King Hamlet: Ghost, Demon, or Hallucination?
First, read some background information about Elizabethans and ghosts; the site Elizabeth Ghosts provides short, easy to read material while "Elizabethan People" offers more in-depth information.
Do you agree with these beliefs? Why or why not? Support your reasoning with evidence from the Elizabethan period and from modern society.
DO NOT repeat your classmates' ideas! Make sure you read the other responses before posting your ideas.
All responses are due by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1st.
I agree with the beliefs of the Elizabethan time period. In their time, ghosts could be the only explaination for the happenings they give account to. Their definition of a ghost is a soul lurkes the earth in a bodily form that is said to have died in a violent way. It makes sense for these people to believe that these figures roamed the earth because of all the death they experienced during their lives. Another way to approach their beliefs is the lack of entertainment in the society at that time. Nowadays we have so many distractions to our mental state. It makes it hard for us to ever find time for ourselves and think. In those days, they had nothing so they had alot of time to think. Maybe the people thought so much of ghosts and these apparitions that they actually started to see them. In some way, developing a mental defect because of the obsession.
ReplyDelete• Don’t walk under a ladder. Don’t break a mirror or you will have seven years bad luck. Many people in the world today would be very upset if they broke a mirror. This would scare them and they would be looking at every incident as the result of the bad luck they got when they broke the mirror. In Korea, if your child loses a tooth, it must be tossed onto the roof. And if you die in the water, you will be a ghost forever and never find your way to the afterlife. In our culture, superstitions are current. I don’t believe in superstitions because thoughts are what you feel and what is going to happen. If you think positive way, you will see everything positively, but if you think everything in negative way, you will see everything negatively.
ReplyDelete• During the Elizabethan era, everyone had evidence that many castles were haunted by ghosts. According to the website,http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-ghosts.htm, many men and women died violent deaths during the life of Queen Elizabeth. Ghosts of the dead lived in the castles . For example, in Sherborne Old castle, the ghost of Sir Walter Raleigh was often seen and in Hever Castle, Anne Boelyn who both lost their heads, wh were often sighted. It seems like people who lived great lives are the ones who lived on after death.
I agree with this belief during the Elizabethan period because the article says ghost are basically about people who have been murdered or in and accidental death. I think that this is true because there are many different types of evidence as in Hamlet; the ghost in that story is coming back so that he can tell about how he was actually murdered. This fits the description as stated in the article.
ReplyDeleteAlso in another case of ghost would be the two movies paranormal activity. I did not actually go out and see the movies I heard that’s what their about. So overall I do agree with the topic and that fact’s it states about ghosts.
I do agree that it is in fact a possibility that there could be ghosts wondering various castles and building during the Elizabethan era and in eras past and up to the present. Of course nobody knows for sure if they really do exist or not but there is an immeasurable amount of accounts of ghost sightings or some sort of paranormal activity. I personally try to remain indifferent on the matter because I feel as though some if not most accounts can be accredited to the individual’s mental state or recent events in that individual’s life that may affect their views on things in everyday life. On the other hand I do not agree with any of the superstitions of neither the Elizabethan era nor the superstitions of today. I never did because I also don’t believe in the idea of luck and I find the idea of such things to be absurd, especially astrology. Although sometimes palm readings and astrologic horoscopes and even fortune telling may happen to be somewhat accurate on infrequent basis, I still don’t like the idea and think that any occurrences happen by chance. Furthermore though, on the other hand the idea of chance and fate goes along with those ideas so it’s almost a bit of a contradiction because I also don’t believe in coincidences. I must say though that the superstitions involving inanimate objects or animals such as the common “lucky rabbit’s foot” or even the superstitions held in the Elizabethan era involving plants and animals are totally ridiculous. People today are just as suspicious as ever especially in the sport of baseball. If there is just one player who doesn’t have his own respective superstition then I’d be shocked. I think that all that nonsense is nothing but a head game that, depending on a person’s will power, can either be won or lost.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with these beliefs. It is said that the Elizabethan Era was one of the most violent ones ever. Many people were brutally killed at a young age and are said to still haunt the places they died. They believed that ghosts were not just people that died, but people who were murdered. So it makes sense that these former people would wander the castles searching for some kind of satisfaction. I can see why they believed these things about their ghosts because why else would these people be wandering around? People that die peacefully and at the right time and then they go to heaven. They simply do not need to stay on Earth searching for something, they lived their life and are going to be fulfilled soon. These ghosts sadly are trapped in a way. The people of the Elizabethan Era had a good idea about this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the materials presented in the Elizabethan Ghosts selections. I do believe that the material is true for a few reasons. First of all, the majority of the ghosts are those of deceased people. In most cases, these deceased people were murdered, or died prematurely. A lot of these murders were horrible and gruesome. That being said the chances of these ghost encounters being true are very high. Comparing it to today, the same type of theme exists. Many of the most haunted places in the world are at locations where bloody battles went down. With that in mind, believing these accounts is very easy.
ReplyDeleteAn example of ghost in the Elizabethan Age is present in Hamlet. Hamlets father is killed in a terrible way, by being poisoned. In my opinion, that is a pretty gruesome way to die. Following Hamlets death, he returns as a ghost and appears to the people he was closest to. That is a very similar situation to those that are present today.
I do agree with the belief about the ghost in the Elizabethan era. Back in the days it was a common thing to believe in the existence of ghosts. It is from the custom of witch craft in the Medieval Europe that people started to believe in cult or superstitious beings. Moreover, a lot of natural disaster or change in climate was not proved by scientific means. So people had to believe that there should have been something that controls all the happenings. It is understable in modern times as well. In Korea, we regularly do sacrificial rites to memorize the dead and wish them to go to heaven. Even nowadays, spiritual ceremonies are done and will be done in the future.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with the beliefs of the ghosts from the Elizabethan Era. I agree with the belief of ghosts because of all the modern technology that scientists have and are using in discovering ghosts and spirits at old castles and homes back in the old days during the Elizabethan Era. They say that the ghosts are from the people that have died tragic deaths and that i believe that because of all the medieval fighting that was going on back then.
ReplyDeleteI believe the ghosts do still rome around their old rooms and house but i don't believe that you can communicate with them. I just strongly believe that there is still a strong presence of paranormal activity that is still common in the old homes and castles from the Elizabethan Era.
I disagree with the belief in ghosts. On the "Elizabethan People" site it says that "A ghost is defined as the soul of a dead person who is said to appear to the living in bodily likeness at a place associated with his life. Ghosts are said to have died in terrible and violent circumstances." I think that perhaps because of how many people were dying at that time in history many people lost loved ones, and perhaps in their mourning and remembering of that person some people believed they saw their loved ones in places where they remember seeing that person, but I do not really believe that they saw dead loved ones wandering around. As it also says on the site, there was an increased interest in ghosts during the Elizabethan era which is probably why Shakespeare included it in one of his plays. But just because it was in a play by Shakespeare does not mean that ghosts actually exist. Also just because people claim that they saw something does not mean they saw that thing, or just because they think they saw something does not mean that was what they saw in reality. People claim to see a lot of things, such as, Bigfoot, UFOs, or the Loch Ness monster to name some things, but just because they are claimed to have been seen is not really proof of their existence.
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