Supernatural and ambition in Macbeth

A detailed Summary of Supernatural and ambition in Macbeth

Is it the influence of the Supernatural

Or Macbeth's overriding ambition that

Macbeth was originally written for and performed in front of King James I in 1606 The King had an interest in witchcraft and believed that witches and magicians were agents of the devil, and that the devil was permitted by god to work upon men as a punishment to the wicked and a temptation to test the faith of the virtuous. Thus, a man faced with Satan's temptation would be faced with a choice and on that choice, he would be judged. Both Macbeth and Banquo are so tested in this play.

In this essay, I am going to give my opinion as to what caused Macbeth's downfall and how both ambition and the supernatural played their parts in doing this. My belief is that Macbeth's ambition was led by the supernatural and in the way that Macbeth interpreted the prophecies of the witches. Macbeth is initially presented as a mature man of established character, as a bold, brave valiant man.

'For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name' also

'O valiant cousin! O worthy gentleman!'

These two quotations give very strong first impressions to what the audience initially believes Macbeth to be like. However, this picture

Macbeth now at this point is obviously feeling paranoid. We can now see that Macbeth, as the strong bold valiant warrior as he used to be, has now become paranoid, and weak. (Why else would he call upon murderers to kill Banquo?) Up until this point, Lady Macbeth has been the strongest of the couple but we can now see the change in character. Macbeth now seems to have become stronger and more towards evil (Supernatural link). They have changed roles.

'What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full O' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way'

The vision of the dagger (a supernatural doing) that Macbeth sees could have one of two meanings. One is it could be telling him to kill Duncan, however it could be telling him not to. It is Macbeth's own interpretation of the vision that leads him to his downfall. After the killing, Macbeth feels very guilty, and cannot cope with the fact that he has just killed his king. This shows that Macbeth still has a good side and has not turned completely immoral. Now that the King is dead, Macbeth has achieved his ambition and so one would assume that he would now be content. However, Banquo seems to be suspicious of Macbeth and Macbeth decides that the only way to end the suspicion is to kill Banquo too. I think that Macbeth suspected that Banquo had believed the witches and therefore Macbeth is afraid of Banquo's children

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lady Macbeth, Macbeth Banquo, Lady Macbeth's, Cawdor King, Banquo Macbeth, Hill Macbeth, King James, Macbeth Banquo's, Supernatural Macbeth's, Ironically Macbeth, lady macbeth, macbeth feels, witches macbeth, ambition supernatural, kill banquo, king macbeth, kill duncan, changed roles, macbeth begins, killed king,

Approximate Word count = 1535
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English