Elizabethan Demonology An Essay in Illustration of the Belief in the Existence of Devils, and the Powers Possessed By Them, as It Was Generally Held during the Period of the Reformation, and the Times Immediately Succeeding; with Special Reference to Shakspere and His Works

"Elizabethan Demonology" by Thomas Alfred Spalding is a detailed study that looks at what people in Elizabethan England thought about demons and devils, especially how these ideas show up in William Shakespeare's plays; the book aims to illustrate the nature of the belief in demons and their capabilities during the Reformation period and onward. Spalding shows how important these beliefs were to people back then and how they affected the stories and plays they created; the author highlights that modern readers might misunderstand Shakespeare if they don't know about the old beliefs in the supernatural. Spalding's writing wants to help readers really "get" what Shakespeare was trying to say about the spooky and magical stuff in his stories, by understanding what people at the time actually believed.