Page:Stories as a mode of thinking.djvu/8



To some it might appear that Witchcraft was not a subject worth thinking about seriously. But the Witchcraft itself is the temporary form given by certain ages to what is a permanent interest—the conception of a Supernatural World [other than the Supreme Being] capable of affecting (1) the conduct of those who believe in it, (2) or perhaps the actual course of events. It will be interesting to see how such a topic is embodied in a dramatic story of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare introduces into his dramas supernatural agents and phenomena of a kind not usually recognized at the present day: such as Ghosts and Witchcraft, &c.


 * The chief plays are Macbeth, Hamlet, Richard III, Julius Cæsar.—The two plays, The Tempest and Midsummer Night’s Dream, stand in a different class, as they are wholly divorced from reality.

The question arises. How is this supernatural element to be regarded by the student of Shakespeare, in accordance with sound principles of analysis?

1. Beware of the temptation to explain away the supernatural character of such portions of Shakespeare's plays out of zeal for the poet's 'rationality'—there may be scenes in which an apparition may be resolved into an hallucination (e.g. Macbeth 3.4, where no one sees the ghost except Macbeth)—but there are cases in which the apparitions are unquestionably objective and supernatural (e.g. Witches in Macbeth, Ghost in first act of Hamlet)—and a single example is sufficient to establish the assumption by Shakespeare of such supernatural phenomena for his dramatic world.

2. Shakespeare seems to assume for any story he presents whatever was believed in by the age to which the story belongs—but the poet is himself responsible for the interpretation underlying the story, in this case for the use made of the supernatural agency—thus the true 'rationalisation' enquires how the operation of the supernatural element in a play harmonises with reason and morals.

(1) The Beings of Evil have no power over man except by his own consent. 'Compare instruments of darkness' (1.3. 124).
 * Macbeth has long harboured treacherous designs on the crown [1.7.47-59: this must refer to a date anterior to the opening of the play]—connect with this his start and Banquo's surprise (1.3.51).