Minor Characters Of William Shakespeare 's ' The Ghost '

The ghost first appears to three soldiers on guard: Bernado, Francisco, and Marcellus, along with Horatio, a friend of Hamlet and visitor to Denmark. Bernado and Marcellus desire to reveal the ghost they have witnessed for the past

Through Shakespeare’s use of minor characters in his play, Hamlet, the playwright was able to subtly develop Hamlet’s character. In using minor characters, Shakespeare emphasized certain traits which the main character held. These minor character also personify the motifs of contrast between a sickly interior versus healthy exterior and contrasting life and death; the minor characters’ embodiment of these motifs further establish for the audience the importance of these motifs within the play.

The first experience of the King’s ghost is on act one scene four when Hamlet first encounter’s the King’s ghost for the first time. Hamlet makes a statement that he is cold in the night which led to Horatio agreeing with him. This gives off a hint that that there is something eerie that is lurking around at night. Once the King’s ghost reveals himself to Hamlet, that gave the Hamlet and the other two, Horatio and Marcellus a fright. What is also added is the moonlight that shines upon the ghost, that gives it a more uncomfortable aura in the air. In one part of the play, Hamlet says, “With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?/ Say why is this? Wherefore? What should we do?” Hamlet seems to be confused and terrified why that the ghost of his father appeared in front of him and to the other people (I.IV.53). Not only that the ghost appears out of nowhere, the feeling of uneaisess appears towards Hamlet as the ghost of his father

that it was on death that the soul either went to Heaven or Hell, thus

In the early 1600’s, William Shakespeare created the masterpiece play Hamlet. Since that day, numerous theaters have performed the play and many publishers have made they’re version of the original playwright (the original copy is at an unknown location.) For these years, there has been numerous debatable aspects of Hamlet - one of which being whether or not the ghost encounter with the deceased King Hamlet was real. Of course, Horatio is the credible witness to tell us of the ghost’s existence - but the ghost never actually talks to him like he does Hamlet. In fact, no one besides Hamlet has actually heard the ghost of King Hamlet speak. Furthermore, Hamlet is already grief-stricken over his father’s death and completely expects this ghost

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 the first Act in the play, Hamlet is the last person to see his deceased father. Granted, Hamlet is the only one to speak to the ghost and he is by himself when he does, but the guards and even Horatio, “Before (his) God, (he) might not this believe. . . Without the sensible and true avouch. . . Of (his) eyes. (Act I Scene I Lines 56-8)” serve as witnesses that there is indeed a ghost and it is not just a figment of Hamlet’s imagination.

William Shakespeare's Hamlet is a drama which has been renound for its content and depiction of characters. Over the years, it has gone through many variations of interpretations and criticisms. One such criticism is the nature of the ghost who takes the form of Hamlet's dead father. At first glance, it may be sufficient to accept the ghost as the spirit of Hamlet's dead father who returns to the land of the living in order to have his son avenge his murder. However, looking deeper into the text, several unignorable signs become visible which lead us to see that the ghost is actually the devil in disguise. Kenneth Brannagh's 1997 production of Hamlet brilliantly portrays these signs of evil and

When Hamlet's father appeared to him in the form of a ghost claiming the current king, Claudius, Hamlets uncle, had murdered him; Hamlet did not heed the information and obtain his revenge right away. Hamlet's reaction was that of a wise methodical individual. It took Hamlet some time to convince himself that the ghost truly was a good spirit of his father, relaying truthful words in order that his soul may rest in peace, and even then Hamlet still wanted more proof. Only until Hamlet was certain and had confirmation of Claudius's guilt was he ready to take action. The reader sees how Hamlet finds his final convincing piece of verification through a conversation Hamlet has with his good friend Horatio:

This belief relates to the play because the Ghost of Hamlet’s father decides to visit Denmark and makes everyone question his visitation. Clark states that ghosts appear to “obtain revenge”, although this appears to be true as to the reason Hamlet’s father’s Ghost appears, it is not the actual reason. The Ghost is there to ask Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (Shakespeare 57). In other words, the Ghost is not there to seek revenge physically, but to have Hamlet seek revenge on Claudius for killing him. The Ghost makes his visitation to specifically ask Hamlet to seek revenge on his murderer; however, he does not force Hamlet to seek revenge. Since the ghost does not force Hamlet to seek revenge he appears to the audience that he is a good ghost because he does not hurt anyone and does not appear violet. Therefore, because the Ghost has not been physical this situation allows the audience to become aware that he is a good ghost.

       In Act I, Scene II, one is first made aware of the strength of Hamlet's relationship with Horatio when the latter informs Hamlet that he has seen what he believes is the ghost of the former King Hamlet. This introduction to the relationship between Horatio and Hamlet demonstrates the strong bonds of trust and confidence they share. Unlike the other characters who have seen the apparition and would choose to shrink away from it, Horatio, recognizing the ghost for who it might be, tries to make contact with it, albeit unsuccessfully. After this initial contact, and recognizing the significance of what he has witnessed, it is Horatio that takes Hamlet into his confidence to relate what he has seen. "As I do live, my honored lord, 'tis true, / And we did think it writ down in our duty / To let you know of it" (1.2. 220-222). Horatio gives Hamlet a very detailed account of the sighting, answering Hamlet's questions with the honesty and insight of a concerned friend. It is obvious by Horatio's candor that he is neither fearful of Hamlet's response, nor is he concerned that Hamlet will not believe his accounting of the event.

What would a play be if the main character were to talk on and on without giving other characters time to speak or what would a play be if the main character had no enemies or friends? The obvious answer is boring, so Shakespeare as a playwright, writing to make money, added secondary characters to develop Hamlet as a character, give the audience a break, entertain the audience, and provide external conflict. The secondary characters allow us to know the context of the character's actions and to better connect with the character.

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

The story opens in the cold and dark of a winter night in Denmark, while the guard is being changed on the battlements of the royal castle of Elsinore. For two nights in succession, just as the bell strikes the hour of one, a ghost has appeared on the battlements, a figure dressed in complete armor and with a face like that of the dead king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father. A young man named Horatio, who is a school friend of Hamlet, has been told of the apparition and cannot believe it, and one of the officers has brought him there in the night so that he can see it for himself.

Hamlet is not the first one to see the ghost, Marcellus and Bernardo were. The next night it appeared to Horatio as well. It was only after its first two appearances that Hamlet got a chance to see the ghost. At this point the reader doesn't have much of a choice but to take the ghost at face value. If several characters saw the ghost…there must really be a ghost. It's not until Hamlet's second encounter with the ghost that the reader is asked to decide whether they buy into the idea of the ghost being real.