GHOST, SPIR ITS AND PHANTOMS

By: Kelly Colbert

Period 4

WHAT ARE THEY?

a G h o s t is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living.

Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, life-like visions.

ANIMISM

A n i m i s m refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle.

Animism encompasses the beliefs that there is n o s e p a r a t i o n between the spiritual and physical world, and souls exist, not only in humans, but also in all other animals, plants, rocks, geographic features or other entities of the natural environment

A lot of people believed that it was the spirit of there n e w l y d e a d relative that hadn't crossed over to the other side.

DEMONS VS. SPIRITS

Ghosts reported in medieval Europe tended to fall into t w o c a t e g o r i e s : the souls of the dead, or demons.

Demonic ghosts were those which existed only to t o r m e n t or tempt the living.

Souls that returned to earth had a purpose and they were sent to a place known as P u r g a t o r y.Purgatory is the condition of purification or temporary punishment by which those who die in a state of grace are believed to be made ready for Heaven .

KARMAMost ghosts were souls assigned to Purgatory,

c o n d e m n e d for a specific period to fix whatever they did wrong when they were alive.

There punishment was normally re l a t e d t o t h e re s i n .

For example, the ghost of a man who had been abusive to his servants was condemned to tear off and swallow bits of his own tongue.

STORIES OF THE GHOST

In the Shakespeare’s time, ghost were an important part of my plays and stories.

In Shakespeare’s plays specifically, they represented a catalyst for action, an insight into characters, and augments the impact of many key scenes.

In Macbeth, not only does a ghost appear but a floating dagger, witches, and prophetic apparitions make appearances.

The role of the supernatural is very important in Macbeth.

MACBETH“Why, what care I ? If thou canst nod, speak too, If charnel-houses, and

our graves, must send Those that we bury, back, our monuments Shall be the maws of kites. ” – M a c b e t h

"Monuments," like "charnel-houses" and "graves," are the places where the dead belong. "Kites" are hawks, and their "maws" are their entire eating apparatuses like beaks, gullets, and stomachs. An ancient fear was that a person who was not properly buried would have his bones picked clean by birds. Macbeth thinks that the dead ought to stay where they belong; if the graves are going to send the bodies back, the kites, with their maws full of human flesh, are going to be the only real graves. In short, Macbeth is describing the horror that he himself has created.

THE ALLUSIONI think Shakespeare is trying to show to Macbeth the physical manifestation of what he really did. To emphasize the fact that he killed Banquo for his own selfish gain.

Its important because it makes Macbeth question his actions and makes him nervous about what going to happen.

CITATIONShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost#Middle_Ages

http://www.field-of-themes.com/shakespeare/essays/Esupernatural.htm

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth_3_4.html

http://cruisegurl0.tripod.com/id4.html

http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/S34.html