Macbeth Key Theme: The Supernatural (Edexcel IGCSE English Literature)
Macbeth: Key Theme: The supernatural: Supernatural mind map
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Supernatural timeline
The key supernatural elements in each act of Macbeth:
Macbeth supernatural timeline
Macbeth: Key Theme: The supernatural: What are the supernatural elements in Macbeth?
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What are the supernatural elements in Macbeth?
The supernatural elements in the play include:
- The three witches: Shakespeare creates a supernatural atmosphere through their rituals and prophecies
- Unnatural or supernatural events: Shakespeare refers to storms, day darkening to night and animals behaving strangely (such as horses eating each other)
- Apparitions: The witches summon a severed head, a bloody child and a crowned child in Act 4, Scene 1
- Visions and hallucinations: Shakespeare uses a dagger, Banquo’s ghost and imaginary bloodstains to sustain the supernatural atmosphere and add to the horror throughout the play
Exam Hint Examiners reward a second reading where the text genuinely supports one, but warn against forcing an opposite for its own sake. Here the alternative is real: the witches can be read as controlling Macbeth, or as telling him what he already wants.
For example, you could write: “The witches never tell Macbeth to kill anyone, so perhaps Shakespeare makes them a temptation rather than a cause”. Offering one reading you can support, and hedging it with perhaps, is stronger than claiming a line could equally mean the reverse.
Macbeth: Key Theme: The supernatural: The impact of the supernatural on characters
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The impact of the supernatural on characters
Through his use of ghostly visions and hallucinations, Shakespeare shows his audience the lasting, transformative effect of the supernatural elements on his central protagonists, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
These elements contribute to the dramatic tension and the atmosphere of evil and uncertainty in the play, but also symbolise the characters’ guilt, fear and paranoid by representing the psychological effect of their murderous actions.
The supernatural in Macbeth
| Character | Impact |
|---|---|
| Macbeth | Macbeth experiences two ghostly visions, the dagger and the ghost of Banquo, as well as auditory hallucinations when he comments: “Methought I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more, / Macbeth does murder sleep’” (Act 2, Scene 2): - Macbeth is initially sceptical but becomes increasingly reliant on supernatural guidance as the witches’ prophecies of power channel his ambition, giving him false confidence - The visions reflect his inner conflict, his guilt and his deteriorating mental state and drive his murderous actions |
| Lady Macbeth | Lady Macbeth also experiences hallucinations (spots of blood on her hands in Act 5, Scene 1): - Her hallucinations reflect her fragile mental state and overwhelming sense of guilt - The hallucinations remind the audience of the corrupting power of the dark, supernatural forces in the play |
Macbeth: Key Theme: The supernatural: Why does Shakespeare use the theme of the supernatural in his play?
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Why does Shakespeare use the theme of the supernatural in his play?
1. Setting and atmosphere
- Creates the superstitious, medieval Scottish setting
- Establishes an ominous, foreboding atmosphere
2. Plot driver
- Influences Macbeth's actions through prophecies and visions
- Propels the narrative from the opening scene to the final act
3. Audience appeal
- Reflects the Jacobean audience's fear and fascination with witchcraft
- Aligns with his patron King James I's interest in the supernatural (author of Daemonologie)
4. Dramatic device
- Shakespeare starts and ends the play with supernatural elements (opens with “weird sisters” and closes with the fulfilment of the witches’ prophecies)
- Adds dramatic tension and spectacle
Macbeth: Key Theme: The supernatural: Exam-style questions on the theme of the supernatural
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Exam-style questions on the theme of the supernatural
Try planning a response to the following essay questions as part of your revision of the supernatural theme:
- Explore how Shakespeare presents the attitudes of Macbeth and Banquo towards the supernatural elements in the play. (You could start with Act 1, Scene 3.)
- How does Shakespeare present the supernatural elements as changing the character of Macbeth? (You could start with Act 2, Scene 1.)
Sources
Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor (eds), 2005, The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (Second Edition), Oxford University Press
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