Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Comment on the role of the supernatural in Macbeth.

The supernatural world versus the natural world is one of the central themes in the play. The supernatural world is represented by the witches and is viewed as mysterious, dark, and unpredictable. 


The presence of the witches' power in the play (or its absence) has been the subject of many debates. There are many questions that critics have been occupied with. Is the witches' power so strong that it drives Macbeth to change his life...

The supernatural world versus the natural world is one of the central themes in the play. The supernatural world is represented by the witches and is viewed as mysterious, dark, and unpredictable. 


The presence of the witches' power in the play (or its absence) has been the subject of many debates. There are many questions that critics have been occupied with. Is the witches' power so strong that it drives Macbeth to change his life for the worse? Or is Macbeth the one responsible for initiating his own downfall? We cannot give a precise answer to these questions. But, we can always rely on textual evidence. And the textual evidence suggests that Macbeth is the one who acts on the witches' prophecy and who, later, seeks out the witches because he is obsessed with finding out what awaits him in the future. 


So, the play implies that the witches could emphasize the dark and evil forces that are hidden in Macbeth's soul and that they only motivate him to follow those forces. They do not make Macbeth listen to their prophecy. Macbeth is the one who decides to accept whatever the witches tell him. He accepts the supernatural because he voluntarily denies the natural order of things. When he kills Duncan, he embraces the dark and evil forces and lets them guide him, which inevitably leads to his downfall. 

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