Macbeth Research Paper

Michael Fliess
11/20/16
English Literature

The Supernatural and Witches in Macbeth

For nearly all of humanity’s existence, people have believed in some form of the supernatural. Whether it be, ghosts, witches, demons, etc., the supernatural has always has a place in human culture and society. In the renaissance, the idea of witches specifically began to take a prominent place in Renaissance culture. As the ideas of witches and the supernatural spread in Renaissance culture, writes like William Shakespeare began to incorporate these ideas into their work. In one of Shakespeare’s signature works, Macbeth, he incorporates the ideas of witches and the supernatural into the plot and Macbeth’s rise and fall. Elizabethan beliefs are present in
Macbeth in the appearance of witches, who appear to be evil women; they reinforce the theme that everyone is a victim of fate. In the Renaissance, many people held the belief that the supernatural was real and present in people’s everyday lives, and that witches were “evil” women that worked together to ruin people’s lives. David Nicholls explains this mindset well: “Alongside the visible world of everyday existence there existed an invisible world where dwelt occult forces promoting good and evil, and more ambiguous figures who could help or hinder humanity, depending on their whims and on human attitudes towards them” (Nicholls 25). In the Renaissance, before the scientific method was really used widely or accepted, there were many things that could not be explained easily, like extreme weather, eclipses, etc. Therefore, people tried to explain these phenomena using myths, legends, or stories of the supernatural, witches, and the like. Then, due to the usual dramatics and grandeur of these stories, they spread through the public quickly, just like an interesting rumor would in today’s society. In the end, these ideas of the supernatural became accepted as scientific fact until better research and evidence came along. Another large facet of Renaissance society’s belief in the supernatural was that witches were evil women, that worked in groups to disrupt society and destroy people’s lives. People often believed that witches worked in groups, for example, “… sorcery was a corporate, not a solitary activity: that where one witch would be found, there would be others, and (incidentally) that most would be women” (Hoak 24). These beliefs also reflect the general misogynistic views of the time period. The idea that people were very afraid of these beings that were both women and that were very powerful shows that even an idea of a powerful woman was usually deemed as supernatural. Overall, Elizabethans believed that witches and the supernatural were very real forces that could have major effects on their lives if they weren’t careful. These Elizabethan beliefs of witches and the supernatural are often reflected in Shakespeare’s works, especially Macbeth. David Kranz noticed an interesting connection between the supernatural and Shakespeare’s style: “The paradoxes in the witches’ language are a perfect expression of the essence of forces in the world that work against the rational order God created in the beginning” (Kranz 350). In general, the theme of the disruption of the natural order is frequently featured in Macbeth, and witches factor heavily into this. Since the witches are powerful women that have strong influence over men’s lives, this goes against the supposed “natural order” in several ways. The natural order of the Renaissance generally went: God, kings, men, women, animals, plants, dirt/rocks, etc, so when you have the witches that have strong influence over a king’s life, you now have women that were more powerful than kings, which would have made the people of the Renaissance very scared, and this was obvious in scenes where characters interacted with the witches. Another example of beliefs of the supernatural being reflected in Macbeth is present in Act I, “You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so” (I.iii.45-47). Several important facets of the Renaissance ideas of witches are reflected in Banquo’s statement. First, it shows that people of the Renaissance though that the witches were real, physical creatures that were human-like, yet not necessarily exactly like normal humans. This is significant because Shakespeare was able to put it into his work so subtly, yet it describes a large segment of the beliefs of the time. Second, it shows that even though these witches were very powerful beings, Banquo was still judgemental of them because they were women. It may not be surprising to readers that Banquo, a man in the Renaissance was misogynistic, yet it is somewhat somewhat shocking that Banquo was still discriminatory to a being that could wreak havoc on his life very quickly. In general, the complex Elizabethan beliefs of witches and the supernatural are present in Macbeth, in both obvious and subtle ways. The significant presence of witches and the supernatural in Macbeth reinforces the theme that everyone is a victim of fate.
During the first witch encounter, one of the witches says, “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (I.iii.50). Obviously, this may be the most significant line for the plot of Macbeth as a whole, and for the theme that everyone is a victim of fate. This line alone is really what ultimately sets Macbeth down his path towards kingship, and eventually, mental breakdown and defeat. After Macbeth heard this line, he began contemplating how he would become king, and Macbeth immediately thought about killing Duncan, which would fatefully lead to his downfall. Another example of how the supernatural reinforces the theme everyone is a victim of fate is when the second apparition says, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute! Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (IV.i.79-81). This deceiving and ultimately, mostly false, prophecy from the apparition is really what give Macbeth his final false confidence to openly challenge Macduff to a final fight on the battlefield. Macduff eventually reveals that he was born by cesarean section, which would technically make Macduff not born of woman, and fatefully Macbeth is then slain by Macduff. Ultimately, due to the predictions of the witches, Macbeth was a tragic victim of his own
fate. The supernatural in Macbeth reinforces the theme that everyone is a victim of fate, and witches who are sinister women show the presence of Elizabethan beliefs in Macbeth. Besides Macbeth, the concept of the supernatural was featured in many of Macbeth’s works, and the works of many other popular authors of the Renaissance. Ultimately, this trend of the supernatural featuring in popular works had been common for hundreds of years. Ultimately, this is because humanity has always been fascinated with the supernatural, no matter what form people believe it takes, but people need to be careful about what they believe without looking at hard evidence; just like how Macbeth was ruined after listening to the witches, false information can have tragic effects on people’s lives as well.