The Natural World and Evil in Macbeth

The Natural World and Evil in Macbeth

When Macbeth ascended the Scottish throne, the monarchy was not the only thing that was severely affected by the evil of his reign. The natural world, the unnatural world, the political of the play, as well as the physical world were all negatively affected. When it came to nature in Macbeth, Shakespeare used a medieval belief of how nature and society formulate together (Raikespeare in Film), the concept of murder, corruption of the human soul, witchcraft and curses (Pilkington).

Macbeth stands as a representation of the medieval belief of the ‘Great Chain of Being’ or scala naturae in Latin. This belief was introduced Neoplatonic corporatism, or the belief that society needs to be in formal divided parts that complement the function of the whole as a corpus or a body (Raikespeare in Film). (The Great Chain of Being, THEEMPIREOFFILMS)

The natural order of this chain acted as a pyramid. At the very top there was God, next below were Angels (seraphim, cherubim), then the Humans (kings, merchants, men, women), then the Animals (Mice, dogs, lions, etc.), then the Plants (grass, trees), then the Nonliving (rocks or metals). When it came to humans, the order became more precise. For the monarchs, it ranged from Kings, Queens, Nobles, Merchants, and then Peasants. For families the range was Father, Mother, Sons, Daughters, then Servants (Mularski). If this societal and moral order was operated correctly, it was believed that the wellbeing of the country, for instance the outcomes of the weather and the harvests, would be maintained and if not the natural world would fall into chaos (LitCharts).

The Chain of Being is very much disrupted in Macbeth by the murder of Duncan and several other innocents, and the fact that Malcom and Donalbain fled. This reflects wildly within the environment of the play. Horses eat each other, farmers hang themselves, the day becomes darker, and owls are killing and eating falcons (Raikespeare in Film). However, at the end of the play when Macbeth is beheaded, it is implied by Macduff that through his work as the King, nature will eventually reassert itself; That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace,/We will perform in measure, time, and place. (Act V, Scene IX, Lines 39-40)

The concept of evil is something that goes against human nature and the foundation of humanity itself, which is displayed majorly in Macbeth. According to Frank Kermode, “Macbeth is, for all its brevity, his most intensive study of evil at work in the individual and in the world at large.” (Shakespeare et al.)

The murder of Duncan went against Macbeth’s human nature. He and Lady Macbeth seem to have to trick themselves into going through with the murder. For Macbeth, he is persuaded by Lady Macbeth to commit the murder by telling him that he has a nature that is too vulnerable. “Yet do I fear thy nature;/It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness/To catch the nearest way” (Act I Scene V, Lines 17-19). For Lady Macbeth herself, one of the first times she introduces the fact that she has evil intensions is when she consults any spirit to take away her caring nature.

Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
(Act I Scene V, Lines 41-44) (123helpme.com)

While the murder of Duncan was against Macbeth’s human nature, it opened the door for him to ascend the throne as King. The paranoia of keeping the crown compels Macbeth to kill again and again. Therefore, the elements that make the play a tragedy can be traced through the bodies of the innocent and back to Macbeth’s ambition that caused it to happen.

Ambition does manifest itself in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship. The ambition of Lady Macbeth is made apparent when she insults Macbeth’s man hood

When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man. Nor time, nor place,
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both: (Act I Scene VII, Lines 49-52)

She then describes how she would forsake the motherly elements of her gender in order to justify her ambition;

How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me;
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you (Act I Scene VII, Lines 55-58)

Along with the major disruption on their natural order and human nature, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth face the same disruption in their mental health. In a physiological standpoint, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth become more and more ambitious, but they also become more and more mentally unstable as the play progresses. Macbeth displays the symptoms of being a sociopath throughout the play, particularly during Act V. After stating that he has been through many horrors in his life, he almost seems immune to feeling and thus not feeling any kind of remorse for the killing of multiple innocents ("Macbeth").

While she seems perfectly sound in the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth starts to display obsessive compulsory disorder and depression in Act V Scene I through her sleepwalking and constantly trying to wash the blood that she hallucinates seeing on her hands ("Macbeth").
The use of witchcraft in Macbeth is very significant both in the play and in the real world. The overall symbol of the concept of the main evil in Macbeth is the three witches and the influence they have over Macbeth. England and Scotland have been profoundly religious as well as superstitious for centuries and the three witches in the play do go against the basis of Christianity;

“10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-11) (New International Version). This passage from Deuteronomy describes the overall nature of the three witches, because they do all of these things in the play. Fortune telling and spell casting are both things in Christianity that was considered an evil act and witchcraft. As for consulting the dead, it is unclear if the witches are alive or dead themselves. The supernatural powers of the witches are able to influence Macbeth in an unsupernatural way, which was using their visions of the future to fuel his ambition and possibly push forward the ailing of his mental health.

When performing Macbeth, there is the option of including the goddess Hecate, who stands as a leader figure with the three witches. She is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghost, and necromancy (Theoi Project). (Hecate)

People in Shakespeare’s time believed that the three witches were literally using black magic and performing actual spells, resulting in a curse. Many believed that including Hecate would intensify the curse, so she was frequently left out depending on the circumstances of the production ("The Curse Of Macbeth - Unexplained Mysteries").

Since its first production on August 7th of 1606, there has been a long line of theatre disasters that have been associated with the play. Many people in that time believed that the curse that the three witches performed would be brought on them if they even mentioned “Macbeth” ("Curse - Macbeth").

Legend has it that the boy actor who played Lady Macbeth died backstage during the very first ever performance of the play and the role had to be taken over by William Shakespeare himself dressed in drag (MacGowan 2012).  Other instances include multiple stories of actors falling off of the stage, a stage weight nearly hitting Laurence Oliver, and the riot between two rival productions of the play at New York City’s Astor Opera House in 1849, resulting in twenty-two deaths (The Telegraph).
Macbeth has always been a complicated play to produce. Not just because of its apparent curse, but also because it requires equipment that has the potential to be extremely dangerous, including sets, weapons, dim lighting, fog, and in Shakespearian times cannon fire ("The Curse Of Macbeth - Unexplained Mysteries").

Though, Macbeth has always been considered unlucky. The theatre superstition is that the name nor quotes from the play can be uttered within a theater unless if it is the play that is in production. Otherwise, the curse from the three witches will fall onto the play that is currently in production. Same also goes for using sets, props, or costumes from a production of Macbeth. Macbeth has taken several other names including “that play”, “the unmentionable”, “the cursed play”, or “The Scottish play” ("Curse - Macbeth").

Works cited

Raikespeare in Film,. "Shakespearean Elements In Lion King". Raikespeare's Corner. N.p., 2017. Web. 2 Apr. 2017.

Mularski, Jessica. "The Divine Order - The Great Chain Of Being - Shakespeare Fun Facts". Sites.google.com. Web. 2 Apr. 2017.

LitCharts,. "The Theme Of Nature And The Unnatural In Macbeth From Litcharts | The Creators Of Sparknotes". LitCharts. N.p., 2017. Web. 2 Apr. 2017.

Pilkington, Elaine. "Macbeth And The Nature Of Evil". Utah Shakespeare Festival. N.p., 2017. Web. 2 Apr. 2017.

"Macbeth". A Mind Diseased. N.p., 2017. Web. 2 Apr. 2017.

MacGowan, Doug. "The Macbeth Curse." Historic Mysteries. Historicmysteries, 19 May 2012. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

"Evilmac Shakespeare's Macbeth - The Main Theme of Evil Macbeth essays." Evilmac Shakespeare's Macbeth - The Main Theme of Evil Macbeth essays. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2017.

Shakespeare, William et al. The Riverside Shakespeare. 1st ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Print.

New International Version,. "Bible Gateway Passage: Deuteronomy 18:9-13 - New International Version". Bible Gateway. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017.

Theoi Project,. "HECATE (Hekate) - Greek Goddess Of Witchcraft, Magic & Ghosts". Theoi.com. N.p., 2000. Web. 3 Apr. 2017.

"The Curse Of Macbeth - Unexplained Mysteries". Theunexplainedmysteries.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017.

Hecate. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, C5th B.C. Print.

PlayShakespeare.com.,. "Macbeth: Act 1, Scene 7". Playshakespeare.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017.

The Telegraph,. "Macbeth: The Curse Of The Scottish Play". The Telegraph. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017.