Disturbance in Nature

     The cruel and unjustified murder of Duncan threw nature in Scotland into an unbalanced state.  Three unnatural events occur in Act II Scene IV that reveal that the decision to kill Duncan was not a wise one.  These events begin as on the day following Duncan's unwilling death, it is daytime yet darkness is still the only thing that fills the sky.  Another peculiar event lies in the clash of two birds when an owl, customarily the prey, kills a falcon, customarily the predator.  Undoubtedly the most insane unnatural occurrence, though, is when Duncan's horses simply riot and eat each other following his death.  Through the darkness during the day, the triumph of the owl instead of the falcon, and the cannibalism of Duncan's horses, Act II Scene IV provides three ways in which the tragedy of Duncan's murder has negatively affected the nature.  As nature becomes unhinged, it becomes evident to the audience that Duncan's death was not deserved.
     This can be reflected outside of the play in the belief that when a funeral is accompanied by rain, the deceased's soul goes to heaven.  In both cases, the individuals who have died have been worthy people; Duncan was a king proven to be prosperous, and the deceased was a human who lived a faithful life.  After both of these virtuous individuals have died, though, sorrowful events in nature follow their death.  The death of Duncan was met with unnatural interactions of day versus night, prey versus predator, and animals versus their own species; the death of the deceased was met with an unnatural rain that may seem to only come from the heavens.