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Write a note on the supernatural element in Macbeth.

What part is played by the supernatural in the tragic action of ‘Macbeth’?

Macbeth, contains, supernatural figures in the Witches and ghost it introduces. These produce an atmosphere of fate and mystery. But the action of Macbeth is not influenced by their presence. That action is the outcome of passion and emotion struggling in the hearts of its character. It is the natural not the supernatural forces which shape and determine the course of event leading to tragedy of the hero and the heroine of ‘Macbeth’. It is often imagined that Macbeth is influenced by the treacherous murder of Duncan and in his usurpation of the crown. Even if we accept this we cannot account for the many other crimes and misdeeds in which the witches do not play even an apparent part. The murder of Duncan can be imagined as being influenced by the prophecy of the witches, but the massacre of the innocents like Macduff’s wife and children was certainly not dictated or even hinted at by the witches. It was all done by Macbeth himself.

This point is vital to the conception of tragedy, which arises out of human, not superhuman action. If man was shown influenced by outside forces, it would not be tragedy because he could not be a free agent but would be one whose action were dictated by forces outside his control..

What then it will be asked is the place of the supernatural in the scheme of tragic action. The answer is that the presence of the supernatural is firstly concession to the popular taste and superstition of the audience. Shakespeare contemporaries believed in this agent, from an unknown world ghost, witch fairies and evils. He, therefore, used them for satisfying the craving for the supernatural. But he does not leave them there. He borrows the conventions theatrical world but uses them for his own purpose in his own way. And this the originality of Shakespeare in the use of the supernatural. The ghost and the witches are presented as objective symbols of the subjective state of mind. They are the outward manifestation of the inward passions and ambition agitating the hearts of his character. They are visible agents of invisible impulse driving the characters and deeds which for, they themselves are responsible. There is dramatisation of their own vices, evil impulses and instincts. This their dramatic significance. They do not put any evil ideas in men but strength and encourage what is in the minds of the character.

Evidently then the Witches utter the unspoken thoughts of Macbeth. Evil is not supernaturally induced in Macbeth. He has evil in himself and therefore is tempted by them. The converse of this is shown in Banquo. He too is promised great things, but he dismisses them as delusions at best and evil promptings at worst. And even when evil thoughts too arise in Banquo’s mind he successfully resists them with his better self. Therefore, it is character not out side agency which influence the thought and deals of Shakespeare’s characters.

It should also be noted that the evil Witches did not provoke Macbeth to do the wrong deed in acuiring the crown. They do not tell to murder Duncan and thus become a king. They are moral, natural and committal. Neither does Macbeth’s wife suggest the idea of murder. It is Macbeth’s suggestion first and last. Finally the Witches are as much the tempters as the bringers of Nemesis. Their words are suggestive of both the kinship as well as destruction of Macbeth. Their double edged prophecies are meant as a parable of crime and its punishment. They are in this respect no more than embodiment of the idea of evil and its-self destroying nature. They are therefore, no more than the outward manifestation of the tragedy of Macbeth who is free agent in the choice of the action he commits.

So Shakespeare uses the supernatural as a comment upon illustration of and a fulfilment of the natural. This is the originality of his use of the supernatural.