Evil has the capability to overcome anyone, but in order to be truly overcome by evil, one has to give oneself the first push into the never ending abyss. William Shakespeare's Macbeth analyzes the line between nature and the unnatural and what defines it. Macbeth, a Scottish general goes against nature and kills his king, his friend and an entire family of innocent people, leaving nature no choice but to destroy him in any way possible. In Shakespeare's culminating tragedy, Macbeth, nature and the supernatural work in unison to bring about Macbeth's demise.
Macbeth's greed and need for power disrupted the natural balance in his society, forcing nature to eliminate Macbeth and restore balance. Before the play began the society Macbeth lived in (11th century Scotland) was in tumult. King Duncan and his army were locked in all out war with Norwegian forces. Amidst all this, Macbeth, a ruthless warrior, had aspirations to be more than the thane of a small area of land; he desired power and greatness, and it seemed that nothing but Duncan's throne could satisfy his unending thirst. After being told by the witches that he would soon become king he simply believes that, "if chance may crown [him] king, [then] chance may crown [him], without [his] stir," (1.3.143-144). As soon as the witches first prophecy comes true he expects himself to be named heir to the throne. When he finds out that Duncan has instead named his, "eldest, Malcolm. hereafter The Prince of Cumberland," (1.4.38-39) he is enraged. At this point Macbeth stops thinking about Duncan as a friend, and considers him simply yet another obstacle on his climb to power. Soon Macbeth realizes that in order to become king he has to kill Duncan and promptly hatches a plan to do so. Macbeth was a great soldier, but his unnatural desire to overthrow Duncan, a wonderful person and even better king, threw off the natural balance.
