Shakespeare's Use Of Fairies In Hamlet Research Paper

In his tragedies Shakespeare closely follows the expectations of his Elizabethan audience in constructing supernatural beings. For instance in Hamlet we get an insight into the popular superstitions of ghosts. Shakespeare incorporates all the generally accepted ideas about ghosts to convince and captivate his audience. The play begins with the appearance of Hamlet’s father’s ghost who is introduced on a cold, and dark night. The silence of the night is emphasised by the ghost’s inability to speak unless spoken to. When Hamlet addresses him to find the purpose of his appearance the ghost explains he has returned to earth because he has a solemn purpose i.e to avenge his death. The ghost conforms to popular superstition by demonstrating his fear

This opposes the Elizabethan superstitions of fairies as dreaded spirits who were associated with witches and helped them carry out evil tasks. Shakespeare however inverts this idea and presents fairies as miniature creatures who sit amongst acorn cups, sport butterfly wings and strive to assist humans in their affairs. Shakespeare’s invention of fairies was influenced by the ‘morphs, fairies, naiads and dryads of Greece’. (Stewart, The Supernatural in Shakespeare, pg. 97). This artistic creation of fairies has replaced the folklores interpretations of fairies and has been preserved in the ‘popular mind’. (Clark, Shakespeare and the Supernatural pg. 33). Although Shakespeare subverts the evilness of fairies into good he still complies with some of the commonly held superstitions of the fairies. For example Shakespeare’s fairies are invisible which enables Oberon to listen in conversations without being detected. The fairies are immortal which can be seen when Puck says ‘Lord what fools these mortals be’ (3.2) when referring to the four lovers lost in the Athenian

This can be seen when Puck boasts that he travels ‘swifter than an arrow from Tartar’s bow’ (3.2). Although immortal the fairies drink and eat like the mortals. They cannot be seen in the daylight and only appear at night. This is clear when Puck warns Oberon that they need to disappear because ‘yonder shine aurora’s harbinger’ (3.2). Hence it is evident that although Shakespeare has inverted the appearance and attitudes of his fairies they still share the same features attributed to the fairies of