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Supernatural Elements In The Crucible 'And Macbeth'

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One of the most important forms of dramatic literature, tragedies, occurs when the protagonist tragically dies in an effort to solve the main conflict, typically due to a flaw within him. This is shown in both plays of “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller and “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, where in both John Proctor and Macbeth reach their ends at the conclusion of each play. In the “Crucible”, John Proctor is accused of witchery and sentenced to death, whereas in “Macbeth” three strange witches convince Macbeth to murder the king in order to reach fame, and hence leading him to his own end. Both Miller and Shakespeare use different characteristics of a tragedy to send certain ideas and concepts to the reader. However, in the process of reaching …show more content…

The supernatural theme is present in both Macbeth and The Crucible, and plays a role in the downfall of the protagonists in each play. As previously stated, in Macbeth, the manipulative ambition of Macbeth was initially driven by the three witches, who supposedly see Macbeth as ruler of Scotland. In the opening scene of the play, Macbeth and Banquo visit the three witches and are each given a prophecy. Macbeth is seen as king whereas Banquo’s sons are seen as several kings. This supernatural prophecy drove Macbeth into murdering Duncan and Banquo. Another supernatural element in the play is Banquo’s ghost, which caused Macbeth to go insane and ultimately led to his downfall. In The Crucible, the puritan society has a role in the downfall of the protagonist. Witchery is a supernatural element perceived as the undertaking of the devil, which is strictly forbidden in the Puritan society, and is prevented with execution. As previously stated, John Proctor is executed because of this supernatural element. Moreover, the supernatural element is present in both plays, and is utilized by both authors to create unexplainable terror within the play and foreshadow the death of the

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Twenty innocent people were falsely executed in Salem, Massachusetts, 1693. Everyone in the town was caught in the crossfire of accusations and allegations. Arthur Miller captures this mass hysteria perfectly through the tragic character John Proctor in his play, The Crucible. Throughout the play, this collective hysteria eclipses the morality and desire for truth involved in decision-making, ultimately leading to the death of the protagonist, John Proctor.

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Everyday fear, hysteria, and revenge are big factors of life. A person is either afraid of something, have hysteria about something, or want revenge. In "The Crucible" there is a lot of fear with the trials of witchery, hysteria also with the witchery and revenge for all the false accusations about being a witch. The witchery cause loads of fear because no one wanted to be accused or wanted a loved one to be accused.

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Pride was his tragic flaw and eventually was the cause of his death, fulfilling the definition of a tragic hero. The Crucible is considered a tragedy because of its themes of human suffering and the somber feelings it evokes from its’ audience, its’ use of John Proctor as a tragic hero, and his tragic flaw, pride, playing an instrumental role in his death. By definition, a tragedy is a piece of work which carries the theme of human suffering and also evokes a feeling of

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The play is about treachery and manipulation. First, the witches manipulate Macbeth which sets off the chain reaction, then Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into committing regicide and afterwards Macbeth manipulates the murderers into killing Banquo and his son Fleance. Shakespeare reveals that the witches are being controlled by higher supernatural powers, "call 'em. Let me see 'em," shocking the Jacobean audience and as a result creating doubt and fear of the unknown. Shakespeare appeals to

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Supernatural elements can be seen in Macbeth through the witches and their unusual powers. The witches appear to be helpful in giving Macbeth his prophecy, but in reality want only to stir up trouble and cause strife throughout the kingdom. Although Macbeth wants the witches to tell him his prophecy, he is also afraid to act on these newly found predictions for fear of the inevitable guilt he will then have to face. Macbeth states that the witches as "Instruments of darkness" in order to explain to readers that even though the witches appear to be helping Macbeth, in reality they are causing more harm than good and creating evil thoughts within the characters minds. Macbeth’s prophecy began his desire for power, which led to his struggle with guilt.

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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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Macbeth explores many different themes and symbols throughout the play including blood, ambition, the sense of right and wrong, and hallucinations. Hallucinations play a strong role in this play and create vivid imagery in Macbeth. The specific accounts that can be used to prove this thesis are Banquo’s ghost, Lady Macbeth’s invisible blood stains, and the witches apparitions. The climax of the play has already passed with Macbeth taking his first life, King Duncan.

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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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A story of tragedy is not uncommon with William Shakespeare and his works of prose. In his plays, death and despair is more likely than honor and prosperity. This is an included facet to Macbeth as well, having sinister themes of greed, manipulation, and brutality. Macbeth, by the infamous playwright, Shakespeare, presents us with multiple aspects factoring into whether the main character controls his actions that lead to the tragic events.

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This is why the witches are the true villains, because they had planted murderous thoughts in Macbeth’s mind and then tricked him with illogical prophecies. With all this said, the witches’ absolute supernatural powers corrupted them

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The presence of the witches is the first supernatural element that Macbeth meets. One would assume that the witches could be blamed for influencing Macbeth with their prophecies. The witches are able to make Macbeth acknowledge his own dark desires. In Act I, Scene III, the three witches call out one after the other claiming “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you, Thane of Glamis! /

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The supernatural motivates Macbeth comprehensively, to the extent that he murders King Duncan, Banquo and Macduff 's family. It galvanises him to do things that otherwise he would have thought were ludicrous. Firstly, the witches prophecies stimulated Macbeth to kill the ones he loves, as a consequence losing friends that were loyal to him. Additionally, Banquo 's ghost caused Macbeth to feel guilt and fear, causing him to rely on the witches’ predictions and having a false feeling of security. Finally, the vision of a bloody dagger that appeared right before the murder encouraged Macbeth to kill King Duncan.

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Witchcraft: Child’s Play or Reality?     In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible’, witchcraft is the main conflict of the play.  Set in a  Puritan Massachusetts Colony in the year 1692, most anything that cannot be solved by the church or a doctor is unnatural.   The first thing that comes to mind is witchcraft, which the punishment for is hanging unless you confess.

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1241 Words | 5 Pages

Macbeth’s ambition is one of the most prominent things that drive Macbeth in the play and truly becomes evident when he hears of the Witches prophecies. When the witches stop talking, he demands to know more. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (I, III, 73-74). This portrays his excessive curiosity on the subject as well as his craving for more desirable prophecies. This ambitious nature and craving for power is also demonstrated only moments after hearing the witches, when he starts formulating a plan to kill Duncan in order to make the third prophecy come true.

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747 Words | 3 Pages

and obtains the title, which trigger an arrogant and self-absorbed thinking leading to madness and finally, death. The play seems to bring up the question, whether Macbeth is fully responsible of his own destiny, or under control of fate. In the first glance, the play seems to take rather fatalistic direction, meaning that we are powerless to make decisions as they are inevitably determined by supernatural power (Hugh 1)) It is due to the presence of supernatural forces throughout the whole play that systematically fulfills the prophecy; therefore the witches represent the idea of fate in the play. However, Shakespeare seems to rather intertwine fate with free will and perhaps even promotes the second philosophy as the play evolves.

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