How is the supernatural presented in Macbeth?

Please someone read this as I have my English Literature Mock tommorow and pls give me a mark!!!!

Written with the backdrop of the Jacobean era, a great time of political tension and issues of religious supremacy, Shakespeare wrote Macbeth to in a way promote ideas of the supernatural as in the Jacobean Era, witches were seen as evil and malevolent even though it was vastly different to the era’s perceptions as they would make herbal medicines or unlike the stigma of women presented in the Jacobean Era. In contrast to the toxic patriarchy perception of woman, Shakespeare presents the supernatural and therefore the Witches as a powerful force in nature for example, when Macbeth says in fear, “Is this a dagger I see before me”.

In the extract, the supernatural is conveyed as omniscient and all knowing as seen when the Second Apparition says, “For none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.”, implying to the audience that the witches manipulate and taunt Macbeth’s ego and feed into it to delude him into fake success in which he desires. This sense of irony created by the line illustrates to the audience that the supernatural is the main force in Macbeth’s adulthood which has been involved in his transgression from a noble, loyal solider when he “unseamed him from nave to chaps” to his bloody, brutal kingship when he “kill” the “babes” of Macduff. This makes the audience appalled as his transgression doesn’t only show how his social proportion of his life has transformed but his religious proportion. In the Jacobean era, England was predominantly and strictly Christian so it would be horrifying for a contemporary audience to watch him turn away from God. Even in society today, Macbeth’s actions would be frowned upon due to the murderous and unfriendly nature demonstrating to both audiences how Macbeth’s change in his morality transcends time, therefore emphasising the extremism of his murders and crimes and eventually creating tension. This emphasis is continued using the adjective, “none” as it connotes ideas of emptiness and darkness reflecting on Macbeth’s character development as he was a man who had so much but lost everything due to his greed and this is seen when he reflects on his present life after Lady Macbeth dies. The abyss-like adjective additionally contributes to the emphasis of his delusions as he settles comfortably in the fact that he won’t b killed because everyone is woman born yet he is unaware that in the Jacobean Era, not being “woman born” means you were born under C-section. The fact he is unaware of this conveys his ego and self-pride uncontrollably growing because of the witches revving it up for him via their meetings.
Similarly, the supernatural is associated with Macbeth at the start of the play to demonstrate how Macbeth is a product of the environment he has surrounded himself in chaos and turmoil because of the sacrifice, crimes and sins he’s made physically and emotionally like murder. In Act 1 Scene 1, the Three witches say, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” implying that the witches are ignorant towards the societal and perhaps patriarchal rules set by the hoarding toxic masculinity which engulfed lifestyles in the Jacobean era. The use of the paradoxical phrases represents the duality of the supernatural as they present the witches present themselves as helpful towards Macbeth but deceitful when he is not present, demonstrating the façade that not only the witches play but the supernatural as their actions are unsuspecting and unpredictable. Perhaps the witches act in this way and take control over Macbeth to go against the stigma held against women and abusing Macbeth’s naivety (as one could say men did to women in the Jacobean Era) as a source for karma to hit masculinity and savour the witches’ tongues with joy when they see Macbeth fall into a trap. Looking at this quote structurally, it is used at the beginning of the play to introduce the reader to the supernatural emphasising the threshold held by the witches creating a sense of inferiority from the audience as they were severely superstitious about association with the witches, also adding to the irony that Macbeth is so comfortable in being involved with the witches.
Continuing from my last point, the symbolism of the number 3 is not a motif but behaves in this way as it is repeatedly used as a symbol of the supernatural. This is because in the Jacobean era, the number 3 was very superstitious as it was associated with evil, and these superstitions were because of strict Christian traditions running through Shakespearean Britain.

Shakespeare also presents supernatural as the most dominant motif in the tragedy Macbeth as it catalyses other themes in the play like Macbeth’s guilt and ambition for example when Macbeth hallucinates after he murders King Duncan in Act 2 Scene 2, “Is this a dagger which I see before me?”
conveying how Macbeth’s guilt seeps through him and it only grows more throughout the play as ironically to get rid of his guilt, he commits more crimes which triggers a spiral of his multiple downfalls. The rhetorical question illustrates to the audience that Macbeth feels insecure in the position he put himself in despite him resting in his self-pride and ego continuously throughout the play especially when his relationship dynamic changes with his wife and refers to her as his patient. This develops irony which in turn helps the audience comprehend Macbeth’s realty as well as I feel at this point in the play is when Macbeth comes to his senses especially because it is his first set of hallucinations. This makes the audience feel humiliated as they watch Macbeth give his faith up for his own happiness, depicting greed, one of the seven deadly sins, and they watch him become possessed by the supernatural and a biproduct of the witch’s chantry and chaos. Additionally, the noun “dagger” connotes ideas of blood, death and darkness, which continues to present the motif of blood to demonstrate to the audience that Macbeth’s sins have stained him with a lack of dignity and integrity as at this point in the play, there is no will for him to live as his hallucinations and mental health will only spiral more similarly to how Lady Macbeth was driven to suicide due to her crippling mental health.
In conclusion, Shakespeare presents the supernatural as omniscient and omnipotent to caution against abuses of power, Divine Rights and the Great Chain of Being using conveying the instability and inevitability of destruction caused by the disruption of Natural Order. The fictional construct of Macbeth’s character is a symbol of this destruction induced by his inner conflict, guilt, ambition and most importantly the supernatural.

Reply 1

EDUBJ

Hi,
pretty good essay, I would say 27-30/34.
Some sentences have wrong word order and wrong suffixes e.g. 'patriarchy perception of woman' should be patriarchal, but nothing major.
I would try to work on the order of the paragraphs as even though I have seen good marks given out in the past for essays that don't follow a chronological order, having it in the order of text can make marking easier and therefore maximise your marks, but if you're more comfortable writing like this then it's fine.
I would also say try to litter 'Divine Right of Kings' and 'Great Chain of Being' throughout the essay a bit more and try to explain what they mean.
Maybe try to add a little more about the audience and how we interpret the quotes, linked with your theme
Good links to modern day and comparisons from the Jacobean era (social norms, patriarchy, e.t.c)

Hope this helped.

Reply 2

samiabuvla

Original post by EDUBJ

Thank you so much I feel so relieved but my teacher is unnecessarily strict so I might not do as well as you say but if this was in a proper exam perhaps this would get the right marks! You’ve helped me tons☺️