‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen.’
This is repeating what the witches said in Act 1 Scene 1 and shows they already have gained more power over Macbeth. Banquo addresses the witches before Macbeth and talks of how ‘wither’d and so wild’ they are. In this instance alliteration is used is used to reinforce the point that the witches appear old and ugly. A few lines later the witches give their predictions to Macbeth. They read as follows:
‘First Witch All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
Second Witch All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee that shalt be King hereafter.’
Of these predictions the first is a statement as Macbeth is already Thane of Glamis but he is not Thane of Cawdor nor is he the King. These predictions shock Macbeth, Banquo sees this and he voices his concerns by saying:
‘Good Sir, why do you start, and seem to fear
Things that do sound so fair?’
Then he continues to ask the witches if they have any predictions for him and they do. It is:
‘Thou shalt get Kings, though thou be none’
As soon as this is said Banquo becomes a future threat to Macbeth although Macbeth does not say anything about this yet. This may have something to do with the fact that he is still totally drawn into the witches’ predictions, so much so that when the witches prepare to leave he asks them to stay. We can see this where he says:
‘Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more.’
This shows that he is already under their power as most people, including Banquo, would just shrug off the predictions but Macbeth is totally wrapped up in them.
Once the witches have left, Ross and Angus arrive and give Macbeth the news that he is now the Thane of Cawdor, which confirms for Macbeth that what the witches were saying was the truth. It is also ironic as Macbeth receives his title from a traitor and he himself is going to become one. We find him thinking of how he could become King a few lines later when he says:
‘Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor:
The greatest is behind.’
This line shows that the witches have a lot of power over him as he is already thinking of becoming the King. However at this stage he is still in control of his desires as he still sees the idea of murder to make his way to the crown unimaginable.
Act 1 Scene 4 is a brief act but it has significance as it is in this act that the King, Duncan, names his heir, Malcolm. At this news Macbeth first shows raw ambition to become the King of Scotland. We see this where it says:
‘The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’er-leap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires!
Let not light see my black and deep desires’
This quote shows that he thinks that the Prince will get in his way on the way to the throne but it also shows that Macbeth thinks that he should not share his thoughts with anyone at the moment.
At the start of Act 1 Scene 5 we find Lady Macbeth reading a letter from Macbeth. In this letter Macbeth tells of his meeting with the witches, their predictions and that he had become Thane of Cawdor straight after hearing the predictions. When Lady Macbeth reads this she has no doubs that he will become King. She shows this where she says:
‘Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promis’d. Yet do I fear thy kind nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way.’
In this quote she also talks of how she thinks he is too kind and not strong enough to do any harm to accelerate his coming to the throne. A few lines on she also talks of how she thinks he is not evil enough to do anything - but that she is. She then receives news that the King will be staying at her castle that night. This could be interpreted as fate which plays a big part in all Shakespeare plays. With this news Lady Macbeth shows even more ambition and greed than before. She is already planning the death of Duncan. We can see this where it says:
‘The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my Battlements.’
The meaning of this is quite obvious. She is saying that Duncan will die in her castle that night. She then goes on to say:
‘Come you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty’
Here she is asking for her femininity to be taken away so she does not have the kindness and gentleness associated with the female sex but instead has the ability to be cold blooded and the cruelty more associated with males. She is asking to have the strength to commit the murder of Duncan with the help of her husband and feel no guilt. When Macbeth enters Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth of her plans to murder Duncan. She tells him that he should try and conceal his emotions more as they are giving him away and also that he should try to put on an act of a welcoming host and then become a killer. The fact that Lady Macbeth is telling her husband what to do shows she is now in control and what she is telling him to do shows how ambitious she is and also that she is without conscience.
Act 2 Scene 2 is just after the murder of Duncan. Macbeth is in great turmoil as his conscience is troubling him greatly with what he has just done, so much so that he has returned from the murder scene with the daggers that he has used. This is where Lady Macbeth shows strength by taking control. She takes the daggers from Macbeth and returns to the murder scene and places them so as to incriminate Duncan’s grooms.
After the murder on Duncan, Macbeth is crowned King as Duncan’s sons flee because there is a lot of suspicion about their involvement in the murder of their father. Even so people are also suspicious of Macbeth, none more so than Banquo who has major concerns about Macbeth becoming King.
Act 3 Scene 3 opens with Banquo talking about his concern for Macbeth and how he came to have the crown. We can see this where it says:
‘Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promis’d; and, I fear,
Thou play’dst most foully for ‘t’
He is saying that he thinks Macbeth was responsible for the murder of Duncan. Banquo has been a threat to Macbeth ever since he was present when the predictions were made and even more so because Banquo’s sons were predicted to be kings. This comes to a head in this scene as Macbeth plots to have Banquo murdered. Macbeth is having a feast that night to be formally accepted as the King and he doesn’t want Banquo in the way anymore so he finds out that he is going on a journey before the banquet and then sets a trap for him. Macbeth hires assassins to do this murder because he was his best friend so could not do it himself and this time Lady Macbeth has nothing to do with this murder. It Act 3 Scene 2 it shows this where it says:
‘Lady Macbeth What’s to be done?
Macbeth Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day,
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond’
Here Lady Macbeth is asking what is happening and Macbeth is telling her that she does not need to know but that a great bond is going to get torn to pieces - by which Macbeth is referring to Banquo’s life. This shows that Macbeth has now become the stronger of the two as he shows no remorse for plotting the murder of his best friend.
Act 3 Scene 4 is Macbeth's banquet and in this scene the guilt he suffers for the murder of his best friend is shown through hallucinations. When he is asked to sit he sees the ghost of Banquo at his seat. He denies he murdered him. When he appears, he says:
‘Thou canst not say I did it: never shake
Thy gory locks at me.’
When he sees the ghost he feels that it is accusing him and then denies that he did anything wrong. Lady Macbeth is quick to react to this and tries to cover up her husband’s odd behaviour by saying that he has had fits like this since he was born. It seems that she recognises the importance of this banquet and that Macbeth must seem the perfect King to drive any doubt out of the gathered nobles’ minds. It also seems that Lady Macbeth is again the strongest of the pair. Once she has put the assembled company’s minds at rest she tells him to pull himself together. When Macbeth hallucinates again she can’t cover for him anymore and sends everyone away. After the guests have left we see Macbeth pull himself together and take control of his life again. We can see this where it says:
‘By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good
All causes shall give way: I am in blood
Stepp’d so far, that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o’er.
Strange things I have in head that will to hand,
Which must be acted ere they may be scann’d.’
Here he is saying that he is so deep in murder that it doesn’t matter anymore and that he may as well just carry on. He also decides there are some further things he must do although we don’t know what they are yet.
In Act 4 Scene 1 Macbeth seeks out the witches again to see what they have to say. This in itself shows they have power over him. When the witches hear him come they dehumanise him by just calling him ‘something wicked’. When Macbeth finds the witches he treats them with no respect. We see this where he says:
‘How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!’
This shows that Macbeth thinks he is above the witches and he has power over them rather than the other way round. The witches still summon apparitions to tell Macbeth three pieces of advice. They are as follows:
1. ‘beware Macduff’
2. ‘none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.’
3. ‘Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill
Shall come against him.’
These pieces of advice will prove to be the downfall of Macbeth as he just casts them aside. This is shown when he says:
‘That will never be:
Who can impress the forest, bid the tree
Unfix his earth-bound root? Sweet bodements! good!’
This is very stupid of him as the witches have been proved right in their predictions before and he is ignoring their advice. It is almost as though he thinks he is above the supernatural. It almost seems he is going slightly insane especially when he tells them that he will place ‘an eternal curse’ on them. The witches then show Macbeth a line of kings that are Banquo’s descendents. This almost drives Macbeth totally insane. The witches then leave and he is greeted by messengers that tell him that Macduff has fled to England. With this news he makes another extremely foolish decision - to kill all of Macduff’s family which will serve no purpose except to enrage Macduff.
In Act 5 Scene 5 we see that Macbeth has now gone totally mad and so has Lady Macbeth but both in different ways. Macbeth seemed to go mad outwardly and go on some kind of power rush whereas Lady Macbeth’s guilt consumed her and she went inwardly mad, so much so she commited suicide. When Macbeth receives news of this he has no emotional reaction, all he says is:
‘She would have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.’
Here he is saying she would have died sometime so it doesn’t really matter that she has died. These are not the words of a sane man, it seems he is absent of emotion. At the end of this scene he gets news that Birnam wood seems to be moving toward his castle. At this news he panics and tells everyone to arm themselves.
In the final scene (Act 5 Scene 7) Macbeth’s castle is attacked and he comes face to face with Macduff and does not heed the advice of the witches to be wary of Macduff. As they fight Macduff reveals that he was not born normally but instead by a caesarean. As warned by the witches Macduff is Macbeth’s downfall as Macduff kills him. In all of these things the witches pay a role
Conclusion
The supernatural plays a massive part in this play. It is involved in all the major events of the play. It is the witches that plant the seeds of ambition in the minds of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to begin with and it all spans out from that. They are the downfall of all the people that are killed in the play. Duncan is killed because Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are driven to it by ambition caused by the witches. The guilt from this murder causes the suicide of Lady Macbeth. Banquo is killed because he was there when the predictions were given and also his sons were predicted to be kings so he was perceived a threat by Macbeth. Macbeth himself died because the witches gave him advice that was hard to interpret and so he got killed. Even through all this each individual is responsible for their own actions, Macbeth could have ignored the witch’s predictions and but it down to chance when he became the Thane of Cawdor but instead he chose to kill Duncan and then it spiralled out of control. I think that the blame for what happened cannot be put down to either the supernatural or the individual but a mix of both, it would never have started had the witches not made their appearance but equally it would have gone no further if Macbeth had laughed it off.
So, I think the supernatural plays a very large part in Macbeth but although is not the sole influence it is the driving attribute throughout the work.
