The supernatural is also embraced by Lady Macbeth when she calls upon evil spirits to aid her in killing Duncan. The speech includes a series of powerful images that are associated with the supernatural and evil ‘And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell’. Alliteration is also used to emphasise important quotes ‘you murd’ring ministers’. She also calls upon evil spirits to take make her a man and remove her feminine qualities so that she can be harder and more evil. She wants the powers of evil to stop the blood from flowing to her heart easily so that her passages will become blocked and she will not feel natural emotions ‘make thick my blood’. She also feels that Macbeth is unable to kill Duncan because he is too feeble ‘yet do I fear thy nature, it is too full o’th’milk of human kindess’. She desperately wants Macbeth to kill Duncan and she tries to persuade him to do it ‘look like th’innocent flower but be the serpent under’t.’ In the speech, Lady Macbeth also refers to the raven as this represents death, ‘the raven himself is hoarse’, showing that danger and death are imminent. From this speech alone, we can see that Lady Macbeth is probably the most evil character in the play, and all this as a consequence of ambition and greed.
Another important scene where the supernatural is obvious is when Macbeth hallucinates and imagines he sees a blood stained dagger. He even suspects the supernatural himself as he doubts his own senses ‘is this a dagger that I see before me?’ This is when he is debating wether to proceed with this murder that is not only tabooed but is also considered to be a crime against god. The combination of being pressurised in to commiting the murder by Lady Macbeth and him being so ambitious drives him almost insane and he hallucinates.
A third major scene where the supernatural is evident is the appearance of Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. In this scene, only Macbeth can see Banquo ‘Here is a place reserved sir’ and he is shocked to find that everyone else cannot see him. This scene shows that Macbeth feels guilty for what he has done and is battling with his own conscience to maintain his sanity.
Another important scene where the supernatural features within it is the appearance of the apparitions. This is when Macbeth goes to visit the witches on his own to find out more about his destiny. The witches show him three images that all seem to relate to Macduff and the threat that he poses. They represent Banquo’s descendants. ‘An armed head’ (represents the military threat), ‘a bloody child’ (represents Macduff), and ‘a child crowned, with a tree in his hand’. Despite these images all representing threats the witches assure Macbeth that he is safe ‘none of woman born shall harm Macbeth’. They also tell him that he will not be defeated until the wood moves, implying that he will never be defeated ‘rise never till the wood of Birnam rise’.
The theme of ‘evil’ in the play is represented mostly by Lady Macbeth in that she tries to use evil to aid her in her acts ‘Make thick my blood’. She is probably not evil herself but once she hears the news about Macbeth’s destiny, she is overwhelmed and becomes very ambitious, as does Macbeth. She posses an ability to encourage Macbeth to do something by bullying him and questioning his own masculinity ‘When you durst do it, then you are a man’ She cannot commit the murder herself so she uses her wickedness and her persuasive nature to convince Macbeth to do it by psychologically tormenting him ‘Was the hope drunk Wherin you dressed yourself?’
Murdering the king is also considered to be very evil and is considered a crime against god as the king is god’s representation on Earth. As Macbeth eventually kills the king, it is fair to say that he is evil but he is pressurised into doing so by his own ambition and he is under the very persuasive influence of lady Macbeth.
There are many different examples of evil acts in the play, one of which is when Lady Macduff and her children are murdered after Macbeth plans to seize Macduffs castle ‘The castle of Macduff I will surprise, his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line’. At this point in the play he is paranoid and therefore very dangerous. There are also lot of evil images in the play ‘at the pit of Acheron’.
The good in the play is represented by Duncan and his good kingship and also Malcolm. Banquo and Macduff also represent good in the play as they are loyal and trustworthy characters. The strange healing qualities of the English king also represent ‘good’ in the play as they are kind and selfless, these strange healing qualities also contest with Macbeth. Not a lot of characters can be described as good in the play because the play is essentially expressing evil and exaggerating it.
In conclusion, one can say that good does triumph over evil as, although there are a lot of serious crimes committed in the play, Macduff eventually achieves his revenge over Macbeth and he is one of the rare ‘good’ characters in the play. He manages to kill Macbeth which represents evil being defeated by good. But ultimately, the play is at tragedy. There are examples of murder, witchcraft and many other serious crimes. The message of the play is that crime does not pay. It is a play of political and social realism: showing how an oppressive hierarchical society systematically can produce corrupt individuals. It is also a play of ideas and themes, for example, ‘appearance and reality’. The ultimate theme is that appearances are not what they seem. At the beginning, Macbeth is portrayed as a brave, loyal, valiant soldier, but we discover that he is actually quite the opposite. He is corrupt, evil and takes advantage of his position as King.
