The ghosts in the play are there to taunt Macbeth; they’re there to show his heinous deeds. The ghost of Banquo upsets Macbeth as we soon see him loose control, this part of Shakespeare’s craft, a tool for revealing dramatic irony; this is another element of the supernatural. The prophecies the witches made were ‘all hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Cawdor’,/ ‘all hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor’,/ ‘all hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter’. These prophecies lead Macbeth to commit regicide; Shakespeare’s audience would be outraged after reading about such an act, because they believed that their King was appointed by God. We know that his own courage rewarded him with the titles he received, not the witches. However he thinks that the witches have helped him, and believes he will be king. If he never heard the prophecies than he would never have thought about being king, and would’ve accepted the honour of Thane of Cawdor graciously. This leads back to the essay statement of warning against ambition and the dangers of the supernatural.
The Elizabethan audience would be shocked and dismayed by these elements of the supernatural, frankly I think they would be truly disgusted at Macbeth’s behaviour because, back then, they believed witches to be the spawn of all evil. The modern audience today wouldn’t care that much about it, since we do not believe in witches, and we would just take the play in as it goes, however this does link back to what parents and teachers have always told us, don’t talk to strangers, and do not believe in what they say. Even we will be thinking,’ what on earth is Macbeth doing’, because we know he shouldn’t have listened to those witches.
Macbeth is stunned to silence as he hears his prophecies. He is eager to hear more, but then the witches vanish. When Ross calls him by his title, ‘Thane of Cawdor’, does surprised (I.III) and starts believe in the witches. In his soliloquy he says frightening thoughts ‘my thought, whose murder yet is fantastical’, showing that murder is in his mind. He talks a great deal about the witches, but reading the play gives us the idea he is anxious and disturbed, however Banquo is not concerned. Banquo is almost amused by them and questions them calmly. He does not think much about them like Macbeth does, even though in act 2 scene 1 he is a bit disturbed, but even so he says, ‘so I lose none in seeking augment it, but still keep my bosom franchis’d and all allegiance clear, I shall be counsell’d’. Saying he will keep his heart clear and not even considers it or gives it another thought.
This is a Shakespearean tragedy, meaning the protagonist must be an admirable but flawed character, who the audience can sympathize with. They should be capable of good and evil, they can always back out and redeem themselves, but Shakespeare dictates they must move unheedingly to their doom. Macbeth is a tragic hero; he’s a character with high repute but by virtue of tragic flaw and fate, falls into suffering. The tale of Macbeth fits the genre, because he is a hero, an admirable man who had been named Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, however prophecies made by the withes, tragic flaw, makes him power hungry, which unfortunately leads to his downfall.
Reading the play you can see, at the start, that Macbeth was a ‘hero’, he was capable of good and evil and had loads of chances to say ‘no I am not going to it’. Unfortunately he doesn’t, he does make the prophecy come true though, but not by fate as he had originally decided, ‘If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me without my stir’. He goes to the extent where he murders the king, things are going according to his plan, but since it’s a tragic play his downfall has yet to come. Macbeth talks about having a ‘fruitless crown’, meaning he has no-one to become king after him, as the witches predicted that Banquo’s descendants will have a long reign of kingship, this makes Macbeth desperate, as he wants his children to be king after him. This is the reason why he goes on to hire men to have Banquo and his son murdered, this shows how he becomes so heartless that he has his best friend murdered. However Fleance escaped, this makes Macbeth frightened, and decides again to go meet with the witches to seek their advice, here Macbeth had the choice to leave this, be as far as they have come, but he still chooses evil over good. This time the three weird sisters show him a higher source of magic, apparitions. The first apparition is an armed head, representing Macbeth, ‘Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough’. Macbeth here is worried; the predicted downfall is on its way to coming true, however two more apparitions make him feel confident and calm, because they both say that the impossible can lead to Macbeth’s demise.
Even though we don’t read much about Macbeth personality, we know all about his character through his wife, Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth has a way of manipulating him so that he does anything. In Act 1 scene 7, he has regrets about going through with the murder, but lady Macbeth insults him, and questions his manhood, ‘And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would" Like the poor ?’. This show us that Macbeth is very easily lead, Lady Macbeth does not want to commit the murder, but pressures her husband to do so. This shows that Lady Macbeth is the dominant one out of the two, and shows that in their relationship she is the one who takes the lead. This goes to social/historical/cultural context of the attitude to gender roles, saying men should have the stronger, more powerful character, whereas here the lady has more control that is probably why she calls out to be, ‘unsexed’, as she is no longer acting feminine. However, later on, their relationship starts to break down when in Act 3 scene two, he doesn’t tell her that he plans to kill Banquo and his son, instead he says,’ thou know’st that Banquo and Fleance lives,’ showing us that he no longer trusts her. Lady Macbeth has very big role to play, in the plan to kill Duncan, she not only plans the murder but also drugs the grooms and lays the daggers ready in Duncan’s room. When Macbeth looks at his hands and it is covered in blood, he breaks down as he cannot believe he has just committed the murder, but all Lady Macbeth says is, ‘a little water clears us of this deed’, saying that there is no reason to feel guilty. She still tries to calm him by saying, ‘these deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad’, this later turns out to be ironic as she goes mad and commits suicide, again warning against ambition.
This play comes to me as a warning, its saying let yourself be pushed by others and don’t believe in all you’ve been told, because looks can be deceiving, also karma has a big role, if you do bad things bad things will happen to you, saying ‘whatever comes around, goes around’. Macbeth has done unforgivable acts for his own greed, like killing his best friend; he didn’t have to but still did, this is typical of a tragic hero. The whole concept of ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ is true, looks can be deceiving, and not only looks, but someone who you trust can stab your back at any time. In everyone’s eyes Macbeth was a hero, Lady Macbeth was seen as a ‘fair lady’, but they just used this to their advantage. No one suspected them of the regicide accept Banquo, Macbeth picks up on this and it becomes another reason to get Banquo murdered; it was their own actions that led them to their deaths. The Elizabethan audience would see this as the works of the devil, the witches influence on an innocent man. That he wasn’t in his senses that he was possessed which lead to his and Lady Macbeth’s inner turmoil. But we as the modern audience would blame Macbeth and his wife, and his greed for ambition and success. We can see that becoming ambitious had changed Macbeth; he became ruthless and power hungry, and murdered whoever got in his way. But the supernatural did play a big part in it all, as the witches did make Macbeth believe that they were the reason for his growing power, this shows a danger as it did tempt him and Lady Macbeth, and they played with their greed and ambition. Overall the dangers of the supernatural lead to Macbeth getting ambitious, and the play does warn against it.