The use of the supernatural occurs at the beginning of the play, with three witches predicting the future of Macbeth. This gives the audience a clue to what the future holds for Macbeth. "When the battles lost and won" (Act I, Scene I). It says that every battle is lost by one side and won by another. Macbeth's fate is that he will win the battle. And he will have a time when he loses a battle. Shakespeare used the supernatural to show evil. In Shakespeare’s time supernatural was not seen as we see the supernatural today, it was seen as evil!!
After the prophecies of the witches' revealed the future of Macbeth, the plan in which to gain power of the throne is brought up. The only way to gain power of the throne was for Macbeth to work his way to the throne, or to murder King Duncan. Murdering the king was an easier plan since the king also had two sons so he could not work his way up to the throne. Lady Macbeth also relied on the supernatural by her soliloquy of calling upon the evil spirits to give her the power to plot the murder of king Duncan (Act I, Scene 5).
Lady Macbeth persuaded her husband Macbeth to murder King Duncan. On the night they planned to kill Duncan, Macbeth was waiting for Lady Macbeth to ring the signal bell to go up the stairs to Duncan's chamber. But he sees the vision of a floating dagger. The dagger leads Macbeth towards the chamber, the dagger was covered with blood this tells the audience that evil is involved in this part of the play. Then the bell rings and Macbeth goes to Duncan's chamber.
The witches in the first scene of Act 4 are evil because of the darkness around them. The witches meet in a dark cave. The cave is a place for the witches because caves represent the under-world and hell, creating a setting of evil, and the witches appearance, "secret, black, and midnight hags" also show that their evil. The witches dark meeting place and dark appearance all are to show the audience that they are evil.
In Act 4: Macbeth spoke with the witches, murdered Macduff's family and did many evil things, which a king should not do. But Act 1 Macbeth was said to be a great and honest solider this tells the audience that Macbeth has changed from "noble" and "kind" from brave and a hero to "black Macbeth" and a "untitled tyrant.
"This dead butcher and his fiend like queen", this is what Malcolm said about Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Which remind the audience that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have become evil.
At the beginning of the play King Duncan is seen as a loyal king, and good to his people. Macbeth is seen as a strong, brave soldier who is loyal to his king and fights without mercy, but is corrupted from the witches prophecies and by Lady Macbeth’s ambition. This is because of the weakness of Macbeth’s character and the strong power of Lady Macbeth and how she is easily she was able to influence him. Her strength motivates him at the start but after he realises what he has done, Macbeth is the one who carries on because he know there is no going back and he continues in his murders. At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth appears as a kind wife of Macbeth’s but underneath lies a evil woman.
Lady Macbeth would become evil if it involved her to gain money and power, this shows the audience how far lady Macbeth would take it, and she did. She became as evil as the witches.
For e.g.
Lady Macbeth was then able to act in horror "What! In our House!" to the murder of Duncan, to draw away the suspicion from Macbeth. But when she finds out that Macbeth has killed the guards she faints "Help me Hence". I think that Lady Macbeth was surprised that she was able to get Macbeth to murder Duncan, but was shocked at how over one night and in fear, Macbeth could kill two more men in cold blood, but she could have fainted to draw the suspicion from Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth finally gets the power she wanted but then realises what she and her husband has done, And starts to feel guilty and is scared of being caught. She then slowing starts to regret what she did. This is shown in act 5.
Out, damned spot!out,I say!One; Two:why,
then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord,
fie! a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows
it, when none can call our power to account?
[Act 5, S 1]
In this act lady Macbeth is trying to wash out blood on her hands. At the start Lady Macbeth was the one pushing on Macbeth to kill Duncan but as the play goes on she becomes weaker as Macbeth becomes stronger, Macbeth isn't scared by what he has done compared to Lady Macbeth. Her role in the play slowly becomes smaller and smaller as she ends up being driven mad by the guilt and soon can no longer take it, and ends up killing herself
hoping that guilt will end now that she is dead.
Macbeth does not care much after lady Macbeth kills herself he loses his value for life and blames Lady Macbeth. But he stills carries on killing in his evil way and not taking this as a sign. But when he starts to think about it, what will happen if he gets caught?, is he going to end up in the same way as lady Macbeth?.
Fear starts to get to him, he can’t sleep any more because he starts to feel guilty and having second thoughts. But when the army of England comes, he depends on the witches prophecies, and even when Macduff tells him that he was not born normally Macbeth still want to fight with Macduff till he dies. This shows and tells the audience that Macbeth is brave and full of courage (like how he is described in act 1).
The three witches are capable of leading people into danger resulting
in death, such as the sailor who never slept (Act I, Scene 3).
In the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth greatly change with respect to their characters and their personalities. Although Macbeth was weak at first it was the strong Lady Macbeth who helped him through the first murder but in sacrifice to controlling Macbeth But she lost control turned insane and killed herself. In the end it was worthy to call Macbeth and his wife "a dead butcher and his fiend like queen" but at the beginning of the play Macbeth and his wife were ordinary people at the time.
