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1. Shakespeare Review 54.3 (2018): 000-000
DOI: 10.17009/shakes.2018.54.3.009
Khaled Karam
(Suez University)
This paper aims at proving the applicability of the cognitive theory of
conceptual integration to the literary comprehension of the complex dramatic
composition of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It argues that the effective and
methodical conceptual integration of variable dramatic elements lies at the core
of Shakespeare’s creativity, adopting a cognitive approach to the appreciation of
Macbeth. The integration of cognitive science in literary criticism gives an
insight into how the mind functions in response to the literary experience,
offering new readings of classic texts and tackling them from a different
perspective. The paper analyzes some dramatic situations from Macbeth in
which the ultimate message and dramatic effect depend on a systematic,
creative conceptual integration of input data belonging to two conceptually
* This paper was presented in the International Shakespeare Conference at Cheongju, South
Korea 2017.

2. 2 Khaled Karam
different domains of knowledge, leading to a novel, merged output. Conceptual
blending or integration produces an emergent thematic significance or output
which can go beyond the limited meaning of the available, individual inputs.
Thus, blending is like weaving two threads into a new fabric which constitutes
a totally different shape.
Most of the studies of conceptual integration in literature are linguistically
oriented, but this paper expands the theoretical dimension of this theory by
applying it to the amalgamation of the dramatic elements and significances. It
tackles how ideas, characterization, setting, events and other elements combine
harmoniously and interact effectively. Thus, this paper stresses the centrality of
conceptual integration to Shakespeare’s dramatic composition and creativity.
Shakespeare uses conceptual integration to create a compound world which
gives meaning to the complexity of life and embodies the human nature as
represented by the tragic hero.
The essence of the blending operation is to construct a partial match
between two inputs and project data or features selectively from those input
spaces into a novel ‘blended’ mental space, which then dynamically develops a
new “emergent structure through composition, completion, and elaboration in
the blend” (Fauconnier and Turner Way 89). Blending or conceptual integration
is a cognitive theory developed by Mark Turner and Gilles Fauconnier who
analyze the nature of this capacity and regard it as “a basic mental operation
in language, art . . . and the simplest mental events in everyday life” (15). In
“Mechanism of creativity,” Turner and Fauconnier indicate that blending “is
indispensable to the poetics of literature because it is fundamental to the
poetics of mind” (417). Turner devotes much of The Literary Mind to
developing the concept of blending which grows out of his previous work with
Fauconnier. He explains that a blend marks the convergence zone of two
mental spaces, constituting a distinct third space that generates properties that

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A Critical Appraisal of Shakespeare’s Creative Conceptual Blending
of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
can be found in neither of the input spaces. Thus, the blended output “can
contain emergent properties not available in the input spaces” (Cook,
Introduction 88). Turner points out: “Meanings are not mental objects bounded
in conceptual places but rather complex operations of projection, binding,
linking, blending, and integration over multiple spaces” (Literary 57). Therefore,
he regards blending as “the origin of ideas” (Origin 2).
According to this theory, elements from diverse domains or fields of
experience are blended in an unconscious process which is assumed to be
convenient to everyday thought and language. Turner points out that most
blending is “covert and undetectable except on analysis” (Literary 64). Thus, all
blending is essentially invisible to consciousness (Origin 9). It is constantly at
work, as it comes automatically with any cognitively modern brain and “helps
us create mentally tractable concepts that we can use to understand ranges of
conception that would otherwise be intractable” (Turner, Forward vii). However,
the paper argues that the conscious practice of this cognitive operation,
especially in early literary experience, improves the reader’s perception of the
overall structure and understanding of how literary elements work
interdependently in order to contribute to the ultimate message. The preliminary
awareness of the mechanism of this conceptual operation provides the reader
with a helpful toolkit which enables him to investigate relations and trace how
variable dramatic threads are interwoven into an evolving structure and a novel
significance. In the perception of the read literary text, several mental
workspaces are activated; they do not function in isolation of each other. A
comprehensive understanding of the text requires an interconnecting and
collaborative process which maps mental spaces at work in the immediate
dramatic situation, establishes integral networks and uncovers relations which are
implicit and unapparent instantly. Thus, it can merge variable perceived input
data and concepts from different mental workspaces. This process which is
called conceptual integration or blending connects the abstract with the concrete,

4. 4 Khaled Karam
time with space and outer reality with inner reality. Consequently, the diverse
elements of the dramatic situation can make their own special kind of sense in
relation to each other. Blending creates logical relations and inferences of the
intended significance. It enables the reader to understand that the resultant
significance is the product of creative blending of variable elements brought
together intentionally by the playwright. Thus, blending is crucial to the reader’s
capacity of relating different literary elements to each other and connecting
concepts from different areas of cognition in order to form one coherent whole.
The form should be associated with the content. In text-play, the reader should
make a connection between movement and gestures as stated in the stage
directions and ideas aroused by the dialogic content, and all must be considered
in accordance with sound and light effects. Blending can also merge the abstract
and the concrete, the symbolic and the explicit, as well as the spatial and
temporal, coexisting in one literary work. Therefore, Bruce MacConachie regards
blending as “the cognitive basis of spectating” (18). Clifford Werier notes that
blending “sheds light on how meanings are structured” (27). Monika Fludernik
explains that this capacity reinforces larger intermental processes that “allow
humans to manipulate frames and become creative, discovering new
perspectives, combinations, and alternative solutions . . . blending provides us
with . . . the intellectual capacities of invention and analytical thinking” (161).
The capacity of conceptual blending is analyzed scientifically in terms of
integrating mental networks.
In its most basic form, a conceptual integration network consists of four
connected mental spaces: two partially matched input spaces, a generic
space constituted by structure common to the inputs, and the blended
space. The blended space is constructed through selective projection from
the inputs, pattern completion, and dynamic elaboration. The blend has
emergent dynamics. (Fauconnier and Turner, Conceptual 60)

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A Critical Appraisal of Shakespeare’s Creative Conceptual Blending
of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
Figure 2.1. Blended Space. Source. Fouconnier and Turner. The Way We Think.
The emergent structure can push the audience forward to explore further
meanings which may be completely different from the significance of the
independent inputs of the blend, “allowing for interpretations that are genuinely
insightful” (Fludernik 161).
According to the theory of conceptual integration, the blends, emergent in
such projections, are not mere associative combinations of separate elements but
essentially novel “imaginative achievements” (Fauconnier and Turner, Way 19).
Therefore, blending “is at the heart of imagination” (89). It establishes vital
relations between the two input spaces which depend on selection and
compression and then produces a new output. Thus, it is neither a mere
random connection nor an all-inclusive blending because the mind of the
recipient should find out in what way the input spaces are related, what is
meant by merging or juxtaposing them and how the output of the blend
logically and gradually evolves. M. Freeman argues that the complex blends of
a literary work suggest one way the architecture of literary creativity might be

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constructed (115). Nicholas Moschovakis indicates that “the theory of blends
emphasizes the innovative aspect of all cognitive activity” (128). These
reciprocal relations between cognitive capacities, such as blending and
creativity, reflect the organic nature of the mind in which several capacities
function simultaneously in mutual coordination.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth abounds with situations in which conceptual
integration plays a crucial role in establishing vital relations between diverse
dramatic elements and concepts. Shakespeare always employs significant blends
which are “useful for conceptualization across space, time, causation, and
agency, and, moreover, helps us see what is going on when we blend. He is
not only a great artist, a spectacularly creative blender; he is an exceptional
investigator of cognition” (Turner, Forward ix). This paper tackles some
prominent blends in Macbeth, central to the main message of the play,
composition of the plot and Shakespeare’s art of characterization. Reading the
scenes of the supernatural agency, the witches, and their encounter with
Macbeth in the light of conceptual integration theory provides the reader with a
deeper insight into the dramatic effect and significance of the play. These
scenes encompass variable dramatic elements, such as setting, kinesics, sound
and light effects, dialogue, characters and costumes, making their own kind of
sense in relation to each other. Shakespeare “saw particular artistic challenges
in supernatural material in itself”, as well as in integrating it functionally
within the dramatic context and in accordance with his contemporary
“conventions for representing it” (Gibbons 274). Although the witches have
brief appearance in Macbeth, their impact is perceptible in every corner of the
play. Stanely Wells argues that the episodes of the supernatural are “fully
integrated,” and their conjuring into the life of humans “compel[s] the
audience’s heightened attention, arousing expectation even beyond that which
the stage can provide” (277). The integration of the supernatural agencies into
the human life appeals to the culture of the people in the Elizabethan era,
believing that their interference into the human world signals disorder in the

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A Critical Appraisal of Shakespeare’s Creative Conceptual Blending
of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
cosmic structure and unpredictable danger. Kristen Poole explores a series of
cultural spaces that draws attention to interactions between the human and the
demonic, pointing out that Macbeth “stages the spatial confusion that results
from the irreconcilable presence of different models of the cosmos” manifesting
“a symptom of a world out of tune” (157-58). The opening of the play sets
the stage for this disarray in contextual conditions. The Captain notes:
“Shipwracking storms and direful thunders break,/So from that spring, whence
comfort seem’d to come,/Discomfort swells” (I.ii.25-8). Macbeth indicates the
confusion in heaven and earth; “the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds
suffer” (III.ii.16). In the reading of Macbeth, both the embodied and situated
cognitions are co-activated and interrelated revealing how an efficient
comprehension of the work emerges from the interplay between brain, body
and cultural environment. Situated cognition, activated by the surrounding
culture and environment, converges with the stimulation of embodied cognition
in which the mental workspaces process sensorimotor data received by the
neural system from the dramatic work. Thus, the reader should attempt to
meaningfully “combine the conflicting personal [conscious], suprapersonal
[cultural], and subpersonal [unconscious] aspects” of the text (Morgan). Thus,
conceptual integration is indispensable to manage these multiple sources of data
into a coherent combination.
The dramatic situation of the confrontation between the witches and
Macbeth represents the generic space which encompasses the two major
components of the blend, the supernatural agencies and the human beings,
generating a reaction in the audience’s mind and stimulating his cognitive
capacity of conceptual integration in order to translate their communication into
a meaningful blended structure which produces a dramatic significance. The
scenario of the supernatural world of the three witches wreaking vengeance on
the sailor’s wife for refusing to give one of them chestnuts is juxtaposed with
the world of humanity represented by Macbeth and Banquo. Here, the first
input space calls attention to the dreadful power of the witches as they are

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capable of blowing winds and controlling waves. Announcing their intention to
meet Macbeth upon the heath, the audience automatically projects the story of
the sailor and his wife onto the second input space, Macbeth’s life, anticipating
disastrous consequences due to the interference of the mischievous witches into
the human life. This reflects Shakespeare’s creative ability to bring together
incidents and episodes which are not originally related. The opening chant “fair
is foul and foul is fair” emphasizes this conceptual blend and suggests that
“the foul,” representing the demonic interference and evil influence of the
supernatural agencies, and “the fair,” indicating the good side of human nature,
are both blurred and mixed up, generating the tragic outcome of the play
(I.i.11). Thus, the foul haunts and inhabits the fair, leading to an impending
chaos and misconception. This blend also contributes to the major blend of the
supernatural and the human when the latter echoes the words of the former;
Macbeth says; “So foul and fair a day I have not seen” (1.iii.36). He indicates
that agreeable and disagreeable features coexist in this day which is stormy but
victorious. Here, the witches’ utterance is automatically mapped with Macbeth’s
inner thoughts and attitudes, establishing vital relations between the two input
spaces of the major blend. Through this blend, Shakespeare urges the reader to
recognize the fact that there are neither separate categories nor demarcating
lines between opposites such as good and evil, reality and illusion, and order
and chaos. By deconstructing the binary opposition, he emphasizes the blend
emerging from the inevitable infiltration of evil into the innate human nature.

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A Critical Appraisal of Shakespeare’s Creative Conceptual Blending
of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
Figure 3. The conceptual blend of the foul and the fair
In the major conceptual blend of the supernatural and the human, the two
input spaces undergo a process of mapping which reinforces some vital
relations between them, detected through Macbeth’s irresistible attraction to the
witches’ temptation and the concordance between the malevolent nature of the
supernatural agencies and the evil desires concealed within Macbeth’s mind.
These vital relations constructed between the two input spaces constitute
cause-effect chain of events leading to significant changes. The two meetings
between Macbeth and the witches are followed by crucial dramatic changes in
the character and events. The first meeting spurs his latent over-ambition, and
the second one provides him with a false sense of confidence turning him into
a more impulsively violent person. In other words, conceptual integration
functions here to interconnect the insinuations of the supernatural agency with
the hidden thoughts and desires of the human being. The witches’ prophecies
“hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor” and “hail Macbeth, that shalt be
king hereafter” (I.iii.47-48) are mapped with Macbeth’s inner desires and
thoughts which are spoken aloud and uttered in his soliloquys: “Than of
Cawdor:/ The greatest is behind” (I.iii.115-16) and:

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Macbeth [Aside] The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires,
Let not light see my black and deep desires, (I.iv.48-50)
Here, Macbeth almost echoes the prophecies of the witches emphasizing the
mapping between the two input spaces. The insinuations of the prophecies
ignite the stagnant desires which have been already hidden inside Macbeth. The
prophecies are also reechoed in Lady Macbeth’s words; “Glamis thou art, and
Cawdor, and shalt be/What thou art promised” (I.V.13-14), emphasizing the
gradual infiltration of the supernatural influence into the human life. Both the
influence of the witches and the temptation of Lady Macbeth integrate into an
irresistible, motivating force which overpowers Macbeth and conquers his mind.
Mapping between the two input spaces ties them together in reciprocal and
vital relations and leads to the projection of data from both into a third space,
the blend or the emergent output space, which constitutes and represents the
consequent events, tragic catastrophes and expected chaos, brought as a result
to the mind of the reader due to these suggestive relations and creative
merging. Moreover, the consequent blend allows the reader to infer the
disastrous change in Macbeth’s life and personality. This reflects Shakespeare’s
ability to forge conceptual integration network out of conflicting inputs in order
to create a novel significance in the blend. Michael Booth calls this ability
“Shakespeare’s recombinant imagination” (17). Shakespeare’s creative blend
allows the reader to perceive how gradually diverse elements dovetail, and
separating distances diminish.

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A Critical Appraisal of Shakespeare’s Creative Conceptual Blending
of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
Figure 2. The conceptual blend of the supernatural and the human in Macbeth.
The tragedy here resides in the confrontation and mapping between the two
contradictory input spaces of the blend echoed by Banquo’s speech; “That look
not like th’ inhabitants o’ the earth, / And yet are on ’t?” (I.iii.41-42). The
witches do not look like ordinary human beings, yet they walk in a physical
contour like humans. Here, the first input space represented by the witches is
brought in contact with the second input space, the humans, when the
supernatural is firstly transfigured and assimilated into a corporal entity, seen
by humans’ eyes walking on earth. Then, the two schematic frames are brought
on the same ground in the confrontation between the witches and Macbeth
from which the major issues of the play generate. The blend implies the
conflict between the evil and the good and the interaction between the
imaginary and the real or the abstract and the concrete. The blend is also
confirmed by Macbeth’s speech after the witches vanish. “Into the air, and
what seem’d corporal melted,/ As breath into the wind” (I.iii.81-82). Here, one
of the input spaces dissolves, but the consequent output of the blend retains a
far-reaching influence on the mind of the hero and the development of events,
generated by the previously established cause-effect vital relations between the
two input spaces. The blend shifts to Macbeth’s inner mind when he confuses

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the prophesies with his real life. Charles Lamb indicates this ominous
intermingling: “From the moment that their eyes first meet with Macbeth’s, he
is spell bound. That meeting sways his destiny” (163). Wells also notes the fall
of wall between the two worlds: “apparitions appear at Macbeth’s behest”, and
“the boundaries between the human and the spirit world are less clear” (277).
He is caught in the capricious aura resulting from the blend. Moreover, the
blend supplies the proper soil for the seeds of his ambition, lying under the
surface, to thrive and sprout. Macbeth’s vicious act of murdering his friend,
Banquo, emphasizes the conceptual integration between the witches’ insinuations
and Macbeth’s inner thoughts. Although some views disagree whether Duncan’s
murder is mainly caused by the witches’ evil temptation or by Macbeth’s
ambitious desires and free will, there is no doubt that Banquo’s murder is
exclusively motivated by the witches’ suggestions. The third prophecy addresses
Banquo saying: “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (I.iii.65). Later,
Macbeth replicates the same prophecy in different words: “Then prophet-like, /
They hailed him father to a line of kings. / Upon my head they placed a
fruitless crown” (III.i.60-62). This reveals to what extent the supernatural
agency has hunted the mind of the human. Macbeth here declares his
reluctance to give up his throne for the sake of Banquo’s descendants and
submissively acts in accordance with the dictates of third prophecy.
Consequently, he decides to kill Banquo and his son.
The creativity of Shakespeare also lies in his ability to integrate diverse
dramatic and theatrical elements conceptually and thematically to involve the
audience in the blend. The meeting between the two schematic frames of
knowledge, the supernatural and the human takes place on a desolate heath, so
the setting interfuses well with sound and light effects, creating an emergent
atmosphere of impending danger and horror. The presence of the witches is
accompanied by thunder and lightning. Even their appearance signals another
blend within the blend as they are dressed like women, but they have beards.
Their physical features and costumes combine both feminine and masculine

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A Critical Appraisal of Shakespeare’s Creative Conceptual Blending
of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
attributes, so they look sexless and weird. The merging of masculine and
feminine features into the projection of the supernatural agency generates a
blend, suggesting ambiguity and awesomeness, raising the supernatural persona
of the witches and indicates the fact that evil is sexless.
Figure 4. The blend of the feminine and the masculine into the supernatural transfiguration
In the blend, the second input space represented by the humans receives
prophecies from the first input space, the supernatural agency; as such
information is projected and transferred from one into the other reinforcing
mapping between them. One prophecy is instantly fulfilled when Ross enters to
announce the new title which Duncan has bestowed on Macbeth. Although the
witches, one of the input spaces, have physically disappeared from the scene,
their psychological influence is retained. Ross’s message brings the blend once
more to the scene because one of the prophecies comes true, so it is
reintegrated within the development of the actual life of the play, and the
imaginary is once more intermingled with the real. Consequently, Macbeth is
thunderstruck, and horrible thoughts arise into his mind as a result. The blend
is emphasized by the conversation between Macbeth and Banquo in a response

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to Ross’s message. Banquo wonders “What! Can the devil speak true?”
(I.iii.108); then, he answers: “oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/ The
instruments of darkness tell us truths” (I.iii.123-26). The “devil” and
“instruments of darkness” are a metaphorical transfiguration of the supernatural
input space that is mapped with the “true” and “truths” which represent the
second input space of actual human life. Macbeth ignores Banquo’s warning
and indulges in meditations upon the prophesies. This points out the fact that
the consequence of the conceptual integration has overwhelmingly infiltrated
Macbeth’s mind to the extent that he can no longer differentiate between reality
and fantasy. His mind has struggled to repress the thoughts of being a king,
but the prophecies make these horrid thoughts reemerge into his consciousness.
Thus, a blend develops within Macbeth’s mind drawing ties between the
imaginary (witches’ prophesy) and his secret inner yearnings. The prophecies
appeal to what lies hidden in his mind, so he is caught off guard and shaken
deeply as a result. His guilty start and absorption in the witches’ insinuations
indicate his readiness to submit to their temptation. When they vanish, he
exclaims “would they had stay’d!” (I.iii.82). He also wonders:
If good, why I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart Knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature?
Are less than horrible imaginings;
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man (I.iii.134-40).
Thus, the conceptual integration of the supernatural and the real proves to have
a strong psychological and emotional impact on Macbeth’s inner thoughts
because it revives his stifled, evil wishes as he confesses in the previous
soliloquy. Therefore, he surrenders to the irresistible attraction of the Witches’
prophecies. The idea of murdering the king to make the second prophesy come

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A Critical Appraisal of Shakespeare’s Creative Conceptual Blending
of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
true “shakes” his “single state of man.” Another significant example of
conceptual integration is represented in the dagger, the fatal tool. Two daggers
occupy Macbeth’s perception, one is simulated or visualized and the other is
tangible. The virtual dagger is a manifestation of inner evil thoughts implanted
in Macbeth’s mind by the insinuations of the witches and the temptation of
their human counterpart, Lady Macbeth. In order to be effective and able to
cause a tangible result, this virtual creation must incorporate into the real,
concrete tool which is controlled by Macbeth. Here, both the abstract virtual
dagger which Macbeth fantasizes and the real concrete dagger which he uses to
kill Duncan integrate into a single purpose, leading to the murderous act.
Figure 5. The blend of the abstract and the concrete
The mapping between the two input spaces [the messages of the
supernatural agencies and Macbeth’s buried desires] determines almost all his
coming actions as he mistakes the unreal for the real. This blend imposes one
input space on the other and brings about the downfall of the tragic hero as he
comes to perceive his destiny as an integrated product of the dictates of the
supernatural as well as his consequent decisions. As a result, he surrenders

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completely to the directives of the witches and their prophecies. He also
decides to meet them in order to get more information about his fate and take
decisions accordingly.
Macbeth: And betimes I will to the weird sisters.
More shall they speak. For now I am bent to know
By the worst means, the worst; for mine own good,
All causes shall give way. (III.iv.133-36)
Macbeth’s desire that the witches uncover “All causes” and his absolute
resignation points out the cause-effect vital relations which are intensely
mapped between the two input spaces as a result of the conceptual blend. The
blend of the supernatural and the human is elaborated farther and sustained
with the witches’ apparitions in Act IV. Their rituals and witchcraft around the
cauldron proves that they are agents of the devil, attached to a demonic cult
and sent to interfere in the human life and seduce people to their doom.
Hecate, their mistress, calls herself: “The close contriver of all harms” (III.v.7).
Moreover, the apparitions are themselves a manipulative blend of truth and
falsity as they give Macbeth a false sense of security in spite of the relative
truth instilled in them. Because of the creative conceptual blend in the
formulation of their words, Macbeth fails to interpret the apparitions precisely,
and as a result he cannot determine the demarcating line between illusion and
reality in these revelations. Here, the conceptual blending between the
supernatural and the human is detected through the mapping between the
witches’ apparition and Macbeth’s inner fears. The first witch conjures an
armed head and says to Macbeth “He [the armed head] knows thy thought”
(IV.i.67). The apparition warns Macbeth: “Macbeth: beware Macduff,” and
Macbeth replies: “Thou hast harped my fear aright” (IV.i.68-73). Consequently,
he decides to kill Macduff and his family. The sequence of events reflects the
cause-effect vital relations established between the two input spaces, leading to

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A Critical Appraisal of Shakespeare’s Creative Conceptual Blending
of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
a chain of changes in the character and plot. The functional integration of the
supernatural and the human is also embodied in the second apparition and
Macbeth’s reaction to it. The second apparition tells Macbeth to be “bloody,
bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn/ The power of man, for none of woman
born/ Shall harm Macbeth” (79-81). Macbeth takes these instructions for
granted, and his following actions are molded with his mistaken trust in them.
Macbeth feels falsely immune and becomes more bloody and rash as a result.
The second apparition’s words are echoed in his later words: “From this
moment,/ The very firstling of my heart shall be/ The firstling of my hand”
(IV.ii.145-47) and manifested in his subsequent actions. The integration of the
supernatural forces and revelations into Macbeth’s psyche is sustained to the
last moments of his life when he confirms his invincibility to Macduff, saying:
“I bear a charmed life which must not yield/ To one of woman born”
(V.viii.12-13). He remains confident in the supernatural forces till his downfall.
Accordingly, the conceptual integration between the supernatural world and
the actual human life of the play has significant dramatic functions. First, it
sets the tragic atmosphere of horror and disorder because of the incompatibility
of the two blended input spaces. Second, the play highlights the juxtaposition
of discordant scenarios, the supernatural and the human. The two input spaces
are compressed and conflated through integration to overcome the spatial and
temporal separation between the two diverse domains, naturalizing the oddity of
the interaction and rendering it convincing. Thus, the blend makes the
impossible possible by granting the supernatural and the abstract a concrete
representation and allowing them to intermingle with the actual world of the
human, so it is necessary for perceiving the intended dramatic effect which
signals the consequent disarray. The whole story of Macbeth is based on the
interfusion of the supernatural agency into the life of the human. Third, it
constitutes the major driving force of action which pushes the plot forward and
brings about the tragic end, so it is central to the scheme of this play. This

18. 18 Khaled Karam
conceptual integration reinforces the cause-effect vital relations between the two
input spaces of the human and the supernatural, generating changes in the
course of events and inside the main character. Fourth, the blend has a
far-reaching impact on the psychological state of the protagonist. The
integration between the diabolic prophecies and their connotations on the one
hand and Macbeth’s inner desires on the other as revealed through his
soliloquies brings the content of his unconsciousness to the surface, leading to
the emergent blend space which represents the image of the tragic hero with
his inner conflict, degenerate development and overbearing hamartia. Thus, the
development of the image of the tragic hero is due to the blend resulting from
merging some external factors represented by the supernatural agency and other
internal factors embodied in Macbeth’s character and innate nature. Fifth, it
generates an emotional reaction in the audience’s mind, arousing pity and fear.
Sixth, the blend raises the issue of fate versus freewill manifested into the
sailor’s and Macbeth’s stories. The witches are represented as an element of
fate as they can mislead and tempt Macbeth toward his doom, but they can
neither alter destiny nor control the character’s conduct unless he chooses to
submit to their insinuations. They push Macbeth toward his downfall only
because he is psychologically ready to listen to them. The effect of this
conceptual blend helps the reader to realize the shared responsibility for the
tragedy, dividing the blame between both Macbeth who acts out of free will
and the supernatural forces which manipulate and delude him. Last, literary
examples of creative blending are often impressive and memorable because
mapped input spaces become more durable in the memory. It is the integration
between the supernatural and the human that makes Macbeth unforgettable and
allows the mind to develop memory connections.
Key Words: Conceptual blending, cognitive capacity, workspaces, the supernatural

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of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
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20. 20 Khaled Karam
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21. 21
A Critical Appraisal of Shakespeare’s Creative Conceptual Blending
of the Supernatural and the Human in the Dramatic Composition of Macbeth
Abstract Khaled Karam
This paper applies the cognitive theory of conceptual integration to the
dramatic composition of Shakespeare’s Macbeth in which the abstract and the
concrete as well as the supernatural and the natural are blended in the mind of
the audience to generate a novel conceptual outcome and an enveloping unity,
suggesting a remarkable dramatic significance. The paper argues that an
understanding of the mechanism of conceptual blending is indispensable to the
recognition of the narrative composition and thematic content of the play. The
paper concludes that what makes the play memorable is Shakespeare’s creative
capacity of blending irreconcilable concepts and contradictory elements
conceptually in an insightful and coherent whole.
Khaled Karam ( )
Department of English Language and Literature
Faculty of Arts, Suez University
Madinat El Salam 1 Suez Road Suez Egypt
kh_karam@yahoo.com
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: 2018 8 11 ~ 8 28
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