To what extent do Superstition and the Supernatural lead to Macbeth’s downfall?
To what extent do Superstition and the Supernatural lead to Macbeth's downfall?
Superstition is an excessively credulous belief in the supernatural. Supernatural is an attribute to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature. When it is referred to as "the supernatural", then it means supernatural manifestations or events. Both of the two terms that I have just explained, superstition and supernatural, are present a lot of the time during the play Macbeth, and many of the supernatural events which occur during the play tend to lead into other happenings.
The witches are actually an important part of the play and the supernatural, because they start the play along with the supernatural. In the first scene the supernatural theme is present due to the witches. They also speak of Macbeth and involve him in supernatural matters, and we can tell that they influence him, and this also blooms as the play develops. The words that the witches use are also of a supernatural nature. Some link together sometimes in a chant like way, such as 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair', and this sounds rather unpleasant and evil. The language and the way in which they use it sounds confusing and lets us know that the witches like evil and believe that it is right. We can also blame them for some of the things that happen later on in the play which are involved in the downfall of Macbeth.
Later in the play Macbeth is found echoing some of the phrases that the witches have used. This occurs just before the witches give their predictions to Macbeth and Banquo. This could be coincidence, but could also be because they have influenced him. Therefore, they could have influenced him in what to do, and what he does is evil. This is a good example of how the supernatural leads to his downfall.
At the start of the play, Macbeth is a highly rated person and is renowned for his bravery on the battlefield. We again hear about ...
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Later in the play Macbeth is found echoing some of the phrases that the witches have used. This occurs just before the witches give their predictions to Macbeth and Banquo. This could be coincidence, but could also be because they have influenced him. Therefore, they could have influenced him in what to do, and what he does is evil. This is a good example of how the supernatural leads to his downfall.
At the start of the play, Macbeth is a highly rated person and is renowned for his bravery on the battlefield. We again hear about the eponymous character, Macbeth, in the second scene. We are told how much of a brave solider he is and that he deserves the name "Brave Macbeth". We learn how he risks his life on the battlefield and how barbaric he was. We are also told how Macbeth deals with a traitor on the battlefield, and he punishes the traitor in a rather violent way. Macbeth takes his sword and basically splits him in two. From these actions I think that we can say that Macbeth does not favour traitors, and he is possibly never a person that would be associated with being a traitor.
The main turning point in the play is when Macbeth meets with the witches accompanied by Banquo and when the predictions are made. Macbeth is told that he shall be the thane of Glamis, ten the than of Cawdow and shall then go on to be King. We can tell that he is interested as the first thing that he says after these perdictions have been made is 'Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more', which is meant to make Banquo and the audience to think that ha does not believe them, but tells the witches to carry on as he is curious as to what they have to say, but they vanish and we know that he has taken them seriously as he desperate for tem to return and is spellbound. However, Banquo has a different view and asks 'have we eaten on the insane root' meaning are they hallucinating. Banquo advises Macbeth to stear clear o the witches and what they have said, but he ignores him as he is greedy and over ambitious. This is where we know that the supernatural has inhabited Macbeth's body and has began to change him. The downfall has begun and worst is yet to come.
At the time of the predictions Macbeth was already Thane of Glanis, and was shortly made the Thane of cawdaw. This made him believe that the predictions and now he was interacting with the supernatural. Macbeth wanted more and thought that two out of three preictions was not enough and was going to go to extreme measures to get what he wanted.
Lady Macbeth also assisted Macbeth during the downfall period. She was behind him during the murder of King Duncan and was the reason for Macbeth doing the deed, because she continued to assure that all would turn out in their favour. Se also made him feel guilty and like a wimp by saying 'Art thou afeard' and 'live a coward in thine own esteem'. This is quite an important thing as she is questioning his masculinity. Macbeth is at this time know as a warrior, and when he is faced with this comment he is going to prove it wrong. She can also be found using witchcraft when she asks the spirts to change her into a fearless, ruthless human being making her able to help Macbeth in killing Duncan. She says 'Unsex me here' and 'Come you spirits' which shows that she way be able to influence what Macbeth does, as do the witches. She actually put a lot of pressure on Macbeth during this time as she personally wanted him to take the title, as well as herself taking the title as queen. We also notice that at the beginning of the play the two, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, are very close and this is shown during the murder of Duncan as they both trust each other. As the play continues we can see that they grow apart and Macbeth decides to make more important decisions on his own and does not include her. He is turning into a rebel, a tyrant.
As I have already said, the witches build up a large part of the supernatural in the play, but other elements do contribute to this, so we can not put it all down to the witches. Although they were responsible for directing Macbeth in the killing, and the hallucinations may have encouraged him, a human source was also involved, Lady Macbeth. However, when Macbeth murdered Banquo, and Macduff's family, they were his own decisions, and his own actions. I think that he went solo because all of the predictions had been achieved, and now the supernatural has abandoned him. Before he could have blamed it on the supernatural and perhaps been given some justice, but when he took matters into his own hands he was to blame. As soon as he goes 'solo' things go from bad to worse. Macbeth starts to attract suspition, and in particular, suspition from Banquo, and this is why he is murdered.
It could be said that all of the deaths in Macbeth were caused by the supernatural, dur to the fact that the witches had quite a lot to do with Macbeth, and the Murder of Duncan was directed by witchcraft. Macbeth was provoked by the witches and pressurised by his wife, who we know used witchcraft at some time during the play, and did carry out the actions himself, but we could say that it is not his fault. However, the witches may have just been making mindless suggestions, and Macbeth's vaulting ambition with the pressure and perswation of his wife, Lady Macbeth, that was responsible for the murder of Duncan. After this of course, the murder are down to one man, Macbeth. I think that the supernatural does indeed lead to Macbeth's, but really, he is too blame, and becomes a monster. I think that the main reason is his own vaulting ambition and that he can not escape the blame.
