EVIL: A Transgression of Nature in Shakespeare's Macbeth

In theaters throughout the world, actors and directors frequently refer to "The Scottish Play," fearing the disasters that may result from the utterance "Macbeth". Many superstitions surround this Shakespearean play because of its reputation for invoking mysterious mischief on the theater and its performers. This bizarre fear of Macbeth in the theater is not purely coincidental. The play features witches, ghosts, and apparitions as well as bloody murders and excessive evil. It is no wonder why many theaters fear the enactment of such terror upon their stages. The evil that occurs in Macbeth is more potent than that of Shakespeare's other tragedies. For example, treachery and deception are the roots of evil in Othello and King Lear. While Iago manipulates Othello's mind, Goneril and Regan deceive their father with false love. In the Scottish play, however, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are guilty of much deeper sins than deception or manipulation. They commit crimes against nature, attempting to destroy the world's natural processes. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates how the most formidable and destructive evil originates from the human will to overthrow the laws of nature.

In order to examine how Macbeth and his wife transgress these laws of nature, they must first be defined within the context of the play. The characters generally view nature as the governing order of the universe. Anything that occurs naturally does so because it was intended by some higher power. The most obvious and indisputable natural phenomenon is human life. Each individual human being exists as part of the natural world. When the murderer is describing the death of Banquo to Macbeth, he states: "With twenty trenched gashes on his head, The least a death to nature." (3.4) In this line, nature literally means human life, as the smallest gash would have killed Banquo. The regeneration of life is also one of the most basic aspects of nature. Giving birth creates new life, perpetuating human existence. Thus, a woman's role in Shakespeare's time was primarily to insure this process of regeneration. Having established the basic principles of nature in the play, the Macbeths' attempt to violate them appears especially destructive.

Macbeth commits his first sin by murdering the sleeping Duncan. His decision to kill the king in his sleep suggests Macbeth's initial reluctance to disturb nature. To Macbeth, sleep makes people appear as if they are dead. Just before he murders Duncan, he contemplates the deed: "Now o'er the one-half world Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep." (2.1) In this context, nature refers to human life. Because everyone is asleep, "nature seems dead". In order to kill Duncan, Macbeth must first mitigate the crime by perceiving nature as already dead. However, after he has committed the murder, Macbeth's guilt forces him to reevaluate the situation. He tells his wife: "Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!'- the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care, The death of each day's life . . .great nature's second course, chief nourisher in life's feast." (2.2) Sleep no longer represents the death of nature. Instead, it becomes a part of the daily life cycle as "nature's second course". Sleep is now the innocent nourisher of life, not an instrument of death. In these lines, Macbeth realizes the seriousness of his crime. He thinks that he has murdered sleep, and thus destroyed an inherent part of nature. Thus Macbeth transforms his perception of the crime. Before the murder, sleep makes nature appear dead. After the murder, sleep is an innocent part of nature, and Macbeth has killed it.

When Macbeth murders sleep, he destroys a natural, governing force of daily life. The murder of Banquo, however, unleashes death upon the nature of the human spirit. The play often uses the term "nature" to refer to a person's soul or character traits. Macbeth wants to kill Banquo because he fears his nature: "Our fears in Banquo Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be feared. 'Tis much he dares, And to that dauntless temper of his mind he hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor." (3.1) Macbeth fears Banquo's nature as a human being. His "dauntless temper", "wisdom", "valor", and "royalty of nature", threaten Macbeth's own ambitions. Immediately following this soliloquy, Macbeth convinces the murderers to kill Banquo. To complete this task, he attacks the murderers' human nature as well. Macbeth persuades the men that Banquo is the cause of their poverty and that they should take action. He states: "Do you find Your patience so predominant in your nature That you can let this go? Are you so gospeled To pray for this good man." (3.1) The murderers respond by saying "we are men". Macbeth attempts to attack their manhood by asserting their cowardice. He claims that their nature is too patient, and they should seek justice. Thus Macbeth transforms two otherwise innocent spirits into killers. (The Folger Library Edition of Macbeth states that the murderers are not murders until Macbeth convinces them to kill. They are merely poor men.) Once the men finally consent to the murder of Banquo, Macbeth states: "Your spirits shine through you." (3.1) This statement affirms the emphasis on the men's nature. Although Macbeth's wording suggests beautiful spirits, he has actually created two monsters. The evil of Banquo's murder therefore lies in the destruction of human nature, for both Banquo and the two murderers.

The murder of Macduff's wife and children further intensifies Mabeth's evil crimes against nature. He violates the laws of regeneration and breaks familial bonds. The death of a child suggests the death of future possibility. When referring to Banquo's son, Macbeth reveals his fear of a child's coming of age: "The worm that's fled Hath nature that in time will venom breed, No teeth for th' present." (3.4) Fleance's escape makes Macbeth uneasy because he will breed venom when he grows older, posing a future threat to Macbeth. Also, he uses the word "nature" to describe the inevitable process of children growing up. Macbeth's anxiety about the "nature" of sons and his failure to kill Fleance motivate him to murder Macduff's children. Although they do not pose a direct threat to him, according to the witches prophecy, he must "beware Macduff". In order to eliminate the threat of Macduff, Macbeth thinks he must also eliminate his children, for the sake of future security. He states in a soliloquy: "give to th' edge o' th' sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line." (4.1) Macbeth thus murders Macduff's children because he fears the natural processes that enable them to grow up.

Macduff is most troubled by the murder of his wife and children because Macbeth has broken his natural familial bonds. The family exists as a natural unity of souls. Marriage unites a man and a women through the sanctity of God. Children are bonded to their parents through blood and reproductive processes. By destroying familial ties, Macbeth commits another crime against nature. These broken bonds devastate Macduff. He tells Malcom and Ross: "He has no children . . . I cannot but remember such things were That were most precious to me. Did heaven look on And would not take their part?" (4.3) When Macduff states that he has no children (referring to either Malcom or Macbeth), he implies that a man without any sons could not comprehend the strength of such familial love. Macbeth, having no children, does not respect the father-son bond because he has never experienced it. However, this fact does not excuse him from committing the crime. Furthermore, Macduff does not understand why heaven "looked on", not intervening and save his family. He looks to the Christian doctrine of divine intervention and heavenly goodness. A Christian interpretation might provide that Macbeth has committed a numerous crimes against God and nature, so these forces are not available to save Macduff's family. Heaven "looking on" and not "taking their [the family's] part", may provide evidence that Macbeth's evil has overpowered divine, natural powers.

Macbeth does not find natural familial ties within his own household. Perhaps this lack of reference blinds him to the evil he creates by killing Macduff's family. His marriage is not a natural source of comfort and love. In fact, it is just the opposite. Evil unites this husband and wife, not the sanctity of God. They are two conspirators, plotting the horrid murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth's first line to Macbeth is "Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor, Greater than both by the all-hail hereafter!" (1.5) She does not greet him with a loving embrace. Her primary concern is his title and his future kingship. (The "all-hail hereafter" refers to the kingship.) Lady Macbeth views her husband as a title, an ambition. Thus, Macbeth cannot find a natural marital relationship within his own home.

Lady Macbeth's evil extends beyond her role as a corrupt marital partner. She also commits a crime against nature by plotting to kill Duncan. However, she must reject her natural role as a woman before she can undertake the necessary violence. Lady Macbeth's primary act against nature thus occurs before Duncan's murder. She calls upon spirits to remove her womanly nature: "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. . . That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose." (1.5) In Shakespeare's time, a woman's natural role was peaceful, innocent, and nurturing. But Lady Macbeth refutes this role, wishing to be "unsexed" and filled with the "direst cruelty". She longs to rid herself of natural womanly feelings, and hopes that no remorseful "visitings of nature" will prevent her evil ambition. She must also cast aside her role as a nurturing mother to assume enough violence for murder. To prove to Macbeth that she is prepared to commit this evil crime, she states: "I have given suck, and know How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from its boneless gums And dashed the brains out." (1.7) The language is incredibly gruesome and terrifying. These lines demonstrate a complete transgression of the laws of nature. The natural process of breast feeding becomes a gory scene of death and violence. Although Lady Macbeth is not referring to a particular child, her mind is filled with unnatural, destructive images. As a woman, she becomes a living, opposing force against natural laws.

Lady Macbeth also manipulates human nature. Just as Macbeth destroys the good nature of the murderers, Lady Macbeth destroys her husband's innocent nature. To convince Macbeth to kill Duncan, she uses the same techniques that he later uses to persuade the murderers to kill Banquo. She attacks his manhood and questions his courage: "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. . . Screw your courage to the sticking place." (1.7) Lady Macbeth infers that Macbeth would be more of a man if he could kill. To persuade her husband, she mentions manhood and his courage, not the benefits that Duncan's murder would bring. She thus attempts to transform his inner nature, making him more violent. Another parallel between Lady Macbeth's evil and that of Macbeth is her fear of human nature. Macbeth fears Banquo's "royalty of nature", and decides to kill him. Similarly, Lady Macbeth fears her husband's innocent nature. She states: "Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way." (1.5) She tries to transform Macbeth's kind nature because she fears that it is not evil enough.

Lady Macbeth demonstrates her opposition to the forces of nature throughout the play. She acts against them by manipulating Macbeth's human nature and rejecting own natural role as a woman. However, these crimes do not seem outrageous to her because she views nature in terms of its evil components. When summoning the evil spirits to fill her with violence, she states: "Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature's mischief." (1.5) She believes that these evil spirits play a role in nature. While most characters think of nature as the force of heaven, Lady Macbeth sees it as wicked. She associates nature with death several times throughout the play. She rejects the natural process of birth and regeneration, replacing them with death. She speaks of Duncan's grooms: "I have drugged their possets, That death and nature do contend about them whether they live or die." (2.2) In this line, death and nature are closely related. Lady Macbeth hopes that nature will "contend about" the grooms because she knows of its evil. Similarly, when Macbeth tells his wife that Banquo and Fleance are alive, she reacts by stating: "But in them nature's copy not enterne." (3.3) In other words, Lady Macbeth does not fear these men because nature will prevent them from living eternally. Because nature brings death, these men will eventually die. By envisioning nature's evil components, Lady Macbeth can justify her crimes against nature.

However, Shakespeare affirms the goodness of nature and the evil of its opposition. Lady Macbeth eventually goes mad because of her defiance of natural laws. She walks in her sleep and continuously washes her hands. The doctor who watches over her moralizes: "Unnatural deeds Do breed unnatural troubles. Infected minds To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets." (5.1) Because Lady Macbeth has committed "unnatural" deeds, she must suffer through madness with an "infected mind". Shakespeare also demonstrates the power of nature. A Christian interpretation might provide that God is punishing Lady Macbeth for transgressing his governing order. The doctor also observes that Lady Macbeth's condition is "a great perturbation in nature." (5.1) Macbeth meets an unnatural fate, as well. Macduff kills him and tears his body apart. The play's final image of Macduff carrying Macbeth's head vividly depicts an unnatural bodily state. Thus, both Macbeths die unnatural deaths as a result of their "unnatural deeds".

Macbeth's final image does not suggest future accordance with nature. In fact, the laws of nature no longer seem to exist in Act Five. Birnam wood appears to uproot itself and go to Dunsinane. Macbeth meets a man "not of woman born". The witches supernatural prophecies are fulfilled. Have the Macbeths succeeded in destroying nature? Or is nature trying to retaliate against its offenders? Shakespeare leaves the audience with these open questions. However, he leaves no questions regarding evil and its origin as the defiance of natural laws. It is this evil that actors and directors fear when performing or mentioning Macbeth.