What were the Elizabethan beliefs about ghosts, the afterlife, heaven and hell?

Belief in ghosts and the afterlife was common in Shakespeare's time, the variance in views and opinions were rooted in religion. Catholics believed in the doctrine of purgatory and that ghosts were the spirits of those returning for some special purpose. These spirits should be aided if possible so that their soul may find rest. The Ghost told Hamlet he is doomed to walk the night "till the foul crimes done in my days of …showed first 75 words of 690 total…

…showed last 75 words of 690 total…and contemporise. Great Britain: Guernsey Press. Goddard, H. (1951). The meaning of Shakespeare. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Milward, P. (1973). Shakespeare's religious background. Great Britain: The Anchor Press Ltd. Orlin, L.C., Wells, S., (2003). Shakespeare: An Oxford guide. New York: Oxford University Press. Roud, S., Simpson, Dr.J., (2003). Dictionary of English folklore. New York: Oxford University Press. Stoll, E.E. (1960). Shakespeare studies: Historical and comparative in method. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. Word Count = 495