Furthermore the ghost itself creates a mood of foreboding in relations to political issues during the Elizabethan era or maybe even to entertain the audience. “The Ghost, indeed, reminds us that even the greatest earthly strength is still subject to the controlling influence of a spiritual power beyond the laws of man.” [1] This then brings up the question among the audience as to whether the ghost is a good or evil spirit. “This bodes some strange eruption to our state,” Horatio believes that the arrival of the ghost has to do with the fact that Denmark may be facing danger in the near future. This indicates how familiar the Elizabethan audience are concerning with the significance of omens as they would always assume that anything eerie and ghostly would conclude to a disaster or even a tragedy. With the play being performed at the time of the Queen’s approaching death, Shakespeare merely wanted to prepare the people of what is to become of their country.
One of the reasons as to why the play is a revenge-theme is mainly because the ghost has motive that was later instructed to carry out by Hamlet himself, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder”. For that the ghost has become a fundamental base of the play and indispensable. “…apart from producing the atmosphere of mystery and fear, is vital to the plot of the play…concerned with the theme of revenge, but the motive for revenge is provided by the Ghost.” [1] The play revolves around the ghost’s motives and of Hamlet executing the task. We later learn that it is torturous for Hamlet to carry out the ghost’s wishes, “To be, or not to be – that is the question; / Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer…” Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act Three Scene One, displays his state of confusion regarding the ghost’s wishes to execute his uncle, Claudius. “his warped family situation can offer him no solace,” [4] This also allows the audience to question the afterlife. Also the fact that Hamlet wishes to see the ghost proves that he wants an ‘explanation and a course of action.’ [5] With the ghost declaring that it is his father’s ghost, asks Hamlet to seek revenge on his behalf as the retribution implied by the ghost’s appeal to Hamlet’s characteristics.
Hamlet talks in puns and riddles to reflect his state of mind, which is a state of confusion and on the edge of sanity. His mental state is important because it threatens the Danish state. It can be seen that Shakespeare purposely used the role of the Ghost as a manifestation of Hamlet’s doubts and suspicions. The plot of the play is to represent the inner thoughts of the Elizabethan audience regarding the situation of the next ruler after the Queen and to speculate about the idea of purgatory. The idea of the ghost may seem far-fetched for modern audiences, as the Ghost is only able to speak to Hamlet, and mostly to appear in front of Hamlet. “Modern audiences, comparatively free of the shackles of Elizabethan superstition, are still thrilled by the Ghost and do not regard it as ridiculous.” [2] Despite the fact that Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo have also encountered the Ghost themselves, there is still no evidence to prove that the Ghost was objectively real.
The ghost appears for the last time in Act III, Scene IV, where Hamlet and Gertrude display an intense domestic scene. For Hamlet was to discuss the matter of his father and whether his own mother was part of the conspiracy. As for Gertrude, she was to find what is happening in her son’s heart and what he is thinking of. The tension was built up when Gertrude asked the question, “thou hast thy gather much offended”. Which brought upon Hamlet’s rage thus his play-on-words; “Mother, you have thy father much offended” The hesitation built up within Hamlet is seen as he draws his sword through Polonius “How now! A rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!” Hamlet who has been contemplating on murdering Claudius finally releases the tension and slain Polonius.
It is also during this scene that the audience would question the existence of the ghost and the madness of Hamlet’s mind. “we would expect Hamlet’s ‘madness’ to be fully explicable in terms of Renaissance psychology and medicine.” [3] Here Hamlet witness the ghost in front of his mother, however the mother does not see anything, “how is’t with you,/ That you bend your eye on vacancy”. It can be seen that Gertrude does not see the ghost and so some may conclude to the idea of Hamlet being ‘mad’. However it can be argued that Gertrude may not be telling the truth and not accept the fact of supernaturalism. It has been argued that during this scene the modern audience may believe that Hamlet has an Oedipus complex, where a child bears feelings for either parent of the opposite sex and sees the parent of the same gender as a rival. In relevance to Freud’s Oedipus theory, it is said that Hamlet went through an oedipal phase and ‘had repressed his oedipal feelings in adulthood so successfully…’ [3] and upon the news of his father’s death we can assume that Hamlet’s childhood wish; to kill the father, has been fulfilled however through Claudius. Therefore Hamlet is hesitating in killing Claudius because in doing so, he would be killing himself and would conclude to the idea of Hamlet’s state of confusion.
Shakespeare uses the ghost to allow room for discovering the medieval beliefs about spirits and other ideas of the supernaturalism. “In his use of the ghost in Hamlet, Shakespeare effectively exploited the medical beliefs about spirits and other manifestations of the supernatural…” [2] The ghost is the vehicle for exploring the problem of Elizabethan succession. Traditionally ghosts would occur after a great event, wanting its revenge, gets justice or prophesying the future. Purpose of the ghosts is to only suggest, tempt, persuade, and appeal. During Act one Scene four, where Hamlet first encounter the Ghost, Horatio tires to dissuade Hamlet because the ghost were known to have vile intentions of alluring men to their self-destruction; “What if it tempt you towards the flood, my lord…And draw you into madness?...” It can be analysed that the ghost were always seen as a negative connotations as they are usually associated with evil. Ironically in one perspective the Ghost may be seen evil has it has requested Hamlet to perform justice for the sake of the Ghost’s death. ‘The ghost may have some secret…‘thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls’, an explanation why things are as they are and are directive for meaningful action.’ [5] Yet Shakespeare puts in an interlude so that the King confesses that he was the one who usurped Hamlet’s father. As Hamlet overheard this, he tells Horatio that he would “take the ghost’s world” and achieve the Ghost’s last request. If the ghost were not to be trusted, as Hamlet might have been cynical and not believe in the supernatural; then the play itself would not be in existence. The play itself revolves around the Ghost’s motif for Hamlet, to seek revenge and justice.
Throughout this essay it has been shown how the Elizabethan audience traditional ideas of the supernatural, whereas the modern audience would still accept the ideas of the supernatural without seeing it as ridiculous. The differences between the Elizabethan and Modern audience is that the King was seen as the right hand of God. Therefore he is the highest rank amongst the mortals, that he is literally the King on earth. And if the King is to commit a sin or someone commits a sin towards the king, a rightful punishment would be cast upon the sinister. That is why revenge may appear to be justice in the eyes of the Elizabethan, whereas in the modern audience would see revenge as sinister and unreasonable. The ghost would only appear during eerie atmosphere towards Hamlet regarding whether or not he has achieve its wish. For an Elizabethan perspective, the existence of the ghost would simply be to entertain the audience and create a genre that not many other plays were able to successfully be able to achieve. Hamlet along with Macbeth and Julius Caesar were Shakespeare’s most notable plays containing the idea of the supernatural, which grabbed the attentions of the Elizabethan’s minds. The Ghost controls the whole play as they control the fortunes of the characters that encounter the ghost. It is clear that Hamlet was unprepared for the task that the ghost has burden him with. However who told him to take on this responsibility that Hamlet believes would set the world right, or restore the state back into order. No one but himself. If Hamlet rushed to judgement, as Othello does, there would have been no tragedy. Equally, if Othello had investigated and considered as carefully as Hamlet, he would have not murdered Desdemona. With the modern view; many events have happed since the Elizabethans that we modern audience/readers are able to interpret. As a modern audience it can be argued that the significance of the Ghost may simply be to show Shakespeare’s inner thoughts and attitude towards the society of his time. Shakespeare wanted to give out ‘unseen’ message towards the audience regarding their monarchy and questioning their society.
Word Count: 2037
Bibliography
[1] Ramji Lal, ‘Hamlet, a critical study’, (Rama Brothers Educational Publishers, 2000)
[2] Cumberland Clark, ‘Shakespeare and the Supernatural’, (London: Williams and Norgate, 1931)
[3] Raman Selden, ‘Hamlet’s word-play and the Oedipus complex’ in Linda Cookson and Bryan Loughrey eds., ‘Hamlet, William Shakespeare’, (Essex: 1985)
[4] SparksNotes –
[5] Philip Edwards, ‘Hamlet, Prince of Denmark’, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985)
