Foreshadowing means to show or act as a sign of something that will happen in the future.

1. Foreshadowing

2. Definition
• Foreshadowing is a literary device in which the writer drops
subtle hints about the plot developments to come later in the
story
You can think of foreshadowing as a way of giving the reader a chance to
make a prediction about what might happen next in the story.

3. Types of Foreshadowing
• Direct Foreshadowing
Direct foreshadowing is
straightforward and obvious,
and heightens the reader’s
awareness and anticipation of
things to come in the story.
• Indirect Foreshadowing
Indirect foreshadowing, on the
other hand, gives the reader
subtle clues to events that will
happen in the future.

4. Common Examples of Foreshadowing
• Dialogue ,such as “I have a bad feeling about this ”
• Symbols ,such as blood, certain colors, types of birds, weapon
• Weather motifs , such as storm, wind, rain, clearing clouds
• Characters Reaction , such as apprehension, curiosity, secrecy
• Time and Season ,such as midnight, dawn, spring, winter
• Settings ,such as graveyard, isolated path, battle field, river

5. Significance of Foreshadowing
• Foreshadowing can be found everywhere from ancient Greek tragedies and
old English epics to contemporary novels and plays.
• Authors might use foreshadowing so as to prepare the reader for some sort
of shock or twist in the story.
• Foreshadowing can also subtly shift the mood of a piece of literature by
introducing either some optimism in a dark piece or hinting at a tragic
outcome in what otherwise seems to be a happy story.
• This usage of foreshadowing adds tension and leads to certain expectations
on the part of the reader that the author can either satisfy.

6. Foreshadowing in Literary
works
• Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, when Romeo says, “My life were
better ended by their hate, than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.”
This line foreshadows Romeo’s eventual fate: committing suicide over
the loss of Juliet.
• Most of the major events in the play Macbeth are foreshadowed
before they take place, although the hints can be incomplete or
misleading. For example, when the witches first meet Macbeth, they
reveal that he will someday be king, but they do not specify that he will
obtain that position by murdering Duncan.

7. Foreshadowing in Disney Movies
Lines said by Lion King Lines said by Mirada and her
mom

8. Foreshadowing in Tamil Movies
Appearance of snake Kamal Hassan movies

9. Ending