The Significance Of Hamlet : The Ghost Of King Hamlet

Act one scene two starts off with King Claudius mourning the death of his brother Old Hamlet and rejoicing about marrying Hamlet’s mother. Claudius brings up the issue about Fortinbras plan to invade Denmark, he states the he has talked to Fortinbras uncle who told him that Fortinbras promised not to stop the plan to invade Denmark. Claudius sends Cornelius and Voltemand to Norway to settle the dispute. Claudius begins to talk to Laertes and Laertes asks the king could he return to France and Claudius lets him. Claudius asks Hamlet why does he look upset and his replies are kind smart aleck. Hamlet says that his father death is the reason why he is acting like that. Claudius gives Hamlet a speech basically telling him that losing a father

This clearly indicates that there is some sort of situation to be resolved, and that there is a reason for the king to be returning from the grave. From their speech, the reader learns that there has been a battle, and the result was the king’s death. "Such was the very armor he had on when he the ambitious Norway combated," introduces the conflict between Denmark and Norway. Through dialogue, it is also told that military preparations are taking place at Elsinore, because Fortinbras seeks to reclaim the Norwegian lands that his late father lost to King Hamlet. "So nightly toils the subject of the land, and why such daily blast of brazen cannon, and foreign mart for implements of war…"(p13, ln71) reveals that Denmark is intensely preparing for the war being carried out in Denmark. From this scene, there is also much to be said about the people of the land. It is quite apparent that they are very superstitious and wary of the supernatural. They fear that which they are unfamiliar with. If the reader is to read deeper into the plot, it can be seen that the people of the story are very closely intertwined. When Bernardo and Marcellus believe that they have witnessed a ghost, they decide that they must tell Horatio. After the ghost is observed, the three men decide to tell Hamlet of what they have seen. This indicates that the characters in the story are familiar with each other, and possibly

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

Claudius followed by a mob and blames him for his father’s death and is ready to take the

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).

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

This scene takes place at the borders of Denmark with Fortinbras and his Norwegian army. Fortinbras sends one of his captains to go to Claudius and ask if the army can cross through Denmark

The story opens up with the guards and Hamlet’s friend, Horatio, seeing the ghost of Hamlet’s father and attempting to speak to it. Afterwards, Horatio speaks of the possibility that the ghost is hinting at a possible revenge attack from Fortinbras of Norway on their kingdom. This could be possible foreshadowing and setting-up of future events to take place. After this sighting, the story shifts towards the wedding between Hamlet’s uncle and Hamlet’s mother. During this wedding, we are first introduced to Hamlet. Hamlet displays his grief

In Williams Shakespeare play “Hamlet” Fortinbras is one of the more bizarre ones and that’s saying something. Fortinbras is a man of few words and is not in very many scenes. He is very rarely directly mentioned in the text however he plays a huge role in the play. He makes an appearance in the beginning middle and end of the play.

Hey guess what!!! Your father King Hamlet is dead!!! Amazing right, I know, so not I'm going to attempt to steal his life, that does include marrying his wife. Your mom, so from now on don’t call me uncle just call me dad!!!! Whoa whoa whoa that was wild I know “but that what does that have to do with anything?” you may be asking yourself. Well Hamlet is struggling to deal with the realization that his world has just been turned upside down!! “Well has is he dealing with it?” you may be asking yourself. Well buckle up because we are going to take a closer look at Hamlet's relationship with the Ghost (Hamlet’s father), King Claudius(Hamlet's Uncle), and Queen Gertrude (Hamlet’s mom).

To start with, the ghost heavily influences the development of a few characters in the play which includes Hamlet and his friends. In the opening act, Hamlet’s friends encounter the ghost of the former king while standing guard on the wall of the castle. They are the first and only characters besides Hamlet that the ghost influences. They are also the only ones besides Hamlet that can see the ghost. This furthers the story by sending Hamlet’s friends on a mission to tell him of his father’s return. From the beginning of the play Hamlet is already depressed and down after being called home from school to return to Denmark to witness the funeral of his father. Following the funeral Hamlet meets up with his friends where they tell him of his father’s ghost. Immediately, this sparks Hamlet’s interest and he wishes to hear more of his father. ‘The king my father!/For God’s love, let me hear.” (1.2.192-95 Hamlet) Here Shakespeare shows Hamlet’s interest in the matter

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.

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

W.H. Clemen in “Imagery in Hamlet Reveals Character and Theme” describes the pervasive influence which the Ghost’s words have on the entire play:

This story begins on a cold night in Denmark Elsinore Castle when Hamlet’s trusted friend Horatio, and some guards see a ghost, the ghost of King Hamlet to be exact. The philosophical and complicated yet socially popular young Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, is busy fuming at his uncle Claudius who married his mom two days after his father's death. Hamlet suspects that they conspired to kill his father, and he even contemplates suicide. His hopes are lifted when he hears about the ghost.