Supernatural In Hamlet Research Paper

---1592, time of the plague, witches being burned and hanged and a big belief in evil spirits, but he never goes against what the monarchy of the time believes? In searching for what to write on for the topic of “supernatural,” we figured that, since this is an English class, it would be interesting to write about the use of supernatural in literature. One of the greatest examples of this would be the plays and writings of William Shakespeare. Of all of these works, there are hundreds of allusions to the supernatural and mythology. We, though, are only going to focus on a few. A few great examples of the use of the supernatural in Shakespeare’s writings include Richard III, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Before telling you about

In this play, the key element is the supernatural force of the ghost of King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father. He makes his entrance right from the beginning, appearing before the watchmen of the castle and then Horatio, a friend of Hamlet’s. Once Hamlet is brought to the apparition, the ghost begins to speak and claims that he is indeed the ghost of the king and that he wants Hamlet to seek revenge on Claudius, his brother, who murdered him to take the throne and marry his widow, Gertrude. This becomes the guiding force behind Hamlet’s actions throughout the play and is often seen as a sense of foreshadowing for an ominous future for Denmark. Instead of just believing what his father’s ghost tells him, Hamlet goes out of his way to try to prove his uncle’s guilt before taking any course of action. Hamlet eventually turns into a bit of a madman, stabbing Polonius, the father of Ophelia, his potential wife. This causes her descent into madness and eventual suicide. The play is very dark and shows Hamlet as having a deep obsession with death and suicide. The apparition in this play is once again a type of revenge spirit, like we saw in Richard III, and seems to only be seen by those who are innocent- meaning, his own wife, Gertrude, was unable to see the ghost because of her possible involvement in his death. Once again, many dark themes within this play that seems to

They were written during a time when the population’s fascination of the supernatural seemed to be at its peak. Shakespeare also uses witchcraft and witches, spirits raisings and demons and the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods in many of his other works, and even angels appear in Henry VIII. The ghosts in his stories tend to be dignified presences, not the type to rattle chains and screech at you, and are often those of the betrayed and murdered. All of these supernatural aspects seem to have a reason for being in the play and tend to spur the storyline on.

Works Cited

Alchin, L.K. William Shakespeare info (the Complete Works online). 2005.

Kolb, Laura. “Playing with Demons: Interrogating the Supernatural in Jacobean Drama.” Forum for Modern Language Studies. Oxford University Press, 2007.

Lemercier, Sophie. “The Supernatural and the Representation of Justice in Shakespeare’s Theatre.” European Studies: A Journal of European Culture, History and Politics; Vol 17, Issue 1, p 105-116. 2001.

Smidt, Kristian. “Spirits, Ghosts, and Gods in Shakespeare.” English Studies Sep26, Vol. 77, Issue 5, p 422. 1996.

Stewart, Helen H. The Supernatural in Shakespeare. London: Kessinger Publishing, 2007.

Saenger, Michael. Personal Interview. 18 Oct 2010. IN-TEXT NOTE: