The role of the supernatural in Macbeth and Hamlet

Supernatural

ROLE of SUPERNATURAL in HAMLET and MACBETH

The role of supernatural in Elizabethan drama cannot be underestimated or overlooked. It was a critical part of the plot as we see in Shakespearean work and for the audiences in those days, supernatural was not something above or beyond natural, it was an acceptable phenomenon. For this reason, it would be quite wrong to assume that Shakespeare made an effort to incorporate supernatural forces in his plays. They just had to be part of his writings because they were so widely believed in. secondly we must remember that it is not just the tragedies where we see supernatural elements playing a role, they can be just as easily found in comedies and romance writings as well.

In one of the most authentic and comprehensive study on the role of supernatural in tragedies, Whitmore has given a detailed explanation of how ghosts vary from tragedy to tragedy. He takes into account both Hamlet and Macbeth and identifies the nuances in description and role of supernatural in both plays. Talking about ghost in Hamlet, he writes: "In Hamlet a further advance brings the supreme treatment of the ghost in Elizabethan drama. The revenge ghost becomes the instrument by which the train of events is set in motion; and he is depicted with a skill that defies competition. The elaboration with which he is treated contrasts strongly with the method of his employment in Julius Caesar; but the difficulties are handled in a way that only heightens the effect." (249)

Critics maintain that the purpose and modus operandi of supernatural forces differ from tragedy to comedy. While in Shakespearean comedies, they didn't exactly have a superstitious influence, in tragedies, they seemed to be heavily dictated by the superstitions of the time. In Hamlet for example, ghost serves a very exact and important purpose. He is the one who sets the whole revenge scene in action. Hamlet may have been moved by dementia but his madness was taken to extremes by the recurrent appearance of apparitions that tells him to seek revenge. Interestingly as opposed to early medieval and ancient plays, supernatural in Shakespeare do not interfere directly. They work through the characters as in Hamlet and sometimes only act as catalysts like we saw in Macbeth. The way supernatural forces work in the two plays is quite different. In Hamlet, the father appears in the form of a ghost and work through his son to avenge his murder. In Macbeth the three witches only prophesize what they know, and the rest is done by the evil mind of Macbeth's wife. The three witches or the ghost in Hamlet are not actually evil in any sense of the word but what their interference leads to turns out to be evil.

This actually should be quite thought provoking if we ponder the question: do supernatural forces always tend to act against man? In Hamlet and Macbeth, their appearance in the lives of the main characters wreaks havoc. Hamlet loses his sanity and Macbeth loses everything he once had or could possibly have. While their presence may not be evil, their impact certainly seems to be. But at the same time, the presence of supernatural elements in Shakespearean plays also helps to expose the weaknesses of the main characters. It appears as if the author was trying to exploit the frailties of character with the help of supernatural forces. In Hamlet, the madness streak in the hero is further aggravated when he keeps seeing his father and suspects foul play in his death: "My father's spirit in arms! All is not well. / I doubt some foul play" (1.2.254-255).

The first time Hamlet sees the ghost, he is certain there is a reason behind its appearance. The bizarre circumstances under which his father died only further augmented his suspicion and the fact that the ghost had spoken these words: "I am thy father's spirit, / doomed for a certain term to walk the night, / and for the day confined to fast in fires / till the foul crimes done in my days of nature / are burnt and purged away" (1.5.9-13), left little doubt in his mind that something was wrong. Hamlet is scared by the sudden appearance and thus cries out: "Angels and ministers of grace defend us! / Be thou a spirit of health or a goblin damned, / bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell/... thou com'st in such a questionable shape / that I will speak with thee" (1.4.20-25).

Hamlet gradually gains strength in his belief that divine justice had somehow been invoked and the ghost had appeared to guide everyone to justice. However this is one conclusion that we may draw from the play. There can be some others as well that might not be so positive in nature. Was the ghost actually Hamlet's father's? even if it was, was Hamlet really just in seeking revenge? If he were, then was his modus operandi correct? These questions result from close study of the events the followed the appearance of this specter. Even though it is true that ghost was correct in indicating foul play, but divine justice somehow seems lopsided because in the process of exacting revenge, nearly everyone died in the play. It should have been just the uncle and possibly Hamlet's mother who should have died but the death of many other characters make us ponder the evil tendencies of supernatural forces.

Macbeth's supernatural friends have an equally devastating effect on the main character's life. The three witches, though limited in their powers, caused major crisis when they foretell Macbeth's future. Here it must be made clear that just like Hamlet's father, the three witches did not want anything evil. They foretold the future because they saw something good for Macbeth. It was Macbeth who destroyed everything in his haste to see the future sooner than it was meant to unfold. Everything has a time at which it unfolds and Macbeth failed to exhibit the required amount of patience. Instead he simply allowed himself to be led astray in his ambition to become the next king.

Whitmore discusses the supernatural in Macbeth in these words: "The tragedy of Macbeth thus lies in the attempt of a mortal to control the baleful powers to which he has yielded himself, and in the irony with which they turn their own promises to his undoing. This central idea is presented in a way, which brings out the fearful strain under which the protagonists labor. The tense, close-packed lines give us a marvelous sense of that strain, a sense that culminates in Lady Macbeth's words