Macbeth is one of William Shakespeares most famous plays and was written in the Elizabethan times. Macbeth explores how power can effect people and ultimately lead to their downfall. A range of themes are portrayed including guilt, ambition and conscience. However the key element in Macbeth is the theme of the supernatural. Elements such as Macbeths hallucinations and apparitions and the involvement of witches are all stereotypical things to include when working with the supernatural.
The theme of the supernatural is apparent in the very first scene of Macbeth. The play opens with the witches; in the Elizabethan times there was a strong belief in the supernatural and especially in the belief of witches and their power, such as having the ability to sail in a sieve and being able to control the weather. However a modern audience now is not so superstitious but we still seemed to be very fascinated by the existence of them existence as the genre of the supernatural is still very popular.
The witches are seen as evil from very early on in the play, they say they intend to meet again in thunder and lighting. This plays on the belief they had in Elizabethan times that witches could control the weather, if does not prove this belief but states that they enjoy the unpleasant conditions.
The fact that they are evil is shown again in their final couplet. According to them, Fail is foul, and foul is fair this means that good is bad and bad is good, which is an example of antithesis and is seen as the witches are violating Gods natural order.
At the beginning of Act 1 Scene 3 the witches are seen again, but this time they are casting a spell to meet Macbeth and this is where we are first introduced to Macbeth himself. The witches are discussing cursing someone and also killing swine, in the Elizabethan audience would have been very worried by this and they would have before more fearful towards the witches.
Macbeths first words in the play are How foul and fair a day I have not seen this links back to the words of the witches in the first scene Fair is foul, and foul is fair so from the beginning of the play there is already a link between Macbeth and the witches, this is also an example of antithesis.
Banquos description of the witches is also important in seeing how unnatural they are: they seem to be women but are not. It is Banquo who thinks that are evil, What! Can the devil speak true? although Macbeth does not see them as evil. However Macbeth may only think this because of what the witches have told him, they have lead him to believe that he will be Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. The witches tell him this using a pattern of three, an older audience will see this use of three also as evil and three is seen to be a magic number.
At the end of the scene Macbeth and Banquo are greeted by Rosse and Angus and they tell Macbeth that he is to be Thane of Cawdor, because of this Macbeth now starts to wonder if what the witches said will come true after all.
A modern audiences reaction to all of this would just be that Macbeth and Banquo were simply hallucinating, and that the witches were not there at all.
Lady Macbeth is introduced later in the play in Act 1 Scene 5 in this scene Lady Macbeth receives news that Macbeth met the witches and they prophesised that he would become king Lady Macbeth decides that she will do all she can to help him achieve this goal. She casts a spell, much like the witches calling upon spirts to help her commit the murder. She asks the sprits to unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty. Lady Macbeth no longer wants to be a woman as she feels that makes her weak and asks to be filled with cruelty. She also asks that she does not feel guilty, so that nothing stops her from what she plans to do. Her use of language makes her seem like a sinister character from the start and that she will do anything to achieve greatness and will not let anyone, not even the King get in her way.
Modern audiences much like traditional audiences would feel that Lady Macbeth was an evil person, and would most likely be shocked by her plans to make her husband king however Elizabethan audiences would feel that she had previously been possessed by witches as women had little power in those days.
Act 2 Scene contains Macbeths soliloquy in which he hallucinates a dagger in front of him, this is interesting as in the film version different directors have chosen a different way to act out this scene, some directors chose to show a dagger in front of Macbeth and others chose not to show one. The dagger guides Macbeth to his goal of killing Duncan. Initially he experiences horror at the reality of what he is contemplating, but this gives way to resolution and Macbeth proceeds to kill Duncan as the bell rings. Macbeth says Mine eyes are made the fools o the other senses, or else worth all the rest this shows he truly believes that he is seeing this dagger before him as he is saying either my eyes arent working properly or they are better than all of my other senses put together. He also comments on the witches making ritual offerings to Hecate the goddess of witchcraft, this is all very supernatural and creates great suspicion for the audiences to what is going to happen next.
Modern day audiences would feel that Macbeth was simply under a lot or stress at the moment or may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. However Elizabethan audiences would think that Macbeth has been possessed by Hecate and the witches and it was them who was forcing him to do such a terrible deed.
Macbeth returns from the murder of Duncan he feels that he has been abandoned by god and that he is dammed. The actual murder of Duncan is not shown in the stage version of Macbeth. However the 1971 Polaski film version shows it in great detail. Macbeth cannot say the word Amen as he feels that even the ocean cannot clean him this suggest a state of total damnation. However Lady Macbeth does not share the same views on the situation she simply tells Macbeth My hands are of your colour, but i shame to wear a heart so white she is calling Macbeth a coward and she seems to show no remorse for the deed she has just been involved with. Irony is present as Lady Macbeths comment to Macbeth Infirm of purpose! comes back to haunt her as he strengthens in evil resolve while she becomes madly suicidal.
Both Audiences would have found this scene particularly shocking, as Lady Macbeth is seen to be pure evil as she shows no remorse currently even though she had just participated in the killing of the king. Macbeth himself seems very disturbed, Elizabethan audiences would feel that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have been possessed. Modern day audiences would not have been so shocked by this and wont have linked the witches to Macbeth killing Duncan they would just feel that Macbeth had become greedy and taken things too far.
Act 2 Scene 4 acts as a commentary on all that has happened during the night of Duncans murder. The importance of the Old Man lies simply that he is being a representative of the people and how they feel about the situation that has unfolded. Unnatural events occurred overnight as well as the murder of Duncan, the natural order has been disrupted darkness indeed seems to have usurped the place of light which is what Lady Macbeth hoped for as she called on darkness is a previous scene. The Old Man and Ross continue discussing strange things that happened that night and it turns out that the Old Man witnessed an owl killing and eating a falcon, and also discovered that Duncans horses ate each other. It seems that the killing of Duncan has disrupted things throughout the whole of the kingdom and currently there seems to be no resolve. Elizabethan audiences would have been very disturbed by this scene and would feel the whole of the country have been cursed because of the deed that Macbeth has done. They strongly believed in witches and witchcraft and would see a strong link between witches and the unnatural occurrences.
Modern audiences would simply not believe what the Old Man was telling them or think that he himself was lying or had simply been mistaken about what he thought he was seeing. On the other hand they could believe the Old Man and simply feel that it was a freak accident.
Act 3 Scene 4 involves the ghost of Banquo who in the previous scene Macbeth had killed. Banquos ghost ironically occupies Macbeths seat at the banquet and it is only Macbeth who can see the ghost and he is terrified. Macbeth begins to reveal his guilt to all at the banquet and it is Lady Macbeth who covers up this fact. Banquos ghost affects Macbeth in a very disturbing way he starts to sweat which we see in the film version. He himself is very disturbed by the presence of Banquos ghost. When the ghost disappears Macbeth manages to regain composure but when Banquos ghost returns again he loses it completely and Lady Macbeth dismisses everyone. Macbeth throughout this scene refuses to believe that no one else can see the ghost, in Act 2 Scene 2 Macbeth feels that he is damned and the fact that only he can see the ghost makes him believe that this is true.
The dramatic tension in this scene is brilliantly exploited. First the appearance of the murderer itself is shocking, the risks to Macbeth in being seen with such a person are enormous and this gives a clear indication of his state of mind. Secondly the tension throughout the Banquet as Macbeth reveals his guilt.
Towards the end of the scene Macbeth reveals that he intends to revisit the witches, the audience will be very weary of this as it was the witches first premonition that caused Macbeth to start on this long journey to become King.
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