Society today is far less religious in comparison to Elizabethan times, therefore a modern audience is unlikely to be as engaged as a Shakespearian audience towards the ambiguity of the ghost. A modern audience is also less likely to understand Hamlet’s anguish of confusion and guilt towards these deeds and his fear of hell and malign spirits. A Shakespearian audience would have feared the torment of purgatory which is conveyed by Shakespeare through the sufferings of the ghost, ‘I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood’. The ghost’s inability to detail his surroundings emphasises the way in which purgatory was perceived, too horrifying to even describe. A modern audience would not have as strong an understanding of purgatory and its implications, they would not fear it in the same way, therefore in this regard the ghost does diminish the play’s impact rather than enhance.
However, the character of Horatio provides rational scepticism with which a modern audience can to a certain degree relate. Horatio is presented in Act 1 Scene 1 as good humoured, educated and sceptical. With regard to the possible appearance of the ghost Horatio remarks ‘Tush, tush, ‘twill not appear’, and Marcellus says, ‘Horatio says tis but our fantasy’. Even with his scepticism, when Horatio sees the ghost he does not deny its existence, he is nothing but overwhelmed with fear and confusion, ‘How now, Horatio? You tremble and look pale’. It is therefore impressive for a man as sceptical and intelligent as Horatio to believe in, and fear the ghost. Subsequently Shakespeare has used the character of Horatio to represent the audience’s perspective and to help them overcome any remaining disbelief, as even in Shakespeare’s time many of the more educated in society viewed ghosts as merely superstition.
For a modern audience the character of Horatio may help to prevent the diminishing impact of the ghost, however, where in Shakespearian times a minority of the audience may have been sceptical, nowadays a large majority will be. Therefore it is unlikely that the impact of Horatio’s character will be strong enough to sway the beliefs of a modern audience.
One of the functions of the ghost as a dramatic device is to forward the plot, as following its initial appearance it motivates Hamlet’s actions throughout the play. The ghost only speaks with Hamlet which is a further implication that it may be a malign spirit. The queen cannot see the ghost, therefore preventing her from discouraging Hamlet’s actions. The ghost tends to appear when Hamlet is in despair and failing, for example in Act 3 Scene 4 the ghost appears to remind Hamlet of his motive as it seems he has been prolonging the task at hand. The ghost proclaims, ‘Do not forget. This visitation is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose’. He is intent on inciting Hamlet to the deed, which has been delayed on account of Hamlet’s confusion over the ghost’s intentions. However, Hamlet’s procrastination may be an excuse, and evidence of his failing strength and fear of the task ahead.
In Act 1 Scene 1 the effect created by the appearance of the ghost is enhanced by the setting of a tense and eerie atmosphere. This is likely to help enhance the play for a modern audience as it is a setting stereotypically related to fear; a dark, cold night, in the grounds of an old, towering castle. Shakespeare creates further atmospheric tension through the use of short, abrupt sentences in the opening text such as the following dialogue,
‘Who’s there?’
‘Barnado?’
‘He.’
This type of speech conveys the character’s awareness of the ghost’s presence, and their fear of it.
Following the initial appearance of the ghost, Shakespeare uses a rush of heavily charged words such as in Horatio’s line ‘And even the like precurse of fear’d events, as harbingers preceding still their fates’. The use of these words adds a dramatic intensity to the unfolding of this scene and enhances the ghost as a dramatic device.
The functioning use of Shakespeare’s language and setting would not be lost on a modern audience, however it is unlikely to be powerful enough to enable the ghost to be received in the same way it was by an Elizabethan audience.
Shakespeare opens the play with the appearance of the ghost in Act 1 Scene 1 which serves to catch the audience’s attention and engage them instantly. An Elizabethan audience would have been enthralled further as a result of the strength and nature of their beliefs. However, for a modern audience this opening scene would need to be enhanced by modern technology to retain the same effect, and the ghost would need to be used more as a scare tactic to produce a thrill. This has been attempted by some directors on film, with the use of light and smoke effects, sometimes accompanied by a disembodied voice. In Branagh’s 1996 version of Hamlet a statue of old Hamlet was brought to life to become the ghost. In a more recent and highly modernised film version made in 2000, the ghost first appears on a security camera.
In the opening scene of the play, the ghost’s appearance, reappearance staging may have been perceived as slightly humorous by an Elizabethan audience, as if the terrified watchmen are being teased to delight. There are also other aspects of Hamlet in which Shakespeare has combined elements of both comedy and tragedy, including the scenes following Hamlet’s decision to display an ‘antic disposition’. However in the context of today, a modern audience is unlikely to appreciate this combination of humour and tragedy in the same way, therefore the ghost’s staging is likely to diminish the play’s impact. Thus in a modern staging it may be more effective to use the ghost’s appearance, reappearance as a shock tactic, which could be done using abrupt music and lightening whenever the ghost reappeared. This would give the ghost an element of surprise, and would thrill and further engage a modern audience.
Many successful horror/thriller productions today tend to use more psychological scare tactics and in Hamlet there is a great scope to display this given the uncertainty regarding Hamlet’s disposition. In a modern production, on stage or film, the ghost could be presented as a projection of Hamlet’s subconscious. Hamlet could therefore appear possessed by his father and speak some of the ghost’s lines himself. Themes of possession and various other forms of contacting the dead, for example ouija boards, would be more effective on a modern audience than presenting a stereotypical physical form of a ghost, which is somewhat dated and old fashioned. In the original staging of Hamlet and various earlier film productions, the ghost appeared as a man in full armour, as if ready for battle. Within the play, this form of appearance serves to foreshadow an ominous future for Denmark, however, when it comes to modern scare tactics, less is more, and it is often what the audience doesn’t see that frightens them the most. This type of presentation would therefore shock and engage a modern audience while keeping the possibility of Hamlet’s madness, and the ambiguity of the ghost feasible.
In conclusion I agree with this statement as in the context of today, audiences have a lesser belief in ghosts and the religious concepts of Heaven and Hell. This leaves a modern audience less engaged by the ghost, which as a dramatic device diminishes rather than enhances the overall impact of the play.
As a result of contrasting attitudes and beliefs between the Elizabethan period and now, even the strength of Shakespeare’s language and setting cannot convey the ghost effectively to a modern audience as a dramatic device. Subsequently the only way of preventing this loss of impact is to use the ghost as a shock tactic to engage a modern audience. The most effective way to do this would be with the use of modern technology which unfortunately, if overused, can diminish the overall intended impact of Shakespeare’s work.
