Three Encounters with the Supernatural
by Robert L. Lewis, Jr.

When people are placed at odds with supernatural forces, they often act out of the ordinary. This is also true for literary characters. The theme, or device, of encounters with supernatural forces in literature is one that has often been used to examine the human condition throughout the ages. Homer's The Odyssey , William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth , and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray are examples of this theme in three different ages. Supernatural forces move the main characters of these works into an action that may have been different if the encounter with the supernatural had not taken place.

In The Odyssey , the supernatural forces are in the form of the Greek god's using their powers and influences to manipulate Odysseus. The Weird Sisters and Hecate manipulate Macbeth's thoughts and actions. Dorian Gray's magically, changing portrait begins to influence him and his actions. There are some similarities and differences between these characters and how the supernatural affects each of them.

Odysseus consciously decides to act outside of the gods' influence and thinks for himself. As a man of power and means, he claims his own ideas are his own and not the desires of the gods being made known to him. Odysseus uses his wit and talent to get out of circumstances instead of following his cultural norm and praying for help in one form or another.

Macbeth is not self-empowered after he meets the supernatural forces. He is a man of power and means within his own culture. Macbeth also has great wit and talent, yet when he tries to employ them to his advantage something usually goes awry.

Dorian Gray is a young gentleman of means in his society. As a young man, he has not truly developed any self-awareness and gets most of his direction from outside forces even before the encounter with the supernatural. His first attempt with the changing portrait is to control it, but he is unsuccessful.

Odysseus and Macbeth are veterans of recent wars. Dorian is not a war veteran, but one could say that he is a veteran of the battle between himself and his family. All three have no original desire to come into contact with the supernatural. They also have no real control over the supernatural forces they encounter, and each one learns this in his own way.

All three characters struggle with a journey home. Odysseus is kept from reaching home by the gods' for much of the book. Macbeth is returning home from war as a hero when he encounters the Weird Sisters. Afterwards, Macbeth is searching for a place of power to call home. Dorian's search for a home is found in his desire to please Henry (a father figure) and a need for a place of being.

In Book IX, Odysseus' encounter with the supernatural is with a Cyclops named Polyphemus. Odysseus begins by trying to deal with the Cyclops in trade. Odysseus' reaction to the encounter later is through violence. His first violent reaction is as follows.

The cruel wretch [Polyphemus] vouchsafed me not one word of answer,

but with a sudden clutch then gripped up two of my men

and dashed them down upon the ground

as though they had been puppies.

Their brains were shed upon the ground,

and the earth was wet with their blood.

Then he tore them limb from limb and supped upon them.

He gobbled them up like a lion in the wilderness,

flesh, bones, marrow, and entrails,

without leaving anything uneaten.

As for us, we wept and lifted up our hands to heaven

on seeing such a horrid sight,

for we did not know what else to do;

but when the Cyclops had filled his huge paunch,

and had washed down his meal of human flesh

with a drink of neat milk,

he stretched himself full length upon the ground

among his sheep, and went to sleep.

I was at first inclined to seize my sword,

draw it, and drive it into his vitals,

but I reflected that if I did we should all certainly be lost,

for we should never be able to shift the stone

which the monster had put in front of the door.

So we stayed sobbing and sighing

where we were till morning came.

Homer, 141-142

Odysseus' first reaction to this encounter is violence, but upon reflection he decides not to commit violence for the sake of violence at this time. Later he decides that an act of violence is still needed in aiding his escape, but murder is out of the question.

The thought of violence also crosses Macbeth's mind as he contemplates his encounter with the supernatural. The Weird Sisters have told him he will be king and Macbeth is thinking about speeding up the timetable by killing the present king.

If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well

It were done quickly. If the assassination

Could trammel up the consequence, and catch,

With his surcease, success; that but this blow

Might be the be-all and the end-all here,

But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,

We'd jump the life to come. But in these cases

We still have judgement here, that we but teach

Bloody instructions, which being taught return

To plague the inventor. This even-handed justice

Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice

To our own lips. He's here in double trust:

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,

Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,

Who should against his murderer shut the door,

Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been

So clear in his great office, that his virtues

Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against

The deep damnation of his taking-off,

And pity, like a naked new-born babe

Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubin horsed

Upon the sightless couriers of the air,

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,

That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur

To prick the sides of my intent, but only

Vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself

And falls on the other. . .

Shakespeare, Act I.2, 1-28

Macbeth is forced into his action by the supernatural, for when he tries to talk himself out of the deed again later; the image of a dagger appears to him and propels him toward action. Macbeth makes for himself a great argument as to why he should not kill the king, but murders the king in spite of it. Macbeth later murders others because of his desires that came from the supernatural. Unlike Odysseus, his intelligence is no match for the compelling supernatural force which causes him to go on with his murdering deed.

Dorian Gray's first encounter with the supernatural nature of his portrait was to think of destroying it, an act of violence. However, his vanity, and perhaps lack of wit, keeps him from doing so. For years Dorian had kept the picture hidden and used it to absorb all of his evil, all of his violence, all of his hate. He kept this secret until, one day many years later he shares this with the portrait's painter, Basil Hallward. Upon seeing the portrait Basil exclaims,

“There was nothing evil in it, nothing shameful. You were to me such an ideal as I shall never meet again. This is the face of a satyr.” “Is it the face of my soul.” “Christ! what a thing I must have worshiped! It has the eyes of a devil.” “Each of us has Heaven and Hell in him, Basil,” cried Dorian, with a wild gesture of despair.

Hallward turned again to the portrait, and gazed at it. “My God! if it is true,” he exclaimed, “and this is what you have done with your life, why, you must be worse even than those who talk against you fancy you to be!” He held the light up again to the canvas, and examined it. The surface seemed to be quite undisturbed, and as he had left it. It was from within, apparently, that the foulness and horror had come. Through some strange quickening of inner life the leprosies of sin were slowly eating the thing away. The rotting of a corpse in a watery grave was not so fearful.

His hand shook, and the candle fell from its socket on the floor, and lay there sputtering. He placed his foot on it and put it out. Then he flung himself into the rickety chair that was standing by the table and buried his face in his hands.

“Good God, Dorian, what a lesson! What an awful lesson!” There was no answer, but he could hear the young man sobbing at the window. “Pray, Dorian, pray,” he murmured. “What is it that one was taught to say in one's boyhood? ‘Lead us not into temptation. Forgive us our sins. Wash away our iniquities.' Let us say that together. The prayer of your pride has been answered. The prayer of your repentance will be answered also. I worshiped you too much. I am punished for it. You worshiped yourself too. We are both punished.” Dorian Gray turned slowly around, and looked at him with tear-dimmed eyes.

“It is too late, Basil,” he faltered.

“It is never too late, Dorian. Let us kneel down and try if we cannot remember a prayer. Isn't there a verse somewhere, ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, yet I will make them as white as snow'?” “Those words mean nothing to me now.”

“Hush! don't say that. You have done enough evil in your life. My God! Don't you see that accursed thing leering at us?” Dorian Gray glanced at the picture, and suddenly an uncontrollable feeling of hatred for Basil Hallward came over him, as though it had been suggested to him by the image on the canvas, whispered into his ear by those grinning lips. The mad passions of a hunted animal stirred within him, and he loathed the man who was seated at the table, more than in his whole life he had ever loathed anything.

He glanced wildly around. Something glimmered on the top of the painted chest that faced him. His eye fell on it. He knew what it was. It was a knife that he had brought up, some days before, to cut a piece of cord, and had forgotten to take away with him. He moved slowly towards it, passing Hallward as he did so. As soon as he got behind him, he seized it, and turned round. Hallward stirred in his chair as if he was going to rise. He rushed at him, and dug the knife into the great vein that is behind the ear, crushing the man's head down on the table, and stabbing again and again.

Wilde, 114-116

Dorian was accused of being evil, even more evil than people suspected. At first he had decided to use the painting as a way to gauge his actions, but it soon became a way to hide the evil within him. Dorian did not try to better himself because he saw the picture as a place to push all the negative consequences of his life.

Odysseus, Macbeth and Dorian Gray are all characters searching for normalcy after encountering the supernatural. Odysseus and Macbeth have intelligence and are capable of reasoning out the right course. Dorian too tries to reason out the best course, but does not really have his own intelligence to work with. Odysseus eventually is victorious over the supernatural. Macbeth succumbs to the supernatural and is killed because of it. Dorian is subdued by the supernatural and dies when trying to destroy it.

All three of these three characters are besieged by the supernatural and use their inner-self to deal with it. Odysseus uses his strength of discernment, self-awareness and inner-power to overcome the supernatural forces. Macbeth uses his strength of discernment, but his awareness that he desires more power brings him to follow the direction the supernatural leads him. Dorian attempts to use discernment but because of his self-adsorption, instead of self-awareness, he sees the supernatural as a power he can use.

The main differences of the three characters have to do with how their reaction to the supernatural affects those around them. Odysseus is able to act freely for not only his own sake, but for the sake of his community. Macbeth knowingly causes harm to his community by giving in to his desires. Dorian is more influenced by how he wants to be seen by members of his society (not even the larger community) than having any real influence over community. Odysseus has a much more positive experience with his supernatural encounter that the other two because his choice is with the community in mind instead of giving into selfish desires.

Works Cited:

Homer. The Odyssey . Translated by Samuel Butler. CD-Rom. World Library, Inc. Available on Corel's World's Greatest Classic Books, version 1.00.021.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth . CD-Rom. World Library, Inc. Available on Corel's World's Greatest Classic Books, version 1.00.021.

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray . CD-Rom. World Library, Inc. Available on Corel's World's Greatest Classic Books, version 1.00.021.