Question

scene 4 line 5-10 #13
\thou seest the heavens, as troubled with mans act, threaten his bloody stage. by the clock tis day, and yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp. ist nights predominance, or the days shame, that darkness does the face of earth entomb when living light should kiss it?\—ross
in what ways does this passage explore themes of nature/unnatural, order/disorder, and the supernatural? how does this final scene explore the theme of order/disorder?

Explanation:

• For nature/unnatural and supernatural: The passage links Macbeth's unnatural regicide to an unnatural inversion of day and night, framing the heavens' reaction as a supernatural/cosmic judgment of his evil act.
• For order/disorder in the passage: The natural day-night order is inverted to visually and thematically reflect the broken political order (a king murdered by a usurper).
• For order/disorder in the final scene: Macbeth's defeat and Malcolm's ascension fix the broken political order, which resolves the earlier cosmic/natural disorder, re-establishing the rightful balance between human and natural systems.

Answer:

1. Nature/Unnatural & Supernatural: The passage uses unnatural natural phenomena (daytime darkness) to signal cosmic disruption tied to Macbeth's regicide, framing his violent act as violating both human and natural order, with the supernatural implied in the heavens' "troubled" state reacting to mortal sin.
2. Order/Disorder (Passage): The inversion of the natural day-night cycle (darkness covering the earth in daytime) mirrors the inversion of political and moral order caused by Duncan's murder, showing that human chaos distorts the natural world's inherent order.
3. Order/Disorder (Final Scene): The final scene restores order when Macbeth is defeated; Malcolm, the rightful heir, takes the throne, and the natural world's balance is implied to be restored, as the cosmic disruption tied to Macbeth's tyranny is ended with the return of legitimate rule.