This study will discuss the role of the supernatural in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein, and Hamlet by Shakespeare, and how those supernatural elements help shape the themes and conflicts in the plays.
In all three plays, the role of the supernatural is to force the human characters to take certain action or to come to some awareness that there is a greater power at work in the world than that of mere human power. In all three plays, one from Ancient Greece, one from Elizabethan England, and one from the United States of the mid-20th century, the elements of the supernatural are used by the authors to show that human beings need guidance from powers greater than themselves, but at the same time that guidance can bring great suffering.
Fiddler on the Roof is far more joyous and hopeful than the other two plays. It is generally a comedy, while the other two plays are tragedies. The God of the Jewish world of Stein's play is finally a loving supernatural force. His manifestations in the world of the characters are forces which help the people lead happier and more productive lives. The supernatural world of the Jews in this play is one in which they take an active part. They see themselves as partners with God, with the supernatural, in both the suffering and the celebration of life. Suffering is not seen as some mysterious or meaningless event sent from the supernatural, but a lesson or a test which will make them stronger and closer to God.
Dreams are important to the Jews in Stein's play, but even when the interpreter of a dream sees evil spirits at work, it is not a truly dangerous event. For example, Tevye dreams of a great celebration, a wedding ceremony, in which Fruma-Sarah starts choking Tevye in the end. Golde, the interpreter, declares:
It's an evil spirit; may it fall into the river; may it sink into the earth. Such a dark and horrible dream! And to think it was brought on by that but...