Supernatural Flashcards
(8 cards)
“fair is foul and foul is fair” The Witches 1.1 and “so fair and foul an day I have not seen”
-parallelism of the Witches’ incantation and Macbeth’s similar sentiment
-antithetical statement -> sense of contradiction as it is stated that two seemingly opposing qualities are interchangeable
-immediate indication of the prominence of deception throughout the play
-Macbeth echoes the language of the witches in his first peice of dialogue susceptible + vessel for their misconduct
-or , Macbeth’s reiteration of deceitful paradox could be implicit of his deterioration from a character regarded as “valour’s minion” into deceiver
-Shakespeare illustrates the inevitability of the Witches influence over Macbeth and perhaps even foreshadows his inexorable downfall,establishing him as a tragic hero.
Lady Macbeth calls upon ‘spirts’ to ‘come’ and unnaturally ‘unsex her’
imperative ‘come’ when LM commanding “spirits” and “thick night” forges link with supernatural
-she is not hesitant to call upon external forces to free her from her constraints of the femininity which she feels is the source of her remorse(and therefore barrier to crown)
-highlights the extent of her unchecked ambition and perhaps even her malevolent nature
-perhaps Shakespeare aligns LM with the supernatural in order to establish her as an antagonistic character and to emphasise the extent of her rapid fall from grace by Act 5 due to consuming emotions of guilt
the Macbeth curse
according to one belief ,the play was cursed by a coven of Witches. There were various accidents such as the death of the supposed actor Lady Macbeth in 1606 before the first play. The play “Macbeth” enhanced the fear of the supernatural
the Witches have “beards” 1.3 Banquo and Lady Macbeth was unnaturally “unsexed” 1.5
-witches=gender ambiguous through their ‘beards’ ,Lady Macbeth does not observe the rigid constructs of Gender in Jacobean England.
-rejects her position in society through her usage of the Supernatural to unnaturally ‘unsex’ her
-Lady Macbeth’s androgynous nature and subversion of the role of the typical wife of the Jacobean era would have be associated with witchcraft as alike to sorcery, gender non-conformity was a perversion to natural order
-prior to the reign of King James I witchcraft was punishable death.
-However contempt towards Witchcraft increased due to King James’ morbid fascination with Supernatural, even writing the book ‘Daemonolgie’ in 1597 which detailed the consequences of interacting with Witches
-by associating the character of Lady Macbeth with the wickedness of the supernatural, Shakespeare establishes Lady Macbeth as an antagonist , perhaps even suggesting that all powerful women are in league with the devil and should therefore be executed according to ‘Daemonologie’.
The Witches speak in trochaic tetrameter and rhyme
-The Witches speak in trochaic tetrameter which gives their speech an eerie songlike quality , as if their malevolent prophecies could perhaps be hypnotic
-Witches use equivocal language to enrapture Macbeth to their schemes
the idea of ‘fall of man’
-central idea of tragedy
-for a religious Jacobean audience, the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth could be reflective of the story of Adam and Eve
-similarly to Eve who tempts Adam to consume the forbidden Fruit, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to commit regicide in order to fulfill her ambition
-alike to Eve, Lady Macbeth sets the foundation for Macbeth’s evil
-may foreshadow the Macbeth’s rapid descent from grace
“I dreamt of the three weird sisters” and “I think not of them” 2.1 Banquo and Macbeth
-Banquo admits his preoccupation with the Witches
-highlights how Banquo is tempted on some degree
-establishes his humanity as he is constructed as a character who is not immune to temptation
-however he retells his misdeed to Macbeth which could resemble a christian confession
-honestly reflects his moral nature as he is characterised as resistive to evil and ultimately does not act on his ambition even as he is plagued by the witches prophecies unconsciously
-so Banquo could be argued to embody the characteristics of Jesus who was similarly tempted by the devil and resisted
-Banquo reflects the ideal human response to temptation
-but, Macbeth denies his infatuation with the Supernatural and fabricates that he “thinks not of them”
-feigns the façade of detachment however as the audience of the play, we’re brutally aware of Macbeth’s fixation onto the power and control advertised by the witches due to his immediate contemplation of regicide following the witches prophecies and his continued reliance on the witches prophecies
-Banquo’s honesty is diametrically opposed by Macbeth’s deception which empathises his dual nature
-Perhaps Shakespeare constructs Macbeth’s increasing duality due to the witches influence in order to emphasise the profound moral consequences of interacting with the Supernatural
Macduff was “untimely ripped” from his mother’s womb 5.8 Macduff
-Macduff recounts how he was ‘untimely ripped’ from his mother’s womb meaning that he was born of caesarean section
-anagnorisis as Macbeth realises his death is imminent as prophecy which had given him an ephemeral sense of security had been duplicate in nature “no man of woman born shall harm Macbeth”
-this anagnorisis also strips Macbeth of his self-confidence as his “better part of man” was “cow’d” meaning that a greater proportion of his courage had been disheartened
-his intrinsic cowardice which Lady Macbeth formerly ridiculed rises to the surface however he remains brave and refuses to accept defeat,his death reminding the audience of his prior characteristics as a noble warrior
-Macbeth’s death evokes a sense of catharsis for the audience as despite the sympathy the audience feels for Macbeth because of his demise, they are aware of the eventual restoration of natural order and the resolution of the play’s conflicts
-through Macbeth’s downfall, Shakespeare reminds the audience the treacherous consequences of communing with the supernatural as his conviction in the honesty of the Witches led to his ultimate demise.
Shakespeare use Macbeth to illustrate the dangers of falling victim to ambition-Macbeth’s hamartia-and the fatal consequences of committing regicide
