"Till Birnum Wood do come to Dunsinane"(Act 5.6) Discuss the significance of this prophecy in relation to the theme of order and disorder and the elements of the supernatural and the unnatural in Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

“Till Birnum Wood do come to Dunsinane”(Act 5.6) Discuss the significance of this prophecy in relation to the theme of order and disorder and the elements of the supernatural and the unnatural in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.

Shakespeare’s great tragedy “Macbeth” deals with several themes, but none greater than the theme of order and disorder. This is explored through several ways, but mainly through and exploration of the elements of the supernatural and the unnatural. Through this investigation, this theme of order and disorder will be explored through the elements of the supernatural and unnatural, and the third prophecy of the weird sisters, “Till Birnum Wood do come to Dunsinane”. After these topics have been discussed, the significance of them in regard to the play will be explored in a concluding paragraph.

The threat of civilized order descending into disorder is a theme common to all of Shakespeare’s plays. It was a widespread concern at the time he was writing. In Elizabethan England, order was very important; everyone had his or her place. When Macbeth kills Duncan, a crime that in Shakespeare’s day would be the worst crime of all, he upsets that order. The fact that a Thane kills the King and unrightfully takes the throne defies the order and throws the rest of the world into disorder, right down to the natural world. It is said by the Thane of Ross’s father that strange thing are happening, beyond anything else he has ever witnessed (Act 2.4). He and Ross go on to talk of the strange happenings of the past few days. They speak of the darkness lasting when it is suppose to be light, of mousing owls killing falcons, and of Duncan’s old horses breaking out of their stalls, “as they would make War on mankind”(Act 2.4, line 15), and that the horses have been eating each other. The horses are a more domesticated animal, and in those days represent a form of wealth, and nobility, giving them a more human like appearance. This goes to reflect on the human world, and how it is being upset. These unnatural acts show how Macbeth killing Duncan has disturbed the natural order of the world.

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The supernatural world also has a lot to do with the upsetting of the order. Disorder is introduced at the outset with stormy weather and the three witches, who are agents of the supernatural. The three weird sisters, who are described as witches, are the best examples of this supernatural world. In Shakespeare’s day, people and the institutions of the time were involved in the European witch-hunts. For three centuries of early modern European history, diverse societies were consumed by a panic over alleged witches in their midst. The appearance of the weird sisters would play upon the belief of witches already in the minds of the people of that day. They open the play, and tell of what is to come for Macbeth. In Act 1.3, Macbeth and Banquo meet them, and they prophecise to Macbeth that we will be Thane of Cawdor, and eventually King. They tell Banquo that his seed will sit on the throne of Scotland. These prophecies play on the ambitions of Macbeth, and put the idea to kill Duncan in his head. At first, he is weary of the sisters and their prophecies. “This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good”(Act 1.4) He knows what it would take to get him in the throne, and he realizes that it would be high treason. By Act 1.5, he is letting the audience know what he must do to become King, and therefore was becoming more of a possibility in his mind. These prophecies are, in part, how Macbeth justifies to himself the killing of Duncan. He believes that it is his destiny (may be taken as what God has meant for him to do, for Kings believed that they were chosen by God, and there was a belief that their destiny was chosen by God, and not doing this would be contradicting God himself) to become King, and he might as well not go against his destiny.

After he takes the throne and has killed Duncan, he becomes more and more desensitized to the killing. He had problems with killing Duncan, and couldn’t sleep because of it, but overcomes it, and has no problem committing more brutal killings. He remembered what the weird sisters had said about Banquo’s seed becoming the future Kings of Scotland, and he doesn’t like it. So he kills Banquo, and tries to kill Fléance, Banquo’s son. It is in the scene that Banquo is reported dead to Macbeth that Banquo’s ghost comes to him, and only him, at a banquet at which all the nobles are at. This represents Macbeth instability, mentally. It also represents a world in a state of chaos, where the dead are coming back into the mortal realm. The ghost here is a feature of the supernatural.

He later comes back to the weird sisters (in Act 4.1) to see what they can tell him, since he has killed Banquo. He gets totally different prophecies than he expected. He is told to fear Macduff, not to fear anyone who is of woman born and not to be worried until “Birnum Wood do come to Dunsinane”. He takes these as good signs, and doesn’t worry bout them, but decides to kill Macduff’s wife and son, and tries to kill Macduff himself, just to be safe. Here he is going against the very belief in destiny that he used to justify the killing of Duncan. Here he moves to a deeper state of evil, and reached a new level of killing. Macduff escapes to find Malcom in England, Duncan’s rightful heir. This is an attempt to restore the natural order to the kingdom. They, along with the Siward, the Earl of Northumberland, return with an army to Dunsinane to over throw Macbeth. They wait at Birnum Wood outside Macbeths castle in Dunsinane, but Macbeth is not worried. He is reassured by the prophecies of the weird sisters on two levels that Birnum Wood won’t come to Dunsinane, because a forest won’t move. I will not be afraid of death and bane, Until Birnum forest come to Dunsinane”, and that he need not fear of a man of woman born. He soon finds out that he was wrong in his interpretation of the prophecies, because in Act 5.4, a messenger delivers the message “As I did stand watch upon the hill, I looked toward Birnum, and, anon, methought, the wood began to move”. Macbeth cannot believe what he is hearing, and begins to realize that this is the end, but still clings to the thought that he cannot be harmed by a man of woman born. The two sides enter into battle, and Macbeth gets into the fighting, and is sure he is invincible to all mortal men, that is, since they would have to be of woman born. After he kills Young Siward, the Earl of Northumberland’s son, he says, “Thou wast born of woman. But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandished be man’s that’s of a woman born”. This shows how has taken what the weird sisters have said for truth, and believes in it so much, he is placing his life on it, because he talks as if he is planning on running through the people and kill them ass, since he is invincible. He says in the next scene (5.8) “Why should I play the Roman fool, And die upon mine own sword, while I see lives, the gashes do better upon them”. It is here that the confrontation between him and Macduff takes place, with Macbeth still feeling that no man can hurt him. It is here that he sees his faulty. He says “I bear a charmed life, which must not yield To one a woman born”, to which Macduff replies “Spare thy charm, And let the angel that thou still haves’t serves (Satan) Tell thee, Macduff was from his mothers womb Untimely ripped”. They are talking of the Caesarian Section at child birth, and not of being not born from a woman, but by a unnatural method of child birth. It is here that Macbeth realizes that he will die at the hands of Macduff. He is slain, and Malcom is placed as the rightful leader of Scotland. It is at this point that order is restored to the kingdom, and life is returned to normal.

Throughout this last paragraph, examples of how the supernatural, largely through the weird sisters, is used to mold the conflict of the play, and how it helps to add to the suspense and excitement of the climax scenes. Through the weird sisters, Macbeth’s confidence is escaladed to the point where he thinks he is invincible to mortal man. He misinterprets the prophecies, and due to this sets himself up to be killed, and to lose the throne. He dismissed the second prophecy not to fear any man born of woman makes him think that if a man is human, he must not be able to hurt him, and that even Macduff and his forces are going to be defeated with no problem. The same goes for the third prophecy of “Till Birnum Wood…”. These directly lead to the death of Macbeth and his regime of terror, comparable to that of Robespierre in 18th century France.

The disorder prevails in these last few scenes through his followers and subjects. It is said that the only men who fight for him, fight only out of fear for their lives, and not because they believe in him. His only noble follower if a man names Seyton, who is at his side most of Act 5. It is an obvious play on words by Shakespeare showing how he has been reduced to a life only compatible to that of Satan, or Lucifer. This depicts the evil qualities about Macbeth. This is all because of the supernatural witches, and their prophecies, preying on Macbeth’s ambitions and dreams.

Macbeth deals with many different themes, but the most evident being that of order and disorder. Shakespeare uses the beliefs of the time to make the play more interesting to the public, largely through the three weird sisters. The supernatural and the unnatural are used with magnificence in this play, to emphasize the negative features of rebellion and disorder. Many prophecies why he wrote this play, such as to show the people of England that rebellion only causes death and disorder throughout the world, human and animal. Many think that King James the 1st of England would have been watching this play, and that many things would have tied him into the play, indirectly. Some believe it was to further his own monetary wealth through showing the troubles with rebellion, to help keep the order and relative peace of the time, so he could continue to write. Regardless his motive “Macbeth” is still, and will remain one of the most cherished works of the English language of the renaissance. Scholars and historians alike will continue to analyze it, and much more is left in this play to benefit generations to come.