Use of the Supernatural in Shakespeares Macbeth Essays -- Macbeth ess

Use of the Supernatural in Macbeth In Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare uses an underlying motif of the supernatural to control the characters and add a new dimension to the play. Shakespeare uses a large motif of light vs. darkness throughout the play to present moral choices and religious ideas. When the play opens, there is thunder rolling around and the witches on stage. The thunder is symbolic of darkness and gives the audience the first impression that the play will not be ordinary. The witches who only appear in darkness, elements of the supernatural, are one of Shakespeare's classic ways of catching the audience's attention and of also setting the mood for the play. Another motif present in Macbeth is appearance vs. reality. In this motif, Shakespeare uses concepts that either hint at the character's delusion or that a supernatural force has taken over and controls what is real and what is not. An example of this is seen when Macbeth sees the dagger before him. The dagger could just be a hallucination or it could be a vision sent from the wi...