Shakespeare's Treatment Of Nature In Macbeth

In Macbeth, a play by William Shakespeare, the Great Chain of Being is emphasized as strange earthly occurrences directly correlate with the actions of different characters. Nature plays a mirroring role of the events following King Duncan’s death, such as nightmares, an earthquake, and the king’s horses eating each other. Macbeth induces much of the supernatural happenings throughout the book with his dishonorable actions. The night Macbeth murders King Duncan, the moon sets early and Banquo begins to experience unexplainable nightmares. Banquo observes the “husbandry in heaven” and pleads for nature to “Restrain in [him] the cursèd thoughts” that are keeping him from his sleep (2:2:4-8). Due to the unjust actions of one man, the skies react and light is replaced by a dark and dreary setting, different from the moon’s usual setting time as

That same night, more people experience strange phenomenon associated with death. Lennox, a nobleman, has a chaotic night where he and others slept. They experience whirlwinds, “Lamentings heard i' th' air, strange screams of death”, as the Earth was “feverous and did shake” (2:3:28-36). Severe winds, cries of grief howling through the air, an earthquake are examples of extreme weather changes that follow King Duncan’s execution.was even felt by some. Days following this death, strange events continue to occur. Ross, a nobleman, tells of King Duncan’s horse’s shocking change in behavior. From “Beauteous and swift” the horses “Turned wild in nature.... Contending 'gainst obedience” and it was heard that they ate each other (2:4:16-19). Duncan’s horses, usually well behaved, turned completely into savage animals, with peculiar behaviors, such as eating each other; These were caused only by humanity’s wrong doings. Macbeth’s murdering caused nature to produce troubling circumstances for man as the Earth felt an unbalance in