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www.ijcrt.org © 2020 IJCRT | Volume 8, Issue 12 December 2020 | ISSN: 2320-2882
IJCRT2012060 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 614
GHOSTS IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS
Analytical study
Prof..Dr. Mohammed Farooq Salih Albadri, Dr. Bisan Khalid Ali Mustafa
Department of Doctrine, The Iraqia University, College of Islamic Sciences, Baghdad,Iraq.
Department of Islamic Education, The Iraqia University, College of Education for women, , Baghdad,Iraq.
Abstract: No one can deny that William Shakespeare is one of the best playwrights in the history of world literature, if not the
best of them. This study will deal with one of the important plays related to Shakespeare, he was active in writing tragic plays
during the era of Queen Elizabeth.The study first seeks to conduct an analytical study for the appearances of the ghost characters
in the plays of Shakespeare,ghosts have appeared in five plays: ( Hamlet, Julius caesar, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Richard 3).
The first four plays had four ghosts appearances , they are ( Hamlet’s father, Banquo, Julio Cesar, Valentine) .
The study covered the appearance of the ghost character in each of them, commented on the most important observations of
the scene of the appearance of ghosts in each of these four plays, and gave an overview of the common characteristics.
Thinking of ghosts in most other plays in all, Shakespeare helps one to take into account current ghost perceptions as these
plays are produced. When remembering how these scenes have happened over the years, one can also read how perceptions
about fantasies have evolved over time.
Index Terms – Ghosts,Shakespeare,English Literature, Playwrights .
I. INTRODUCTION
William shakespeare is a genius playwright and has many works that have contributed to the enrichment of English
literature, and one of his most important works is the plays, which later became an important source for television dramas, if these
plays can be transformed into works that are displayed on the screen so that audiences can see them.
The plays of shakespeare are generally split into three main categories: tragedy, history, and comedy, in this study, we will
explore the tragedy that has fantasies there.
The ghosts were almost too long as the ghost stories were part of western drama, after all, Shakespeare emulated greek
and Roman plays frequently reference ghosts so alarm from the top and bottom of the world is something of a mess, the ghost is a
vengeance tragedy, much of the time, like, shakespeare's Hamlet, Julius caesar Shakespeare's Macbeth, and Romeo& Joliet , we
will address certain plays and comment on the ghost role of all of them.
In five William shakespeare's plays, ghosts emerge, a ghost is an assassin in all but one of the plays and several other
dramas of jacobean and elizabethan and wants someone to avenge their deaths, their job is to alert the play hero to retaliate on their
kills and/or torment their killers.
II. DEFINITION OF THE GHOST CHARACTER
A ghost character is a definition for an inadvertent mistake in writing committed in the bibliographic or academic study
of dramatic literary material. It is a character who is alluded to on the stage, but who does little and seems to be purposeless.
As(Smidt, Kristian,1980)(16)defined it, they are "presented in stage directions or barely discussed in dialogue who have no
speaking parts and do not otherwise manifest their presence" or are briefly mentioned in dialogue. They are protagonists.
III. GHOSTS IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS
As the years have gone, the changing understanding of the existence of Shakespeare's ghost has changed. As (Owen
Davies,1969)(13) in his ghost social history, many spiritualists read the presence of ghosts in Shakespeare in the late 19th century
as manifestations of physical, rational beings , a reading that went counter to previous Victorian ideas that the ghosts of
Shakespeare were supposed to be nothing more than 'hallucinations or abstract mental projections reflecting physical projections, In
five Shakespearean plays, ghosts appear: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Richard the Last, Romeo and Joliet, and Macbeth.
The next lines, will deal with four ghost characters from these plays, and the common denominator between these plays is
that a ghost is a killed person in all but one of those plays, as well as in other Jacobean and Elizabethan dramas, who wants
someone to avenge their murders. Their job is to warn the hero of the game to avenge their killings, or to haunt their killers.
In each scene of the ghost in the plays, we are going to discuss and comment on it, giving the reader the chance to enjoy
the plays to share with him the significance of showing the ghost character by Shakespeare in his plays. It will become clear that we
are in front of a great writer. And let's start with the ghost of Hamlet's father.

IV. THE GHOST OFHAMLET'S FATHER
The ghost of Hamlet's assassinated father in William Shakespeare’s The Surreal History of Hamlet, Denmark's Prince, is
one of the most familiar spirits of English literature, not just in Shakespeare's plays. In Hamlet, the ghost requests that Prince
Hamlet examine his "murder most foul" and take vengeance on King Claudius, his subverting brother (Hamlet's uncle). Ghosts
were also portrayed in the garb of the living and sometimes in armor in the Shakespeare's time theatre, as in the ghost of the father
of Hamlet. Armor, being out-of-date at the time of the Revival, offered a sense of sophistication to the stage ghost.
Shakespeare is then supposed to use the ghost character to provide the kind of suspense and terror needed in his play since
this kind of ghost might convey the necessary spookiness satisfactorily at this period. (Ann Jones & Peter Stallybrass,2000)(2)
Let’s start with commenting on Act 1, Scene 1
“Bernardo, It was about to speak when the cock crew” (Elizabeth Seely &ken Elliot,1996)(8)
When the soldiers and Horatio saw the ghost, it went out in the play just on hearing the rooster crowed.
The ghost seems to the soldiers, even Horatio, who first didn't believe his presence, then disappears when he hears the
rooster crowing. The ghost was going to let Hamlet know of his father's murderer, but then when he realized the rooster crowing,
he fled.
The above scene reveals William Shakespeare's creativity in attempting to present a true scene linked to beliefs and
spiritual legacy, and the reality is that the rooster crumbs at the start of the day and the cultural heritage of ghosts come only at
dark, which Horatio demonstrates as an example:I’ve heard that the roosterawakens the god of the day with its trumpetlikecrowing,
and makes all wandering ghosts,wherever they are, hurry back to their hidingplaces.And here also shows us the extent of
Shakespeare's culture and awareness of different cultures, in the Western heritage, traditional legends dictates that the rooster crows
all up all night before Christmas even though no ghost walks and the night is clear.
As a part of the Islamic heritage of one of Sunni Islam's six biblical hadith says: "When the cocks crow, ask for Allah's
forgiveness because this cock was seeing an angel". (Sahih Muslim ,Hadith 112)(15). Shakespeare in this scene depicts that the
ghost disappears once he hears the sound of the rooster crowing, meaning that the ghost goes away when it sees the angel, I think
this was not a vain thing, but a sign of Shakespeare’sgenuinenes and his awareness of Islamic culture, Indeed , we are in front of a
great writer.In their book “Shakespeare’s ghosts live", (Annekatrin Puhle & Adrian Parker, 2017,p61)(1) state that quotation,
“Ghost: I am thy father’s spirit, banished to the night for a certain period; and to the day subjected to fasts; until the foul sins of my
nature are burned up and purged away. I cannot, however, tell the mysteries of my prison, a story I might unravel which would
harm your soul's lightest words.”(Hamlet. 1600-1. Act 1, scene 5).
Let us start with the previous quotation about Hamlet's father's ghost. It demonstrates how sixteenth-century theology
affected the shape and ramblings of the spirit, Following the Henry VIII split with Rome, the Catholic queen Mary reigned briefly,
then Protestant Queen Elizabeth, daughter of Henry, and then King James of Scotland.
England changed from Catholicism to Protestantism, and then back to Protestantism, because of monarchy beliefs.
Catholics believed that ghosts were either the devil's works or in some cases the angels’. In special cases where God had the desire
to encourage the ghost to leave purgatory, they would be real ghosts only then. The preference was also strict for Protestants: the
dreams were declared to be the work of evils or distracted minds.
And then in another scene where the ghost says his name, it becomes clear from the religious context that Hamlet's father's
ghost "layaway" out of the flames of purgatory. While purgatory was excluded from the Protestant Queen Elisabeth, that was at the
time in which Hamlet was published, it would also have been for Shakespeare to cope with purgatory by permitting the ghost to
leave to spread the valuable message. Everyone is understood to have the Catholic faith in purgatory, and to have no faith in
Purgatory). (Daniel h Ludlow, 1992) (7)
All of these aspects are shown by Shakespeare in his play, other people say that Hamlet's superego is manifested by the ghost.
(Ernest Jones,1949)(9) in his book Hamlet and Oedipus, assumed that Hamlet had an unfinished complex of Oedipus that would
be unable to bring himself to vengeance since his uncle Claudius accomplished the very goals that Hamlet had secretly wanted -
himself - to his dad to be killed and marry his mom. Hamlet could also have created a divine superego to spur him to revenge in the
face of his remorse and lack of moral dignity.
Freud describes the superego as its "incapacitated feeling of guilt" present in most of the neuroses; it is manifested by the
violation of one's self and a harsh sense of morality. Freud considers the agency the ego in the ideal case or super-ego, particularly
liable for these feelings. (Jean Quinodoz,2004)(11)
In fact, (from the point of view of jones) because Hamlet becomes too morally dishonest to be a successful avenger for his
dad, Hamlet envisions the ghost to help validate his own vengeance. This is just a way, of course, to view the ghost and Hamlet as a
whole.
The characters of Shakespeare in his plays have no accurate or incorrect perception, but he reveals Shakespeare's
brilliance that his ghostly works influenced one of the contemporary psychology designers, 400 years after he died.
Anything else that it is the Hamlet ghost is an illustration of the previous theatrical genre known as a vengeance tragedy,
calls the protagonist into action, and deals with a genre that begins to disappear. The ghosts always are coming back, but when they
arrive, they are always still laggard – they're ghosts and they bear their spell only when they return, returning, authority.
The Ghost arrives to call Hamlet to a future full of drama that is no longer current.
the play of "Hamlet" is put on another, which is similarly undetermined and undefined frontier as a play, while Hamlet is a
character in the development of the modern topic. There is not only a generational disagreement between the Ghost and Hamlet but
also a genre dispute. (Marjorie Garber,1987)(12)
V. THE GHOST IN JULIUS CAESAR
A very surprisingly, whenever our writer Shakespeare was engrossed in the scripting of Julius Caesar - a play that is
very popular known and perfectly done, is closely connected to Hamlet in the field of the timeline of events and structure - the
great estranging moments in the reimagining of the ghost in "Hamlet" seemingly happened . How many months or years
Shakespeare has spent with the play of Julius Caesar and turned his full hand towards his next tragedy is unknown. (Arthur f
Kinney,2002)(4).

In Julius Caesar, when Brutus doesn't realize if the fantasy is an angel, an illusion, or a demon, it's clear that a ghost is an Agent
of the devil, who still appears to be behind a fear many people have today.
“ Brutus: How will this taper burns!
Ha, who arrives here?
- Who is going here? I believe that this monstrous apparition is shaped by the vulnerability of my eyes.
- Are you anything It comes over me. Are you a god, an angel, or a demon that glared at my blood and hair? Tell me
what thou art.”(Julius Caesar. 1599. Act 4, scene 3)
The value of defending against the harmful influences of ghosts, divinity, and evil spirits, that many people still have
nowadays.
Brutus addresses the ghost, saying, " Speak to me what thou art ."
and the answer is: "Thy evil spirit, Brutus".
The response to Thy evil spirit" is especially profound. This is that because the ghost was generated by Brutus' own
mind, the spirit has Brutus' liberty. The entity subsequently predicts how they will meet at Philippa, in which Brutus is going to
die there.
VI. THE GHOST IN MACBETH (BANQUO).
Sometimes in William Shakespeare's plays, an audience that announced was clearly articulated while the Revival was
advancing, superstition among Elizabethan Londoners was still rampant and a belief in such matters as astrology was widely
held. (Ralph P. Boas & Barbara M. Hahna,1931)(14).
And This is what appeared in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth."Shakespeare included some ideas in his play that consumers
suspect in such as showing the three Witches scene that foretold Macbeth that he would become the King. Banquo and
Macbeth (both officers in the army of the king) are the events of the play, which together reaches the three witches, after the
Witches prophesy that Macbeth will rule, Banquo claims that he'll never be the king, but his offspring. (Shakespeare,
Macbeth. Act 1, Scene 1). Afterward, in his thirst for strength, Macbeth considers Banquo as a danger and has hired three
murderers to kill him; Fleance, Banquo's son, escapes. In the following scenes, Banquo's ghost comes back to Macbeth.
Once Macbeth visits the witches later in the story, they allowed him to see, along with eight of his ancestors, an apparition
of the assassinated Banquo, the scene has profound significance: King James, on the crown when Macbeth was released, was
assumed to be divided by nine centuries from Banquo. Shakespeare's words are therefore the clear endorsement of James'
claim to the throne on line and the very true fulfillment of Bankquo's prophecy that his sons are going to take the crown for
Shakespeare's day readers.(Williams, George Walton 1982)(9).According to (Crawford, A. W.,1924)(6),This presence is
profoundly distressing, too for Macbeth, who wishes to father a line of kings, not just for himself but also for the throne.The
second appearance of Banquo as a phantom at a banquet appears as a sign of Macbeth's consciousness coming back to plague
his thoughts, Banquo symbolically seems to prevail over death, as it occupies the seat of Macbeth during the festival, Shocked,
Macbeth chooses vocabulary fitting for the metaphor of usurpation, which he describes as "crowned" with wounds.As soon as
the sort of Banquo vanishes, Macbeth announces: "The spirit drains the manhood of Macbeth alongside his blood from his
cheeks.""Why, so; being gone, / I am a man again.”The banquet scene was also the subject of critique like the view of
Banquo's lineage. Critics also wondered why in this scene, not one but maybe two fantasies: Duncan and Banquo emerge.
Experts who contend that Duncan is at the banquet claim that Macbeth's Ghost lines can be similarly applied to the vanquished
king. "Thou canst not say I did it may mean, for example, Macbeth isn't the man killed by Banquo, or that Duncan, who slept
when Macbeth murdered him, couldn't appear to have seen his murderer. To add to the mystery, Macbeth can't be rightly told
of Banquo, who died recently, for example of thy bones are marrowless".(Furness, Horace 2007)(10).
The idea that a character faced at a victorious feast is not a warning of Shakespeare's demise and could come from the
feast of Belshazzar as described in the Bible.
The word "ghost at the feast" has become popular and is frequently used as a metaphor for a topic a person would rather
not think about or (with Macbeth's general plot) remember the distasteful past or the uncertain future of a person.
VII. THE GHOST IN ROMEO AND JULIET( VALENTINE) .
In another play of Shakespeare's, there is a ghost character called Valentine, in Romeo and Juliet, the first act of Act 2,
scene 2, Romeo supports the illiterary worker of the Montague by reading the listing of the Lord's Capulet guests , 'Mercutio and
his brother Valentine' is described as 'dozens of guests with their unidentified but mentioned daughters, wonders and nieces,
Mercutio frequently appeared on stage till his passing away in act 3, scene 1, but was almost as vital a character as juliet or
romeo, for his demise is the cornerstone of the plot's framework"; however, valentine was listed only once on the invitation's
page. the only moment a character is presented on stage is as one of the crowds in act 1, scene 5 of the feast, but if he is, there
isn’t much in the text that indicates the existence of the character. (Romeo and juliet, act 1, scene 2 ).
Though not listed as such in a stage direction, Joseph A. Porter suggests him to be a sort of ghost character" like those in
the works of William Shakespeare, because of his close relation with Mercutio that separates him from the other people
mentioned in the guest list, and because of a potential meaning greater than superficially obvious to the plot and characters,
Shakespeare's direct written source, Romeo and Juliet, was the poem written: "The Tragical History of Romeo and Juliet"
created by Arthur Brooke. Here, the character Mercutio is quite minimal and is portrayed as an affair man for his love, instead of
as a companion of Romeo (Romeo). (Arthur Brookem,1562)(3)Porter claims that he had introduced him to a brother when
Shakespeare drew the poem and broadened Mercutio's position to indicate a mutually supportive character. Shakespeare seems
to be the first playwright to use Valentine's nickname before Romeo and Juliet, but he chose the name himself.

VIII. CONCLUSION
Finally, we can conclude that Shakespeare was a great writer, in all of his plays the primary issue of what Shakespeare
meant does not emerge,the entire debate is not emerging, for what Shakespeare wrote not only has more significance than he
intentionally intended, but it is shifting mysteriously with his texts passing through the years. You discover a different aspect as
you dive into it and still you never understand the thing itself.
We may never know if Shakespeare trusted in ghosts, however, we are aware that the existence of apparitions has been a
matter of serious conversation amongst his contemporaries. In Hamlet, the protagonists question if what seemed to be his father's
sight might not be a sinister trick: This argument is dramatized:Ghosts represent spectral retribution in these images, the
retribution for a culpable consciousness.
Such as "Macbeth" witches, Shakespeare's spirits are enigmatic and often scary—such represent the way we see ourselves,
our worlds, and our desires for recalling ourselves after death; and this shows in the parting words that his father pronounces
before vanishing into the morning mist.
“Adieu, adieu, remember me.”
Shakespeare brought us some of the stages where we most spoke about ghosts through a chair that steals ghostly
apparitions of spirits who don't know when to quit. We have smoothed out the dreams now because of Shakespeare. Apparitions
no longer are narrative instruments, floating quietly across the scene. This is our glimpse into the Ghosts of Shakespeare.
REFERENCES
[1] (Annekatrin Puhle & Adrian Parker, 2017), "Shakespeare's ghosts live", Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle.
[2] (Ann Jones & Peter Stallybrass,2000) , " Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory", Cambridge University
Press, 2000.
[3] .(Arthur Brookem,1562), "The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet",first published in 1562.
[4] (Arthur f Kinney,2002), "Hamlet: Critical Essays", published by Routledge, New York.
[5] (Calderwood, James L.,1986), “If It Were Done: Macbeth and Tragic Action.” University of Massachusetts Press.
[6] (Crawford, A. W.,1924). "The Apparitions in Macbeth, Part II". Modern Language Notes. Baltimore, Maryland: The
Johns Hopkins University Press.
[7] ) Daniel h Ludlow,1992) ،“Encyclopedia of Mormonism”،Copyright 1992 Macmillan Publishing Company, New York.
[8] (Elizabeth Seely &ken Elliot,1996), "Heinemann Advanced Shakespeare: Hamlet", the copyright licensing agency ltd, 90
Tottenham court road London W1P 9HE.
[9] (Ernest Jones,1949), “Hamlet and Oedipus”, publisher, W.W. Norton& company the USA.
[10] (Furness, Howard, 2007), “ Macbeth. Classic Books.”, ed. Vol.1, Philadelphia: Lippincott company.
[11] (Jean Quinodoz,2004), "Reading Freud: A Chronological Exploration of Freud's Writings", first published by presses
Universitaires de France, Paris.
[12] (Marjorie Garber,1987), "Literature as Uncanny Causality", published by Methuen, INC New York.
[13] (Owen Davies,1969), "The haunted: a social history of ghosts", Basingstoke [England]; New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2007.
[14] (Ralph P. Boas & Barbara M. Hahna,1931), “The Age of Shakespeare,”, (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1931) 93).
[15] (Sahih Muslim 2729) ,: Book 48, Hadith 112, Book 35, Hadith 6581.
[16] (Smidt, Kristian,1980). "Shakespeare's absent characters". English Studies. Taylor & Francis.
[17] (Williams, George Walton 1982). "Macbeth": King James's Play". South Atlantic Review.

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