MacBeth

Macbeth: Natural and Supernatural Forces At Work Macbeth, by William Shakespeare would most definitely be considered by anyone to be a tragedy, even if the story centers on the protagonist’s death. A brave Scottish general who takes over the throne and believes himself to be unstoppable meets his demise by Macduff. Shakespeare writes his story in a rather chilling way by incorporating many supernatural and gory aspects into it. For supernatural, one can obviously not look past the three witches. These “weird sisters” as they are called by many characters possess many powers and seem to enjoy creating turmoil in the world by clever deceptions. They cast off charms, spells, and curses to anyone they desire to persuade them to do things. Most notably are their prophecies about who will take over the throne of Scotland. The witches tell Macbeth that he shall inherit the throne and will be invincible, or so he believes. The witches only tell him that “no man of woman born” can kill him. Even I was fooled by this reading it, thinking “Hey, everyone is born of woman.” I highly doubted genetic engineering was available at this time. However, we later learn that a small loophole is present here as Macduff later

He insists that it can"tmt be done and if he were even to wash his hands in the ocean, the entire ocean would turn red. Of course with any tragedy, such as the murder of King Duncan, there is always bloodshed as we easily see within this play. Whenever we commit a sin, our soul is stained with evil like a drop of black ink would stain a white handkerchief. It is this sin that stays with us until we are forgiven and make amends. It is debatable if one of their supernatural powers is that of controlling others. Overall, I think Macbeth is a good story and is made more dramatic and thrilling by the incorporating of several natural and supernatural ele ------------------------------------------------------------------------Bibliography. Amidst all of this, we see several other dark forces at work. The tragedy surrounding King Duncan"tms death and the dethroning of the murderous Macbeth probably would not be as exciting if everyone was guilt free. However, in the play Macbeth and his wife do not choose this route. She tries in vain to "wash" the "blood" from her hands but to no avail. This would be the actual, physical blood that is shed from the murder of King Duncan and later King Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. If the days were always sunny and the prophecies were made by a nobleman, not three witches, it would not only seem boring but a little unbelievable that a nobleman would have as much influence on Macbeth and Macduff as three witches would. The witches also are able to appear and disappear whenever and wherever they want. Or perhaps they don"tmt have control, but merely are able to look into the future in order to see what events are to come. Lady Macbeth I believe does feel some guilt but just suppresses it which later leads to her nightmares and her sleepwalking.