Gothic elements in Shakespeare's Macbeth

Macbeth Gothic

The great play Macbeth by the wonderful English author William Shakespeare is a very haunting and scary depiction of a royal Scottish family. Even though this play was written and performed in time period that would be considered pre-Gothic, this play demonstrates some very Gothic elements in its contents. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate how Macbeth is quintessentially a gothic work. This essay will accomplish this by describing several key qualities that are seen in gothic works and show how Shakespeare wrote Macbeth with those very same qualities.

The Supernatural

When scary and things such as witches and ghosts appear in a story or piece of art, it is a very gothic element. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, there are three witches that play an important role in the play. Also there is much talk of a devil, Satan, and murder. Macbeth is often portrayed as losing his minds to spirits and is clearly disturbed by supernatural forces throughout the entire length of the play. The supernatural is also displayed in Macbeth when the idea of death and life after death are significantly discussed and played throughout the entire play and many people also die as well.

Ambition

Ambition is another quality that describes the Gothic time period in art and literature. Macbeth also demonstrates how ambition can help ruin a man and make him weak and scared. Lady Macbeth in this play also is a cause for much of Macbeth's ambition and clearly wants more power by using her husband to her own ends. The witches are also very ambitious as well.

Concludes into Chaos

Gothic literature and art is very chaotic and mysterious. There is a sense of uncontrollable resolution when a gothic play is examined. Macbeth is no exception. The tragic mass murders and suicides that occur throughout this play, makes it feel like a murder spree in which there is no end in sight, which is very chaotic and disturbing.

Conclusions

The aforementioned qualities are signatures of Gothic art and literature. In addition, Macbeth appears very much like a gothic play even though it was written many years before pure Gothic art was discussed and accepted, so essentially it is a Gothic play at heart.