Explore the significance of the witches and the supernatural in the play Macbeth Essay

King James I strongly believed in witchcraft, and Shakespeare used this idea to appeal to him. Shakespeare used the ideas of witchcraft, kingship, and the moral order to develop the play, as these themes were greatly admired in the Jacobean ere. The opening of the play contains many subtle links to the supernatural. The three witches open the scene in an open place with thunder and lightning, which was believed in superstitious times that fierce storms released forces of evil, and were omens of unrest in individual people and whole countries. I will be investigating the significance of the witches and I will be looking at the supernatural effects they have on the play ‘Macbeth’. Nowadays Macbeth is referred to by many people as ‘The Scottish Play’ and within the theatres it would be considered bad luck to mention the name of ‘The Scottish Play’ whilst there are plays taking place on stage. So this goes to show that the supernatural aspect of the play has been carried forward to this very day. Shakespeare’s tragedy is about Macbeth’s bloody rise to power, including the murder of the Scottish king, Duncan, and the guilt-ridden path of evil deeds generating still more evil deeds. As an integral part of this thematic web is the play’s most memorable character, Lady Macbeth. Like her husband, Lady Macbeth’s ambition for power leads her into insomnia and madness. But while Macbeth responds to the prophecies of the play’s famous trio of witches, Lady Macbeth goes even further by figuratively transforming herself into an unnatural, desexualized evil spirit. The witches themselves are a major part of supernatural, and the play, as they can be seen as starting it all off. In the first scene, we see them establishing a link with the supernatural. Their words also link them to Macbeth, and show that right from the start, he has an influence from them. ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ The witches say this in a chant like way, and you can tell it is a mischievous way of saying it. It shows things will be confused, and moral order will be changed. It also shows that the witches believe that evil is good, and good they find repulsive. This shows their attitude to life, but it could also be a warning to the audience that things to follow are not what they may have seemed, and will be confused. This could also associate them with the disruption of both the natural and social order, as later when Macbeth kills Duncan, many things are affected, and the witches could be blamed for this. The witches in the play of Macbeth are the most powerful characters in the play. â€Å"All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis† â€Å"All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor† â€Å"All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter† (Act 1 Scene 3) The witches start off the play by hailing Macbeth and I believe that if the witches didn’t start off by saying this, then the play wouldn’t have gone ahead. These quotes set out the storyline of the play and give structure of events. The play wouldn’t have been interesting if they hadn’t hailed Macbeth. The appearance of the witches is very much supernatural and something to be feared. â€Å"So withered and so wild in their attire† (Act 1 Scene 3) Banquo in the play refers to the witches as withered, wild and attire; I think this is because in the Jacobean times people who were ugly or didn’t have a husband were labelled as witches. People feared witches in those times possibly because mixing with these witches could have possibly resulted in your death. As many witches in those days were either beheaded or thrown from cliffs to see they could fly. â€Å"Are ye fantastical, or that indeed† (Act 1 Scene 3) This is referring to the supernatural element of the witches in the play, which is again said by Banquo. The main word in the quote that is referring to the supernatural element of the witches is â€Å"fantastical†. In those fantastical didn’t mean fantastic as it does today, but instead it meant ludicrously odd and lots of imaginary around them.