Fairies, Withes, and Ghosts, Oh My!
Fairies, Withes, and Ghosts, Oh My!
Shakespeare’s Use of the Supernatural
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! (Macbeth, I.v. 88095)
Man has long desired to peer behind the veil of human existence and understand the supernatural. There may have been no greater period for this obsession than during the Renaissance, and there was no more influential literary influence during this period than William Shakespeare. This essay will explore the otherworldly beliefs of Shakespeare, and discuss the representation of fairies, witches, and ghosts in some of his greatest works. During the 16th century, faith in the Catholic Church began to erode. After the enormous loss of life from the Black Plague, men and women from all socioeconomic backgrounds began to question the existence, or at least the motivations of, the Almighty. Inventions such as the printing press also allowed the circulation of protestant views, questioning the motivations of the Church. In larger cities, and in educated and philosophical circles, the seeds for Reformation were already taking hold, but it would be many years before the emboldened reformist ideas would become a revolution, influencing smaller cities like Shakespeare’s Stratford-on-Avon. Because Shakespeare was an impersonal writer and imparted few of his personal beliefs into his works, it can be difficult to directly implicate his thoughts through the words and actions of his characters. However, taking his works as a whole, and figuring in his cultural heritage, it can be assumed that like others of his race, gender, and geographic assignment, Shakespeare was either a superstitious man, or at least played to the beliefs of his audience. Specifically, it can be argued that Shakespeare always placed the supernatural disbelievers on the wrong side of the argument. In Henry IV, the skeptic Hotspur doubts the ability of
Shakespeare’s Use of the Supernatural
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! (Macbeth, I.v. 88095)
Man has long desired to peer behind the veil of human existence and understand the supernatural. There may have been no greater period for this obsession than during the Renaissance, and there was no more influential literary influence during this period than William Shakespeare. This essay will explore the otherworldly beliefs of Shakespeare, and discuss the representation of fairies, witches, and ghosts in some of his greatest works. During the 16th century, faith in the Catholic Church began to erode. After the enormous loss of life from the Black Plague, men and women from all socioeconomic backgrounds began to question the existence, or at least the motivations of, the Almighty. Inventions such as the printing press also allowed the circulation of protestant views, questioning the motivations of the Church. In larger cities, and in educated and philosophical circles, the seeds for Reformation were already taking hold, but it would be many years before the emboldened reformist ideas would become a revolution, influencing smaller cities like Shakespeare’s Stratford-on-Avon. Because Shakespeare was an impersonal writer and imparted few of his personal beliefs into his works, it can be difficult to directly implicate his thoughts through the words and actions of his characters. However, taking his works as a whole, and figuring in his cultural heritage, it can be assumed that like others of his race, gender, and geographic assignment, Shakespeare was either a superstitious man, or at least played to the beliefs of his audience. Specifically, it can be argued that Shakespeare always placed the supernatural disbelievers on the wrong side of the argument. In Henry IV, the skeptic Hotspur doubts the ability of
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