Essay: Debate on Whether Ghosts Are Real in the Elizabethan Era: Analysis of “Macbeth” and “Hamlet”

Whether or not ghosts exist was a subject of great debate in the Elizabethan era. Elizabethan playwrights were very prevalent in the debate and their works were heavily inspired by the Roman tragedian Seneca, who brings us the concept of ghosts returning from the dead to call for revenge. The nature of such ghosts was widely debated in this time. Whether they are devices of the Devil to mislead Christians as was the Protestant belief or true spirits come from Purgatory to seek revenge and repentance as was the Catholic belief was the main topic of discussion at the time amongst Shakespeare and his contemporaries. We don’t definitively know what Shakespeare’s beliefs on ghosts were but he portrays this debate on the stage, most notably in Hamlet and Macbeth. In Macbeth, the ghost of Banquo appears only to Macbeth when he appears at the feast, making us question if the ghost is true or simply a vision of a man slipping into insanity. In Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet’s father comes to seek revenge, appearing multiple times within the play both to groups of multiple people and to Hamlet alone. Both of these scenarios draw from this debate and further the discussion of the reality of ghosts talked about often in the early modern era.
The ghost of Banquo in Macbeth seems indicative of the Protestant belief of ghosts — that they are sent from Hell to torture one person, visible to only that individual. During the feast in act three, scene four, the ghost of Banquo appears to distract Macbeth. The ghost doesn’t show himself to anyone but Macbeth, and doesn’t speak to him or anyone else at the gathering. This perplexes Macbeth and he attempts to draw Lady Macbeth’s attention to the ghost, saying “Prithee see there! Behold! Look!” (3.4.67-68) This turns out to be impossible. This seems to be a Protestant view of ghosts. After taking the burden of Banquo’s death completely upon himself — he excuses Lady Macbeth, saying “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck.” (3.2.45) — Macbeth is condemned to be the only one able to see his ghost. This gives us the interpretation of Banquo’s ghost as an entity from Hell sent to take Macbeth further away from the right path. The argument could also be made that this appearance of the ghost is an example of the Catholic belief of ghosts, as the ghost is sent to personally torment Macbeth. Banquo’s ghost could be trapped in Purgatory due to his sudden nature of his death and returning to the waking world to torment Macbeth for his death. Shakespeare portraying the ghost in this way, allowing it to be interpreted to either side of the early modern debate on ghosts, allows discussion to develop and can lead the audience to view Macbeth differently depending upon their personal belief of what ghosts are.
In the current era, this moment is still the subject of the same debate. Directors of productions of Macbeth have two choices to make in the staging of this scene: to have the actor playing Banquo come out to sit in the chair during the feast or to leave the chair empty. If the actor appears on stage, it allows the offstage audience to be a part of Macbeth’s struggle, to see the vision he can so plainly see while the onstage audience cannot, which implies that the ghost is true and sent up from Purgatory. If the director chooses to leave the chair empty, the offstage and onstage audiences have the same perspective and it gives us the more Protestant view of the ghost being a spectre sent from Hell to mislead Macbeth and spur on his madness.
Many scholars believe that Hamlet is a dramatisation of this debate, showing both sides of the coin and portraying ghosts in a way they weren’t normally portrayed at this time. Hamlet spends much of the debate wondering whether or not the ghost is of demonic origin, not taking the ghost simply at his word and questioning it, saying “The spirit that I have seen May be a dev’l, and the dev’l hath power To assume a pleasing shape.” (2.3.598-600) He acknowledges the Protestant idea, knowing that there’s every possibility the ghost might be tempting him to commit a sin so that he’ll go to Hell. The other men who see the ghost also are afraid of this possibility. When the ghost appears to Hamlet, he declares “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!” (1.4.41) This cry is like a prayer, giving the idea that Hamlet believes the ghost is demonic and sent to torment him, a Protestant belief. Horatio and Marcellus tell him not to follow. When Hamlet asks why he shouldn’t, Horatio says, “What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord? Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff that beetles o’er his base into the sea, And there assume some other horrible form Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason And draw you into madness?” (1.4.77-82) They’re all aware of the fact that this ghost could be demonic in origin and sent to lure Hamlet towards madness and/or suicide, an act that would send him to Hell if committed.
Another concept that Hamlet grapples with is the idea of who can and cannot see a ghost. In most plays of this era, ghosts are seen by only one person and assumed by the audience to be visions or things sent to torment that individual character, as is the general belief for Protestants. In Hamlet, though, the ghost of Hamlet’s father is seen by multiple people other than Hamlet himself. This shows that the ghost cannot be just a vision Hamlet is having as there are other people who see the ghost. This aligns with the Catholic belief of a ghost returning from Purgatory. It also lets the audience know that this spectre cannot be a psychological projection and must be real. Later in the play, however, Hamlet is the only one to see the ghost. In the closet scene, Hamlet is staring at what he believes is the ghost and Gertrude says, “You do bend your eye on vacancy.” (3.4.117) Despite the ghost appearing and speaking, Gertrude cannot see it. This goes along with the Protestant idea of a ghost being sent to torment a single person. The ghost himself says that he is “…confin’d to fast in fires, Til the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purg’d away.” (1.5.11-13) His description sounds like a ghost that has returned from Purgatory.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare takes the revenge tradition common in this period