The supernatural in Hamlet and MacbethIn Hamlet and Macbeth, the supernatural plays a very important role. The supernatural elements are crucial to the plot and also have a more thematic part. Shakespeare presents the ghost in Hamlet, and the witches and the ghost in Macbeth, as disruptive elements that not only enhance the drama, but also tear apart the existing order of things. They force the main character of each play to undergo his own internal struggle which arises from his insecurity of living up to the image of a man. Let us first consider Hamlet. The presence of the supernatural takes center stage at the beginning with a dramatic appearance of the ghost of Hamlet's father. Although the ghost does not speak, its presence is visible and already disturbing. It is later in this first act that the ghost plays his first and most crucial role. In Act I Scene V, Hamlet and his father's ghost appear together and alone. The ghost says: “A serpent has stung me, so that the whole ear of Denmark/Is by process wrought from my death/Grainly mistreated” (Iv36-38). The first seed of disruption (of both Hamlet's and Denmark's identity) is planted here. The ghost's words make it clear that his murder was not only a crime against him, but also a crime against the earth. The heart of the play then unfolds from the actions and words of this ghost. Hamlet's vengeance against his uncle is certainly fueled by the ghost's words, but the ghost here seems to play a more subtle and internal role. In the famous soliloquy “To be or not to be” (III.i.55-88), Hamlet makes it clear that he is not only unsure of what action to take, but also unsure of himself. It seems that his father's aberration confuses Hamlet...... middle of paper ......e serves as ghosts in the machine of the character's life. And that's what actually kills them or ultimately leads to death. Works cited and consulted: Bloom, Harold. "Introduction." Modern critical interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 1-10. Bradley, AC “The Witch Scenes in Macbeth.” England in literature. Ed. John Pfordesher, Gladys V. Veidemanis and Helen McDonnell. Illinois: Scott, Foresman, 1989. 232-233 Goldman, Michael. Critical essays on Shakespeare's Hamlet. Ed. David Scott Kaston. New York: Prentice Hall International. 1995. The Riverside Shakespeare: Second Edition Houghtom Mifflin Company Boston/New York G. Blakemore Evans and JJM Tobin eds. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Edited by Norman Sanders. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984