Superstitions And Ghosts In The Elizabethan Era

Superstition in William Shakespeare's Macbeth Throughout Elizabethan times, Witches and witchcraft were considered to be in existence. Seeing a large proportion of the female community being condemned to death, which involved either drowning, hanging or being burnt at the stake was quite plausible at this time. Such savage practices were urged on by macabre and fevered fantasy of the supernatural. In my essay I intend examining how Shakespeare deployed this obsession of superstition in Macbeth and how it is a crucial element of the play. To begin with, the tone of the paranormal theme is set right from the beginning when

When Shakespeare wrote his play, Macbeth in 1606 a large majority of people were interested in witchcraft. This is why Shakespeare made the witches and the witches’ prophecies play a major part in the storyline of the play. In the time of Macbeth witches were not thought to be supernatural beings themselves, but supposedly gained their powers by selling their souls to Satan. There can be little doubt that most of Shakespeare’s audience would have believed in witches, and for the purpose of the play, at least, Shakespeare also accepted their reality.

Superstition is considered a myth to most people, but for the ancient Romans, this was a historical belief. For the Romans, believing in superstition was a very ordinary thing. To them superstition explained the supernatural and strengthened their relationships with the gods (The Roman Empire). In the play Julius Caesar, the author William Shakespeare uses superstition repeatedly to affect the plot as well as the characters. Superstition in the play is used to foreshadow Caesar’s death, impact Brutus’ actions in the battlefield and to emphasize the Roman’s connection to superstition and fate.

The Elizabethans were a very superstitious bunch. In fact most of our silly seeming superstitions come from them. All of our superstitions from knocking on wood for good luck to black cats crossing your path being a bad omen. They also believed in everything from ghosts, to magic, to fairies, to the influence of the stars and planets alignment.

Superstition is a belief based on past experiences and not facts. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the Puritans were living in Salem, Massachusetts but are very superstitious. Part of the reason why is because they are avid believers in two different worlds: the natural world and the invisible world. There are also strong believers in the idea that God gives signs, good or bad, to express how he feels about them during certain times. For example, a natural disaster may signify that the Puritans are doing something wrong. The Puritans were superstitious because they are paranoid people.

They started to acquire more knowledge about witchcraft. Women were considered to be inferior to men and were the ones condemned for witchcraft the most. In the Elizabethan Era in England, there were 247 reported cases of women found guilty and only 23 men convicted. Many people considered men to be more powerful and not able to be affected. Also, they were not penalized as harshly as the convicted women. (4 none)

The notion of witchcraft has been around long before the witch trials in Early Modern Europe. Different cultures have different images and stereotypes on what a witch is and what “magical” abilities he or she may possess. Many people however, did not look at these “magical” men and women as bad until the Holy Roman Empire began to look negatively on those people who were different, and opposed the norm set by the elites. Driven by fear, those living under the control of the Holy Roman Empire would began to blame other people for diabolical actions, or malicious activities. Women and some men, were tortured and tested in cruel ways in attempt of finding evidence or gaining a confession that the accused was a witch. Laws about how which were persecuted

My family believes in the same superstition. Also, a man should be the first person to walk in the house, and you are supposed to eat greens and black eye peas to have good luck in the New Year. According to Chance (2014), Superstitious behavior is any behavior that occurs repeatedly even though it does not produce the reinforcers that maintain it (Chance 2014, p.184). This is why I agree with Skinner’s explanation of coincidental reinforcement. If you washed clothes on New Year’s and a person happens to passes, di you really wash them out of your life? They could have been secretly ill, and it was an coincident that it happen on New Year’s.

Life is full of superstition, whether you like it or not everybody has some sort of superstition in them. Some people don’t let some things go to their head like others do. Some people can get really stubborn if something suspicious happens. I am one of them people, it is really hard to get suspicion out of your head, it is one of them things that once you do it, it is hard to not have those thoughts in your head. And in the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn you will see the cause and effects of the use of suspicion. The main character, Huck Finn, used superstition as a means to keep him going in search of his true self and find interesting ways to live life the only way he knew.

Back then, there was a period called the dark ages this what when men and women hunted for witches known as the Salem Witch trials. This time will be forever remembered for the people in the town and the victims and family members of the horrifying time. European descents brought with many of them was the belief in witches and the devil. These beliefs that they believed in so much were from the teaching of the catholic church. During the seventeenth century, people were executed for being believed they were witches and followers of Satan. Most of these executions were performed in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Mainly all of the accused victims were women, many historians believe that the charges of witchcraft were a way to control the

Macbeth, by the playwrite William Shakespeare, is one of his most amazing tragdies and additionally one of his most well known plays. The play has picked up infamy (being great known for some awful quality or deed.) for the mischances that occurred all around its numerous stagings to such an extent that it is otherwise called "the Scottish play" to keep from needing to say its name. The spooky Lore surrounding the showing of the play is fitting given the events that take place throughout the plot.

Ghosts, witches, and witchcraft were a big concern during the seventeenth century. People in Shakespeare's time feared the unknown. They also associated witchcraft and ghosts to the devil. For centuries on in, some still show interest in ghosts and witchcraft because they are curious about what they don't know and what they can't see. In William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the three apparitions, or ghosts, in Act IV are summoned by the witches to trick Macbeth into believing that he is invincible. They are used as a "warning prophecy". Therefore, the apparitions are a symbolic representation of what shall happen to Macbeth (Part I, 346). Macbeth fails to realize that the ghosts are warning him; instead, he thinks the ghosts are prophesying that he will reign the kingdom forever. In A.W. Crawford's article, he explains how the apparitions are prophetic threats at Macbeth's kingship rather than his life (Part I, 345). The apparitions in Macbeth are used to not only foreshadow the outcome of Macbeth's

       Likewise, in the essays, "New Superstitions for Old" by Margaret Mead and "Superstitious Minds" by Letty Cottin Pogrebin discussed the superstitious beliefs possessed by individuals as well as the ritual practices that followed with these superstitions. Margaret Mead and Letty Cottin Pogrebin noted every

It is human nature to be intrigued by all things mystical and dangerous. We fear the unknown but seek it nonetheless out of greed. Most of Shakespeare’s works hold an element of the supernatural and the play Macbeth is no exception. In this play we see a contemporary morality that warns of the dangers of trafficking with instruments of darkness; the witches in the play prophesize of Macbeths future as king, and Macbeth blinded by his hunger for power fails to recognize that the witches prophecies are luring him to evil . In act 1 scène 3 we see the effect that the excitement of the prophecies has had on his imagination as he begins to contemplate murdering the king. As Macbeth gets closer to

My reaction to this article is very simple, spooked. Super natural stories have horrified me ever since I was a child. I find it very fascinating that every time Macbeth was preformed, something bad would happen. This article really got me thinking because Macbeth has some spooky elements such as death and the three witches. Could these elements be a reason for all the failed Macbeth plays? During the 1672 performance in Amsterdam, one actor accidentally stabbed another. This unfortunate act reminded me of Macbeth's killings. The Macbeth curse wasn't over, for another 135 the play would continue to arose chaos. This is no coincidence, I am very superstitious and believe that Macbeth is cursed. The article states that many theatre people agree,