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Is It Possible To Read Macbeth As Having Genuine Supernatural Elements?

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Is it possible to read Macbeth as having genuine supernatural elements? The supernatural elements in Macbeth include fate, witches, mythological beings, ghosts and apparitions. Macbeth is by far the most supernaturally charged. In the play, Macbeth is given three prophecies by three witches. These prophecies state that Macbeth will be the Thane of Glamis and the Thane of Cawdor. Hearing this Macbeth is confused because he is already the Thane of Cawdor and there is already a Thane of Glamis, King Duncan. These prophecies appeal to Macbeth, and influence his actions and overall change his character as the play progresses. The witches are important figures in the play. As their function is both to predict Macbeth's fate and to signal what is to come. The three witches represent evil, …show more content…

They may also be compared to the Fates - three women in Greek mythology who created and foretold the Fates of men. In the same way, these witches present Macbeth with his fate. The witches look like women, yet they have beards, preventing Banquo from saying that they are female. This shows the strangeness of the witches - their outer ugliness is reflected in their inner ugliness. women acting like men not only breaks the natural order of the world, but also creates cruel and unnatural abominations, gender roles in the play often pose a threat, masculine women being the most obvious, yet Macbeth is also threatened by the idea of not being a proper man, leading him to commit terrible crimes in order to prove his masculinity. Shakespeare uses the Witches, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to expose the problems of a violent and cruel idea of what it is to be 'masculine'. Masculinity is a problematic idea overthrown by Macduff and Malcolm. The witches are often associated with a turn in the weather which becomes stormy, they are directly linked with disturbances in the natural world. This reflects the witches as

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In Macbeth the gender roles are clearly separatedvery different by saying men are strong and women are weak and emotional. That's the classic gender which is played in Macbeth. The play describes a society where men hold all the power and women are expected to be obedient and take care of the men. However, Lady Macbeth stands up to these expectations and takes on a more dominant role in her relationship with her husband. Macbeth himself struggles with the idea of masculinity and what it means to be a man, leading him to make dangerous and violent decisions.

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During Shakespeare's time, misogyny was a significant factor that impacted many, men and women were heavily influenced by the rules and guidelines on how they had to act, dress, talk and more. Women were judged by how pretty their hair was or how expensive their dress was. For men, it was about wealth, strength and honour. In Macbeth, we can clearly see the themes of masculinity and stereotypes portrayed throughout the play. In Act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth quotes “Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, wherever in your sightless substances.

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yet your beards forbid me to interpret/ That you are so” (1.3.45). The confusion of the gender of witches shows that there is something sinister about them that

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Men were supposed to act as strong fighters, while women were locked in the domestic sphere. These gender roles are prominent in the character developments of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. At first, Macbeth is a strong, heroic solider that shows unbounded courage in battle and loyalty to his king. As the play progresses, he becomes cold, ruthless, and miserable. Lady Macbeth takes on a “manly” role, which is surprising because of how patriarchal the society is.

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Throughout the play, the witches have a strong influence on many characters. MacBeth listens to their prophecies and tries to pursue ultimate power because of them. The witches are an example of supernatural beings and change in natural order of events. The witches prophecies were seen as concrete and not able to be altered, so by MacBeth trying to usurp and affect his future, he reaps the poor consequences of his actions. The witches are stronger and more powerful than MacBeth because they have all-power and the ability to forever alter the course of someone’s life.

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In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses the subversion of gender roles to reinforce Elizabethan notions of female and male behavior through the characters of Lady Macbeth, the three witches, and Macbeth. The ideal woman in Shakespearean times was submissive and docile. She is expected to be a mother and hostess, and little else. However, Lady Macbeth is the exact opposite of this notion. She constantly challenges and manipulates her husband to feed her ever-growing ambition.

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Influence of Witchcraft In Shakespeare’s day witches were not merely a novelty character brought out as a joke around Halloween. It was widely believed that witches were real and that they possessed powers that were considered to be of the devil. This belief in witchcraft eventually led to a widespread panic that was followed by the persecution of witches. Due to this belief in witchcraft at the time Macbeth was written and performed; the tone was already set. Shakespeare used this fear to create suspense within the play and it led to the involvement of the weird sisters and the crazed actions committed by Macbeth and his wife.

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Everyone wants to see the supernatural in effect, one way or another. Many argue that the supernatural events are real, dating from the dawn of time, to even now.. Shakespeare used these ideas in his plays to symbolize that the future stays unchanged (Macbeth). However, what Macbeth experienced was nothing but his subconscious, his greed, and the need to see the supernatural; which is in all of us.

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For instance, after lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth and says let the evil spirits to take away her feminine, it represents the supernatural power that was in people’s heart back to date ‘Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers, you wait on nature’s mischief!’’ (1.5. 47-50). At the second point, the ghost of Banquo shows the great chain of being is corrupted because Banquo was suited to the king position, but Macbeth murdered him because of the prediction. In this way, the ghost appears in the dinner after Macbeth murders Banquo who is on the top of him. Lastly, the witches makes the secret chanting and spells to influence Macbeth, it can be argued that the witches is another way shows the supernatural power in the play.

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Macbeth Essay: Influence of the Supernatural Throughout the Shakespearean play, Macbeth, the supernatural plays a part in all the events in the play. The witches, the floating dagger, and the prophetic apparitions are all examples of the supernatural intertwining with the play. From the murder of King Duncan to Macbeth’s eventual death, the supernatural played a part in most of Macbeth’s actions.

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Well Lady Macbeth, who is dead set on having absolute power, disagrees with that. She convinces Macbeth to kill, to cover up the murders, and tries to convince him that these murders will get them to the top. Lady Macbeth calls upon the witches and states, “unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5 lines 31 and 31). This shows that while in the pursuit of power, Lady Macbeth wanted it so much that she asked the witches to “unsex” her and make her more like man. But along with that you see the theme of gender roles are uncertain which ties into Lady Macbeth leading Macbeth in this pursuit of power, also giving him the ambition that she wants him to

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The women in Macbeth are presented by Shakespeare to be powerful and ambitious which was unlike the typical views during Jacobean times. The playwright portrays Lady Macbeth and the witches to be highly influential to male characters in the play, which again contrasts the contemporary views to that time. Their ambition and power are demonstrated through the perversion of nature. This highlights the evil and immoral side, they possess. Shakespeare, however, presented Lady Macbeth and the witches to be manipulative and cunning, rather than violent like Macbeth was during the play.

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In the popular play Macbeth, Shakespeare compares the gender stereotypes portrayed to those different pre-existing ideas from other generations such as the 1900’s, the 50’s, and even today 's society. Macbeth has plenty of examples of the exaggeration of gender roles that clearly differentiate male and female by construing their proper roles as polar opposite or complementary. Examples proving that there are gender stereotypes in Macbeth pertain to characters such as Lady Macbeth, The Witches, and Macbeth himself. In Macbeth, the many different stereotypes of gender roles from throughout the century to today’s society have been displayed in many aspects of the play. With examples of the exaggeration of gender constructs pertaining to the male

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Often, it is the responsibility of oneself to determine the outcome of your life, however there will always be influential people who either directly or indirectly affect the decisions made. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play believed to be written in 1605, focusing on the downwards spiral of Macbeth after he murders King Duncan in order to become King of Scotland, consequently developing feelings of guilt and paranoia. Through the establishment of atmosphere, comments on the actions of major characters, and foreshadowing events, Shakespeare develops the minor characters which include the Three Witches, Macduff, and the Murderers, to support and further prompt the development of the major characters, as well as to communicate essential moral truths and trite platitudes.

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In the time of William Shakespeare, there was a strong belief in the existence of the supernatural. And so, it was a repeating aspect in many of Shakespeare’s plays. In Macbeth, the supernatural is a necessary aspect of the structure of the plot. It’s a catalyst for action, which means the audience at that time would have taken these ideas seriously. This made the play more intense and stimulating for the audience.

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