The Power of Spirits in MacbethSupernatural beings are used to create dramatic emphasis in all forms of literature. Shakespeare uses witches, ghosts, and apparitions in his play Macbeth to generate this effect. Supernatural beings are effective in provoking a reaction from today's audiences. So it's easy to imagine how these specters would have alarmed people in the Elizabethan era. The population of the Elizabethan era had certain ideas about witches, on which the three witches in Macbeth were based. The witches added a supernatural element to Macbeth, as did the appearance of Banquo's ghost and the apparitions that emerged during Macbeth's final tryst with the three witches. All these events created a more dramatic atmosphere of suspense. The theater production, Macbeth, is filled with references to the supernatural, as well as their actual occurrence. The witches in the story are like prophets, predicting Macbeth's future, or perhaps they can be seen as harbingers of doom. They seem to enjoy playing with Macbeth's mind. The witches sing together alarmingly: “The strange sisters, hand in hand, / Posers of sea and land, / So they go: / Three times to yours, and three times to mine, / and three more times, to make nine./Peace! The charm is over. (I, iii, 83-87) They seem to belong to the genre of an evil cult, and cults are not very well known for producing positive actions and reactions in society. Banquo's ghost appeared at Macbeth's banquet, but Macbeth was the only one who saw him. This disturbed the guests who thought he was having guilt-induced hallucinations after his best friend's murder. Macbeth was quite upset by this experience, and when the ghost was present, he seemed to completely lose touch with reality. When his wife tried to calm him down, he didn't even acknowledge her presence. The images that appeared to Macbeth when he returned to the witches for reassurance before the battle against Malcolm and the English forces, were evoked by the witches..