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Supernatural Elements in Shakespeare

In this media collection, students explore the use of supernatural elements within William Shakespeare’s plays, focusing particularly on Macbeth, Hamlet, and The Tempest. Students examine supernatural beliefs during the 16th and 17th centuries, and they also identify how supernatural elements drive the plot of many of Shakespeare’s plays.

This video segment introduces the idea that in Shakespeare’s time many people believed in the existence of supernatural elements and witchcraft. The dominant fear of kings and queens in the 16th and 17th centuries was that the Antichrist, through the agency of the Pope, would topple the English monarchy.

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This segment explores the source of Macbeth’s evil. It questions whether the witches merely predict what is going to happen or whether they influence Macbeth’s actions – is Macbeth himself evil, or are external, supernatural forces making him commit evil acts?

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This segment from Shakespeare Uncovered explores the relationship between the spirit and human worlds in Elizabethan England. The video also discusses how an audience watching Hamlet during Shakespeare’s time would have reacted differently to the ghost of Hamlet than audiences today.

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This segment describes the character Prospero and highlights the way he uses magic in The Tempest. The video introduces the fact that the play hinges on the moral question of whether or not Prospero will seek revenge against the people who have hurt him, given his human desire for vengeance and his supernatural powers.

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This video segment introduces the character of Ariel from The Tempest. The segment discusses Ariel’s relationship with Prospero and his role in Prospero’s plan. The video also notes the limitations of Ariel’s powers. While he can bring together Miranda and Ferdinand, he cannot make them fall in love.

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In this video segment, historian Justin Champion discusses the study and practice of magic in the 17th century – magic was not inherently bad, but if it was handled improperly, it could be used for evil. The segment notes the timeless question of how exceptional power should be used, and the responsibility Prospero has because of his powers.

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This video segment discusses the turning point of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, when the spirit Ariel urges Prospero to practice forgiveness; as a result, he decides to surrender his magical powers. The segment features the famous scene in which Prospero vows to drown his magical book, and host Trevor Nunn discusses his belief that The Tempest was Shakespeare’s farewell to the theater.

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This video segment introduces the idea that in Shakespeare’s time many people believed in the existence of supernatural elements and witchcraft. The dominant fear of kings and queens in the 16th and 17th centuries was that the Antichrist, through the agency of the Pope, would topple the English monarchy.

“THE fearefull aboundinge at this time in this countrie, of these detestable slaues of the Deuill, the Witches or enchaunters, hath moved me (beloued reader) to dispatch in post, this following treatise of mine, not in any wise (as I protest) to serue for a shew of my learning & ingine, but onely (mooued of conscience) to preasse / thereby, so farre as I can, to resolue the doubting harts of many; both that such assaultes of Sathan are most certainly practized, & that the instrumentes thereof, merits most severly to be punished: against the damnable opinions of two principally in our age, wherof the one called SCOT an Englishman, is not ashamed in publike print to deny, that ther can be such a thing as Witch-craft…”

So begins the preface of Daemonologie, an exposition written by King James I of England, stating his belief in the existence of supernatural forces. Shakespeare is believed to have drawn from Daemonologie as well as another book of the era, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, when he wrote Macbeth, which is well-known for its incorporation of supernatural elements.

During the Jacobean era when King James I and William Shakespeare lived, belief in ghosts, witches, and other supernatural powers was common. People believed to be witches were thought to have “familiars,” or demonic servants that took the form of animals, often pets such cats, dogs or frogs. Witches were purportedly able to fly, control the winds, and cast spells that sickened animals and withered crops. Unexplained illnesses were sometimes diagnosed by doctors as “unnatural,” or caused by witchcraft. Belief in the supernatural was so strong that many witch trials were held and conviction often merited a death sentence.

In 1597, King James authored Daemonologie to, as is stated in the preface, “resolve the doubting hearts of many…that such assaults of Satan are most certainly practiced.” Daemonologie consists of three sections and unfolds in the form of a dialogue between two characters. One, Epistemon, believes in witchcraft, while the other, Philomathes, is doubtful. Each section discusses a different type of sorcery, including witchcraft, spirits and magic. Over the course of the exposition, Epistemon successfully convinces Philomathes of the existence of supernatural elements.

Scholars believe King James’s personal interest in witch-hunting piqued after severe storms threatened the safety of his ship as he and his wife were traveling by sea from Denmark. The king was certain witches had conjured the storm, and many scholars believe the incident was the king’s impetus for his heightened interest in witch-hunting.

Not everyone who lived during the Elizabethan era believed in the existence of the supernatural, and Daemonologie may have partly been written in response to skeptics of the time. Prior to the publication of Daemonologie, Reginald Scot in 1584 authored The Discoverie of Witchcraft, which condemned the practice of witch hunting. Scot was skeptical of witchcraft and he argued it was often poor, lonely elderly women who were accused of being witches. When James was crowned King of England in 1603, he mandated all copies of Scot’s book be burned.

1. According to the video segments, how were supernatural elements - magic, ghosts, witches, etc. - viewed differently during Shakespeare’s time? How might those views have affected how the audience watched/reacted to the plays? Support your answers using evidence from the video segments.

2. Is all witchcraft and sorcery “bad?” Support your assertion with evidence from the video segments.

3. How do supernatural elements propel the plot of many of Shakespeare’s plays? Support your assertion with evidence from the video.

4. How would you portray Ariel in The Tempest and the Ghost in Hamlet if you were directing these plays?

1. Put students in groups of four and give each group the opening scene from Macbeth (1.1.1-13). Have them rehearse the scene for about 10 minutes with one member providing sound effects. They should consider the following questions when preparing the scene:

How do the witches enter the stage? How do they leave?

Are they all alike or is each one different?

How are they dressed?

Are they male or female?

What props might they be carrying?

When they are ready, have each group perform the scene.

2. Show several versions of Macbeth 1.1 and have students discuss the choices each director has made.

3. Ask the students how they would portray Ariel or the Ghost in Hamlet if they were directing the play for the stage. Would they do it differently for a film?

Funder:Shakespeare Uncovered is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the generous support of the project’s lead foundation sponsor, the Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation. Major funding is also provided by Rosalind P. Walter, The Polonsky Foundation, Virginia and Dana Randt, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, and PBS.