Significance of the Ghost to William Shakespeares Hamlet Essay

Significance of the Ghost to William Shakespeare's Hamlet In Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', the ghost plays a key role in influencing the destinies of the other characters. The ghost is important to the play as it symbolizes both fate and catalyses the plot. It also brings the play into the revenge tragedy genre, which allows foreshadowing to occur and helps the audience, both Elizabethan and contemporary to better understand the play and appreciate it. The late King Hamlet is forced to roam the earth as he was murdered before he could confess to his sins, having to remain in purgatory till his sins are washed from him and he is able to enter into heaven. Hamlet, the tragic hero of the play, and is influenced by the encounter with whom he believes to be his late father, the ghost. Hamlet was both horror-struck and mortified to hear of his father's betrayal. He immediately felt that he must avenge his father and this reveals the role of the ghost, who is able to affect the protagonist. Hamlet is instructed to punish Claudius, the late King Hamlet's brother and murderer. The ghost reveals that Claudius, by killing his own brother, has committed a, "murder most foul," and deserves to die. Written during the first part of the seventeenth century, the tragic endings of revenge plays were pre-ordained by the church and state expectations. Revenge was deemed acceptable only if the avenger died at the end of the play. Only by dying could someone be forgiven for the immoral and illegal act of revenge. Hamlet is placed in this situation by the ghost, who orders him to act against his conscience, and the diametrically opposed commands paralyze hi... ... that the ghost is simply a convention of Elizabethan drama, but although the ghost motif had been used in many dramas of the period, none appeared so ambiguous as the ghost of King Hamlet. This essay illustrates that here may be many interpretations of the ghost, and that these different aspects may affect our understanding of the play. The dual nature of the ghost is reflective of the dual nature of man. The ghost's ambiguities are essential in heightening the tragic element of the play. In embracing the ghost, Hamlet embraces both good and evil. Bibliography www.vccslitonline.cc.va.us/HamletForum/_hamletforum/000002e8.htm www.clicknotes.com/hamlet/Ghost.html www.culturewars.com/CultureWars/2000/June/hamlet.html www.hf.ntnu.no/engelsk/shakespeare/ham.htm www.findfreeessays.com/show_essay/4873.html