Perception of the Supernatural Worlds in Shakespeare's "The Tempest"

Abstract

In this paper, our aim is to focus on Shakespeare's The Tempest in the light of the supernatural worlds, where they play the crucial functions in the form of fairies, goblin, ghosts, apparitions, witches, and evil sprits to develop the thematic materials including ambiguity, confusion, ambivalence, domination, the plot-construction, the art of characterization and the general philosophical suggestions. It aims to look at applying the critical comments of several critics and scholars including Thiselton, Dodgers, Clark, Sears, Gibson, Nuttall, Dobree, Egan, Puck, Traversi, and Strachey through whom our study is minutely analyzed with a view to exposing the supernatural elements. In this paper, we will also discuss on Shakespeare's background, the attitudes of the Elizabethan people towards the metaphysical elements of the supernatural worlds in literature, and to a limited extent, its dramatic qualities and techniques. This paper also looks at the character, Prospero illuminated by the magical power through whom the whole submission will be unveiled to the modern audience and the readers. Actually, Shakespeare has emphasized the supernatural frameworks to undermine the traditional values of Romance, which basically resolve around the celebration of human love and adoration.

Keywords: Caliban, Magical Power, Prospero, Shakespeare, Supernatural Worlds, The Tempest.