Not only does the ghost progress the story’s plot, but he also aids in the development of Hamlet and his purpose. King Hamlet says that he was murdered by Claudius, who had a scandalous relationship with his wife prior to the murder. The ghost requests a restorative revenge (Gooch 1) through Hamlet: “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.25). Through this encounter with him, the ghost establishes Hamlet as a singular character who is bestowed the role of avenger/punisher. Before communicating with the apparition, Hamlet had a weak identity; he was still struggling with unexpected death of his father and wasn’t in a healthy mental state; but, immediately after the meeting, Hamlet appears to be reborn with a new sense of purpose- …show more content…
Hamlet declares that he will think of nothing but vengeance for his father, which shows how much impact the ghost had on him. This scene sets the plot of the play into motion and leads to Hamlet feigning madness for the rest of the play, as it becomes his primary mode of interaction with characters. King Hamlet presents the truth of the psychological condition of Hamlet, and leads Hamlet to accept the reality of the world around him. For example, Hamlet's actions begin with hesitation toward the ghost of his father, and how credible he is. Hamlet's own moral state is open to some degree of doubt, and so is the validity of revenge which his character would exact. Hamlet was wary of the ghost, whether he is a real spiritual of his father or such a devil playing with his mind especially the appearance of the ghost as he wears a soldier metallic cloth which makes Hamlet to be in confused condition. However, the ghost introduces himself to his son and tells him that he is the spirit of his father, tells him the secret of his death which is by ear-poison by Claudius and commands and urges Hamlet to revenge from his uncle
Pursuing vengeance, the ghost tells Hamlet, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder." Having only one goal, Hamlet begins his quest to avenge his father.
The Ghost in Hamlet cleared out the event that Hamlet was uncertain of. The spirit clarified the death of King Hamlet, and caused Hamlet to perform his evil deeds. The Ghost’s request to avenge him caused the death of Hamlet’s family, friends, and eventually himself; therefore, the spirit can be viewed as evil because it failed the four tests that was set by Lewes Lavater and the Church.
From the beginning of his and his mother’s conversation Hamlet was very angry and on edge with her for being with his father’s murderer. Hamlet somehow knew someone was eavesdropping on their conversation as he had been spied on previously. He suddenly decides to act out of fury thinking how angry he was at Claudius and kills who’s behind the curtain, thinking it was Claudius. Hamlet realizes after that he killed the wrong man, it had been Polonius that he killed but he didn’t care much saying that Polonius was a fool. Hamlet sees the ghost again after and the ghost tells Hamlet he still must carry out his revenge for his father because he had failed .
As the play goes on, Hamlet encounters his father's ghost. Upon discovering that his father's death wasn't natural, he says with much feeling that "Haste me to know't, that I with wings as swift/ As meditation, or the thoughts of love,/ May sweep to my revenge" (1.5.29-31). The ghost tells him that he was murdered by Claudius. His motives were his love for Gertrude, without her knowledge or consent. Hamlet is furious and seething with rage with the news of his father's murder. Knowing the truth makes Hamlet's subconscious realize that killing Claudius would be similar to killing himself. This is so because Hamlet recognizes that Claudius' actions of murdering his brother and marrying Hamlet's mother, mimicked Hamlet's inner unconscious desires. Hamlet's unconscious fantasies have always been closely related to Claudius' conduct. All of Hamlet's once hidden feelings seem to surface in spite of all of the "repressing forces," when he cries out, "Oh my prophetic soul!/ My uncle!" (1.5.40-41). From here, Hamlet's consciousness must deal with the frightful truth (Jones).
The Ghost of Hamlet's father is a foil for Hamlet. The ghost is introduced so to reveal information that is not blatantly revealed to us yet. The king gives us some explanation of why Hamlet wants revenge. The king tells us of his death and introduces the fact that it was a murder and tells that the murder was committed by his brother. Through the conversation with the ghost he gains more fuel for the anger he has about his mother’s marriage. In the discussion with Hamlet and the
In the play by William Shakespeare, the ghost of King Hamlet approaches his mourning and depressed son, Hamlet, who is still affected by his death. The ghost explains to Hamlet how he died and demands that Hamlet avenge his death. Note how the ghost approaches Hamlet when he’s the weakest and still mourning to persuade and manipulate him into taking revenge for him. In Act one Scene 5 the ghost states, “If thou didst ever thy dear father love-/ Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” The way King Hamlet words his request is more as a challenge; in which Hamlet’s love for his dead father can only be proven by carrying out whatever his father wishes. The ghost influences most Hamlet’s behavior, which not only affects the plot, but also the relationships with other characters. The ghost influences the relationship between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude. He becomes angry at Gertrude because of her fast marriage with his uncle Claudius. Through the use of innuendos, antic disposition, and metamorphic plays, Hamlet makes it his duty to get King Claudius back for killing his father. Hamlet agreed to avenge his father without second thought. As the play advances, Hamlet begins to doubt the apparition. In act 3 Hamlet begins to have second thoughts and states, “The spirit that I have seen/ May be a devil…” This shows Hamlet’s inner conflict between listening to his father and avenging his death or following his ethics. To be sure that Claudius
Hamlet is the main character in the play Hamlet so the protagonist. He’s about thirty years old at the start of the play, Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet, and the nephew of the present king, Claudius. He feels responsible to avenge his father’s murder (his uncle Claudius). Prince Hamlet is talking to a ghost, but not only a random ghost, it is his father who were killed. Hamlet was loved by the people so it was difficult for King Claudius to deal with that because Hamlet was dangerous, but he couldn’t hide Hamlet because the people loved him. So King Claudius tried everything that Hamlet so feeling good again.
In addition, Hamlets madness causes him to want to kill the king, Claudius, and clouds his thoughts. When Hamlets, fathers ghost comes to visit him, it tells Hamlet to get revenge on its death and to kill Claudius. While the ghost disappears Hamlet recounts what he has just done and states, “So, Uncle, there you are. Now to my word:/It is ‘Adieu, adieu, remember me!’ / I have sworn’t” (I.v.110-112). Hamlet is not even certain that the ghost is his father at first, yet he still aims to kill the king. His anger over his father’s death leads Hamlet to not think clearly, causing him to act out which in the end, leads to his death.
Hamlet questions the true intentions of the ghost and whether it be “a spirit of health or goblin damn’d,” (1.4.669). The Ghost enlightens the Prince of the treason committed by his uncle Claudius, which Hamlet doubts the legitimacy for an instance. According to “Hamlet’s Precarious Emotional Balance,” “Hamlet conceives a way out of his uncertainty, a way to make certain that he has not, because of his melancholy, simply hallucinated the ghost's revelations or been tricked by an evil spirit,” (Lidz). Hamlet develops a scheme to “catch the conscience of the king” by staging a play that depicts the murder of King Hamlet precisely (2.2.581).
In Hamlet, William Shakespeare presents the main character Hamlet as a man who is fixated on death. Shakespeare uses this obsession to explore both Hamlet's desire for revenge and his need for assurance. In the process, Shakespeare directs Hamlet to reflect on basic principles such as justice and truth by offering many examples of Hamlet's compulsive behavior; as thoughts of death are never far from his mind. It is apparent that Hamlet is haunted by his father's death. When Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father, their conversation raises all kinds of unthinkable questions, for example murder by a brother, unfaithful mother, that triggers Hamlet's obsession. He feels compelled to determine the reliability
In Hamlet, William Shakespeare presents the main character Hamlet as a man who is fixated on death. Shakespeare uses this obsession to explore both Hamlet's desire for revenge and his need for assurance. In the process, Shakespeare directs Hamlet to reflect on basic principles such as justice and truth by offering many examples of Hamlet's compulsive behavior; as thoughts of death are never far from his mind. It is apparent that Hamlet is haunted by his father's death. When Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father, their conversation raises all kinds of unthinkable questions, for example murder by a brother, unfaithful mother, that triggers Hamlet's obsession. He feels compelled to determine the reliability
Hamlet and the Ghost relationship are connected because the Ghost is the only on tell Hamlet the truth. “But 2 months dead-nay, not so much not two” (Shakespeare P. 26). His father hasn’t been dead for no more than two mounts and King Claudius want the whole kingdom to stop mourning over the death of the former king (King Hamlet) and start celebrate him (King Claudius). “ so, Uncle, there you are, now it’s time for me to keep the vow that i made to my father” (shakespeare P.66). Hamlet’s father's (Ghost) had just got done tell Hamlet that Claudius just killed him and that his mother (Gertrude) was having an affair the whole time Hamlet. “O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? Shall I cripple in hell” (Shakespeare P.66). This is ready a turning point in the reading because of the fact
Naturally, without the help of the ghost of Hamlet’s father, Hamlet would have never known anything about how he truly died. When Hamlet first learns of this he is skeptic, but swears Marcellus and Horatio into secrecy. After that, Hamlet did go out and try for revenge, he vows it even (Act 1 Scene 5). This begins Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. The Ghost
In William Shakespeare's work Hamlet, Shakespeare uses the ghost of the deceased king, a character with only a brief presence, to play a significant role in the plot of the story as a whole in multiple ways. The first way Shakespeare uses the ghost of King Hamlet is by first using him to play a crucial role in the development of the characters in the play This is especially true regarding Hamlet. An example of the ghost influencing the development of the characters in the play is sending Hamlet into his descent into madness and furthering his complex character. Shakespeare does this by having the ghost inform Hamlet of his father’s murder. Secondly, Shakespeare uses the ghost to influence the theme of revenge and madness that develops in the play by using the ghost as a driving force
Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles with avenging his father’s death. Hamlet often struggles with killing Claudius, his uncle who murdered his father and married his mother, and his religious views. When Hamlet is introduced in the play, the audience see’s that religion impacts Hamlet’s decision-making process. Once Hamlet meets the ghost for the first time and he sees his father and without hesitation he tells the ghost “haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge” (Hamlet Act 1 Scene 5 29-31). Hamlet agrees to avenge his fathers death but after seeing Claudius pray Hamlet states “the spirit that I have seen may be the devil: and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me” (Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2 576-579). Hamlet immediately begins to question his passion for