Supernatural Elements in Macbeth

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The witches in Macbeth are more symbolic than supernatural The employment of the supernatural device to arouse the sense of mystery and horror on the stage was very common in the Elizabethan age. The existence of the ghosts, spirits, and fairies was fairly believed at that time both by the ignorant and the learned alike. Whether Shakespeare held that notion or not is a matter of dispute but his are the plays replete with such beliefs. Owing to several dramatic purposes and needs, the supernaturalism in Shakespearean plays is both subjective and symbolic. In Macbeth, the darkest of the Shakespearean plays, is considerably distinguished by its subjective and symbolic interpretations. Its employments serve to intensify the already accumulated dark atmosphere of the play in concern. The supernatural elements in this play comprises of the witches, the ghost of Banquo and other ominous portents noticed just before the murder of Duncan, the king of Scotland. In Holashed’s chronicles from which the materials were derived, there is a reference to a particular witch, a wizard. Shakespeare had probably taken up the clues from Holinshed but transmuted them on such a manner that the three witches or weird sisters cooking up in infernal broth; appear with a strange hallow which is their own. Gifted with supernatural power they can move invisibly through the sphere or control storm. They can foresee the future, cast spells and make apparitions rise. For their purposes they use the most obnoxious objects – toads, snakes, geese, gibbets etc. but in spite of their powers they are neither Goddess nor fate of Greek mythology – as some critics have observed. They awe all their powers to their masters. They are only instruments of darkness. They are beings with supernatural powers, but not supernatural being themselves. With all our popular imagination they are poor and ragged,

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