ipl-logo

The Ghost In Hamlet Essay

983 Words4 Pages

Hamlet is one of the most memorable Shakespearean plays due to the focus on a young prince`s struggle with obeying the ghostly figure that we witness briefly on stage. The ghost is certainly an important figure in shaping the outcome of this revenge tragedy. Thus, we must ponder what is the ghost and how it can be interpreted in a plethora of ways. It is arguably seen as the spirit of Hamlet`s father, a figment of his imagination and being Shakespeare himself. Therefore, this essay will examine these potential answers to the question. The most common answer to the question has always been that the ghost is the spirit of the dead king Hamlet, returning to comfort his grieving young son left inconsolable by his loss and to provide answers for …show more content…

It has been argued by many literary critics that the ghost is a figment of Hamlet`s imagination, despite Barnardo, Mercutio and Horatio witnessing it before the prince, potentially indicating that it is real because three level headed characters view it first. However, the characters are hesitant about the ghost with Marcellus insisting that they “question it “whilst Barnardo seems to believe “its` not something more than fantasy” which creates uncertainty about the figure`s identity. Many events over the course of the play indicate Hamlet`s fragile state of mind and how the ghost is only present in his thoughts. For example, the prince`s obsession with his mother`s infidelity could be a reason for the ghost instructing him to murder Claudius. Perhaps the spirit wants him to avenge his father`s death so that he can have his mother to himself? Also, can it ever be said that the ghost speaks the absolute truth? For example, it says that his father suffered the “most unnatural murder” but can there be such a thing as a “foul and most natural murder”? . The flaws that arise create speculation about the ghostly figure. It is only when he contemplates suicide “to be or not to be that is the question” that he finally begins to recognise the permanency of death as being “the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns”. It appears that he accepts the likelihood of the ghost not descending from purgatory after all supporting the argument that it is not

Show More
Related

Diction In Hamlet Essay

658 Words | 3 Pages

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the Ghost's use of cynical diction and vicious imagery in his speech emphasizes his contempt for Claudius and Gertrude, aligning the reader with Hamlet's vengeful feelings towards them. The Ghost's description of Claudius as "incestuous" and Gertrude as a seemingly-virtuous queen creates a negative perception of them in the reader's mind. The imagery of the serpent and garbage used by the Ghost reinforces this negative perception, creating a vivid picture of Claudius and Gertrude's actions that aligns the reader with Hamlet's disdain for them. Act 1, scene 5 of Shakespeare's Hamlet is Prince Hamlet's first encounter with his deceased father who exists between the borders of life and death, presenting himself as a ghost

Read More

How Does Horatio Extract Information Form The Ghost?

506 Words | 3 Pages

He begins by questioning who the ghost is and why it has come in the form of the dead king of Denmark (ll. 46-49). In line 46, Horatio uses the term “usurp’st,” which, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is defined as “[taking] the place of someone in a position of power illegally”(Oxford English Dictionary, 2015). This demonstrates that Horatio does not believe that this apparition is the spirit of Hamlet’s father, for he accuses the ghost of stealing the form of the king. Following this accusation, Marcellus states that the spirit seems offended by what Horatio as said and Barnardo points out that it begins to walk away (ll. 50-51). When delivering these lines, the actors of Marcellus and Barnardo should sound concerned, for they would like to figure out what this apparition is before taking the news of it to Hamlet.

Read More

Hamlet Figurative Language Essay

785 Words | 4 Pages

This is explained by the Ghost when Hamlet learns of his father being murdered in Act 1 Scene 5, in lines 35 -39, “’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father’s life . Now wears his crown.” 2) The soliloquies that Hamlet provides over the sequence of the entire play allows us to distinguish what Hamlet was thinking about and display how he was losing his sanity.

Read More

Mental Health In Hamlet Essay

564 Words | 3 Pages

A few soldiers on guard report to him that his father’s ghost has been seen, and he sees the ghost when he goes with them the next night. The ghost tells him that his uncle killed him to get his crown and his wife, and makes Hamlet swear to avenge his death. Hamlet decides to pretend to be

Read More

The Responsibility Of Vengeance In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

530 Words | 3 Pages

Therefore, when he hears the eavesdropper and kills him, he thinks that it is the killer of his father. This foreshadows the future events that Hamlet will undergo to avenge his father. The open door ultimately provides a symbolic relationship to the thoughts of Hamlet; he is on the edge of whether or not he should take revenge on the killer of his father. When he fully enters the room to talk to his mother, the door is closed which symbolizes that his locked up inner thoughts are now being shared with his mother and only with her.

Read More

To Trust Or Not To Trust The Ghost In Shakespeare's Hamlet

652 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the play Hamlet most of the conflict comes from Hamlet's internal struggle of deciding whether he should trust the words and appearance of the ghost of his father. Just like a student trying to finish an essay, his procrastination has made him more eager to carry out the act but that dire obligation he so badly wants to fulfill can't be done without any sound proof that he strives to find. This comes to show Hamlet's inability to trust the Ghost because he didn't believe that the existence of the ghost of his father would be possible, he believed that the apparition might be a devil trying to lure him in to committing an unjustified act, and he needed to rely on Claudius’s reaction to the play to validate his trust with the Ghost. At the start of the play, Hamlet is awestruck and dubious about the Ghost because during his first meeting with the apparition, he was so stunned of the supernatural sighting that he felt skeptical if it was even possible for such an episode to happen.

Read More

Psychological Events In Hamlet

1140 Words | 5 Pages

In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. These significant events can be awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a dutiful

Read More

Madness Of Insanity In Hamlet

1153 Words | 5 Pages

In the midst of Hamlet’s confrontation with his mother, the ghost appears and stares at him. Hamlet breaks down and tells the ghost not to look at him that way unless he wants him to cry instead of being powerful enough to get his revenge. While this happens, Gertrude holds to the belief that her son has gone mad as she watches him talk to himself. Gertrude can not see or hear the

Read More

Spirits In The Elizabethan Era

1667 Words | 7 Pages

The ghost of Hamlet’s father later appears on the battlements of the castle before a group of guards, who then summon Hamlet to speak with the spirit. The Ghost leads Hamlet away from the guards and informs him that he was murdered by his brother Claudius, the new King. The knowledge imparted from the ghost causes Hamlet to go mad and form a plot to kill the King, “which even in Elizabethan times was not allowed by law or religion…”

Read More

Act 1 Of Hamlet

522 Words | 3 Pages

The ghost appears and disappears, and Horatio is surprised with how similar it looks to the late King Hamlet. Horatio believes that the ghost’s appearance must be warning of an attack on Denmark. He says that it will most likely come from Fortinbras, the prince of Norway, whose father was killed by King Hamlet himself.

Read More

The Significance Of The Ghost In Shakespeare's Hamlet

723 Words | 3 Pages

After the king Hamlet died, his ghost still appeared in different places of the play. The ghost wanted to talk to his son Hamlet to tell him all the truth about what happened before he died. The first thing that he said was that he did not died by a snake bite, but killed by his brother Claudius. The ghost told Hamlet to take revenge of Claudius. The second thing that the ghost told Hamlet was that he should do no harm to his mother, even though she married her husband’s murderer.

Read More

The Importance Of Hamlet's Ghost In Hamlet

906 Words | 4 Pages

First, King Hamlet’s ghost affects action when he first appears in the play. When he first appears, he doesn’t even speak. When he finally does speak, he only talks to his son, Prince Hamlet. The ghost says, “I am thy father’s spirit… Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.9,25 Hamlet).

Read More

Importance Of Ghost In Hamlet

1678 Words | 7 Pages

The ghost of King Hamlet helps to develop his son’s character by setting him on a path, he doesn’t tell Hamlet exactly what to do, but he tells him enough of the story to make Young Hamlet rageful and hate filled. First, King Hamlet’s ghost affects action when he first appears in the play. When he first appears, he doesn’t even speak. When he

Read More

The Mystery Of Death In Hamlet

2157 Words | 9 Pages

It is not only his presence, but also his words that suggest the idea of death, as the Ghost gives the account of his murder - ‘Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole with juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment, whose effect holds such an enmity with blood of man that swift as quicksilver it courses through the natural gates and alleys of the body, and with a sudden vigour it doth posset and curd, like eager droppings into milk, the thin and wholesome blood. So did it mine, and a most instant tetter bark’d about, most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust all my smooth body.’ Not only does Hamlet have to plan his revenge, but he must also deal with his ideas about death. Old Hamlet’s murder begins the theme of death in “Hamlet”. Hamlet’s vow to avenge his father’s murder and consequent plot to kill Claudius ultimately leads to the deaths of his future father-in-law Polonius, his bride to be Ophelia, his mother Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Claudius, Laertes and Hamlet

Read More

The Role Of The Ghost In Hamlet

713 Words | 3 Pages

The role of Hamlet 's father as a ghost is to not only avenge his own death, but to make sure that Hamlet gets vengeance for claudius murdering him. The nature in which the ghost appears differs between each one of the three appearances. Throughout the play the ghost appears in many different ways, his main objective is to have Hamlet get revenge for his death. The role of the ghost in hamlet can be seen from different points of view, it can be seen as the ghost being hamlets father is trying to make contact with Hamlet to avenge his murder by Claudius.

Read More

More about The Ghost In Hamlet Essay

Open Document