In the time of William Shakespeare, there was a strong belief in the existence of the supernatural. And so, it was a repeating aspect in many of Shakespeare’s plays. In Macbeth, the supernatural is a necessary aspect of the structure of the plot. It’s a catalyst for action, which means the audience at that time would have taken these ideas seriously. This made the play more intense and stimulating for the audience.
The supernatural occurs four times during the course of Macbeth. It occurs in all the appearances of the witches, in the appearance of Banquo’s ghost, in the apparitions with their prophecies, and in the air-drawn dagger that guides Macbeth towards his victim.
One of the key characters of the play are the witches, which contribute hugely to the supernatural theme. The witches are introduced in the start of act one in a threatening atmosphere of thunder and lighting. The suspicious atmosphere that starts off the drama supports the horror and tragedy that portrays the rest of the play. In act 1 scene 1, the second witch says, “When the battle is lost and won”. This is foreshadowing, as the witches hint that although Macbeth won the battle of war, he will lose the battle against his faith further in the play. This gives the audience a sense of chaos and makes them already draw conclusion to Macbeth’s outcome that early in the play. Moreover, Shakespeare presents the
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The dagger points to Duncan 's room and appears to be covered in blood. This encourages Macbeth to commit the crime of killing the king. Shakespeare is showing the audience that what Macbeth is about to do is evil and catastrophic which will change the whole course of the play. Moreover, his hallucination of the floating dagger signifies Macbeth’s confusion and he can no longer distinguish between his imagination and reality, which is why he firmly believes that the dagger is a sign to commit the