Lecture notes
GCSE Macbeth Supernatural Analysis
This document provides analysed quotes of the supernatural from each act in macbeth including unique interpretations, techniques, and writers intentions/context
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MACBETH● SUPERNATURAL:
- “In thunder, lightning, or in rain”-Act 1 Scene 1-This is the first scene
in Macbeth. By starting the play with this eerie atmosphere, the
audience is immediately engaged by the odd start. The power of three
used here is an example of pathetic fallacy as the weather reflects and
foreshadows the destruction the witches cause in the future of the play.
The fact that the play starts in “thunder, lightning or rain” suggests
that the witches are brewers of chaos, foreshadowing to the audience
that they are important elements of the play and a part of Macbeth's
tragic downfall. This is impactful in a Jacobean audience as the king
was obsessed with witch hunting and the people of this era had a
strong resentment towards witches or those who went against the laws
of nature. (reference daemonology thing in context)
- “Fair is foul and foul is fair”-Act 1 Scene 1-This is an example of a
paradoxical phrase that the witches say in the very first scene.
Shakespeare uses an antimetabole here to show how the witches are
contradicting nature and the natural order as well as to show how
everything is not as it seems which is proven later on in the play when
Macbeth transmogrified from “brave” to a “tyrant”. The word “fair” in
this context means ‘good’ and “foul” refers to evil, so by saying good is
evil and evil is good, the witches immediately give off the impression
that they want the world to be in chaos and to be subjected to evil and
malevolence. Furthermore, Shakesphere purposely makes the witches
speak in trochaic tetrameter to almost exclude them from the
characters in the rest of the play who speak in iambic pentameter. This
could also be interpreted as Shakesphere suggesting that the witches
go against the natural order of life and nature and therefore they
speak differently to others. This is very impactful within a Jacobean
audience as King James was obsessed with witchcraft and held a
strong resentment towards them, and so did the rest of society. This
would mean that the play would interest the King as it showcases the
witches in a negative light, as a way to discourage witchcraft within
the Jacobean society.
- “With’d…wild”-Act 1 Scene 1-Use as embedded
- “That look not like th’ inhabitants o’th’ earth”-Act 1 Scene 3-Use as
embedded-This quote shows how the witches look unnatural and not
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