle ways in which the witches are described ambiguously, such as ‘weird sisters’, ‘instruments of darkness’, and the fact that Macbeth never actually calls them witches could show that they do not have magical powers, but only have the power of suggestion, that maybe Macbeth could only take power, make himself king and not be given the title through fate. If the witches control or just suggest the ambitions to Macbeth, they tempt him, they make him want the title, they make Lady Macbeth want Macbeth to have the title, they start it off, and so could be blamed for the tragedy. The witches do cast spells, such as the apparitions, which make Macbeth confident and also strengthens Macbeth’s belief in the witches, and could be guilty of such acts like Macbeth’s hallucinations. This shows that they had some control over Macbeth, and also some influence, proof can be Macbeth’s words, ‘So fail and foul a day I have not seen’ which directly links him to them from the first scene. The witches ‘control’ or ‘suggestion’ over Mabeth looses its grip, and we can see this as Hecate gets angry at the witches, ‘Loves for his own ends, not for you’. Which shows that Macbeth’s ambitions and own power help him control himself and that the witches don’t have much influence over him, just suggestion.

The witches could be seen as effecting the appearance and reality of the country, as they influence Macbeth who kills Duncan. When Duncan is dead, and Macbeth is crowned, many things are affected. Nature and moral order turn bad, people are killed, and the appearance that traitors are loyal and ‘foul is fair’ appears. The roles are reversed and Macbeth turns more evil, and the witches do not have much to do with it anymore. Macbeth used to be a loyal respected hero, ‘Nobel Macbeth’ with only a simple and harmless relationship with the witches and the supernatural, but after he gained power and grabbed at his ambition, he started to corrupt. His guilt made him want to make sure no one found out, and he even went to far lengths as to kill his best friend, Banquo.

When the witches see Macbeth the second time, they show him three more prophecies, from three apparitions that they summon. They tell Macbeth that he should beware of Macduff. He will not be defeated until Birnam woods move to Dunsinane, and that any man born from a mother’s womb will not kill him. These fill Macbeth with confidence, and make Macbeth have more trust in the Witches, as he has been told what he wants to hear. What he does not know is that the apparitions have double meanings and that the witches are telling half-truths, ‘Double double, toil and trouble’ shows this, as the witches say these words when making the spell.

Lady Macbeth has not been mention yet, but she also is greatly connected to witchcraft, and the events that have taken part in the play. She calls on spirits to change her into a fearless ruthless human being, so she is able to help Macbeth kill Duncan, ‘Unsex me here’. Also ‘Come you Spirits’, which shows that she is also capable of influencing Macbeth, just like the witches. She encourages Macbeth and puts a lot of pressure on him to take the title by force. She also challenges Macbeth’s manhood, to convince him, ‘ and live like a coward in thine own esteem’. Macbeth at the start is more trusting with his wife, but as the events unfold, he makes decisions on his own and leaves his wife out, and this shows he is changing as he becomes more of a tyrant.

The witches form a great part of the supernatural events in the play, but because they were not the only supernatural forces, they cannot be blamed alone. They fuelled Macbeth and instigated his ambitions, they could be seen as beginning it, but Lady Macbeth helped carry it out, the pressure built up, and Macbeth murdered Duncan. The witches may have controlled Macbeth to kill Duncan, and the hallucinations may have pushed him, but when Macbeth murdered Banquo, and Macduff’s family, they were his own actions. He decided to do it, without guidance, or help, and so makes him guilty.

It could be seen that the tragedy of Macbeth is caused by the supernatural power, as the witches are directly linked to Macbeth, and his murder of Duncan is guided by witchcraft. Macbeth was tempted, guided, pressured, tricked, and controlled by evil supernatural forces, and his actions were of his own, but were not his fault. On the other hand, it could be seen differently, it could be the weird sisters giving a simple suggestion, and Macbeth’s own ambition and Lady Macbeth’s pressure that drive him to Murder. These different points of view effect who is guilty, and perhaps reflect on the society at the time. I see Shakespeare suggesting that perhaps there could be ‘Witches with spells!’ or ‘weird outcasts with suggestion’, but it all boils down to the fact that the witches reflect evil, and how they corrupt a good soul, and lead it to damaging the natural order and then leading it to its death. I think that the witches use the supernatural powers, or not, in the play to show a battle of good Vs evil, where evil triumphs.

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