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Ghosts in the Elizabethan Era: Contextual Influences (Historical Period…
Ghosts in the Elizabethan Era: Contextual Influences
Theological Understanding
Theological debate amongst Shakespeare'd contemporaries
Protestant V Roman Catholic
Demonic messengers V role of purgatory
Banquo's ghost is a dramatic use of an abstract point of theology
Historical Period
Period of violence
Unnatural deaths
Execution
Tower of London/castles
Elizabethan Culture
Context
Period of time where every aspect of life was based on social order
Classes
Lowest: Labourers
Highest: Monarchs, Queen Elizabeth I
A violent era
Queen Elizabeth saw the executions of many men and women
Ghosts
Period saw an interest in ghosts
Said to have died in terrible and violent circumstances
The soul of a dead person who is said to appear to the living in bodily likeness at a place associated with his life
Victims of a murder but come with different purposes
Reminder of morality
Premature deaths
Awareness of classical Roman sources
The dead return from Hades in Roman literature + theatre
Identified by appearance, not name
Chain of Being
Symbolised the broken "natural order" as ordained by God
Between angels and humans
Symbol of the evil realm
Dramatic Function
Uses
To represent the burden of the crime
Reinforcing role of a conscience, with bad deeds returning to haunt us
Revenge tradition
To create horror
Use of animal blood
To portray psychological torment of character