Folkloric Elements in the Works of Shakespeare

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate how Shakespeare incorporates elements of folklore into several of his works, primarily Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, and Julius Caesar, as well as The Twelfth Night and As You Like It. During the time that Shakespeare was writing his plays, he frequently incorporated folk elements into his writing. Ghosts, proverbs, folktales, riddles, tradition, culture, habit, belief, and superstitions, among other things, appear to be used frequently in the works of Shakespeare. As a result, any reader with a conscious mind can easily understand the roots from which Shakespeare draws inspiration when writing his plays. Shakespeare's plays testify to the fact that he was familiar with a wide variety of folk issues, having read about, heard about, or seen them. His plays offer a vast treasure chest of information of many different kinds, including myth, folklore, history, and so on and so forth. His plays incorporate significant amounts of folklore as a source of inspiration and an integral part of the narrative. The presence of folklore is acknowledged in virtually all of his plays. In most of his plays, he incorporated a wide range of folkloric elements, though varying degrees and with various purposes in mind. This paper demonstrates that Shakespeare's plays contain allusions to a wide variety of folklore. It also indicates that Shakespeare utilized the prevalent folk belief of his period in a skilful manner in creating his tragedies. It is undeniable that most of his plays include elements of folklore, such as ghosts, witches, birds, animals, atmospheric conditions, etc. These elements are very noticeable. The evaluation of the content is the primary focus of this piece of research. Primary sources have been identified as the original works written by Shakespeare. In contrast, secondary sources include various reference books, journals, and online resources discussed and noted.