What is the role of the Ghost in 'Hamlet'?

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GCSE English Coursework

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

What is the role of the Ghost in ‘Hamlet’?

The role of the ghost in Hamlet is twofold: firstly it is to create interest; secondly it is to further the narrative of the play.

Shakespeare recognized that he needed to create interest in the audience from the very first scene of the play.

The play opens with a conversation between Officers of the Watch who patrol the Battlements of Elsinore castle. Their talk is of a ghost who has appeared before twice previously:

“ What, has this thing appeared again tonight?”

Immediately this arouses the audience’s curiosity. What is the nature of ‘this thing’ that has appeared?

Horatio, who has not seen the ghost, voices the scepticism that some of the audience may have been feeling:

“ Tush, Tush, ‘twill not appear”.

Suspense is therefore created in the minds of the audience i.e. will the ghost actually appear; does the ghost exist?

The character of Horatio is contrasted with that of Barnardo, Francisco and Marcellus.

Barnardo, Francisco and Marcellus are believers in the ghost, whereas Horatio, who is highly educated, unlike Barnardo, Francisco and Marcellus, questions the ghost existence.

When the ghost finally appears in line 40, cutting short Barnardo’s line, it is a moment of high drama resulting from the tension that has been created.

The appearance of the ghost has a huge impact on both the characters and the audience (who together with Horatio see the ghost for the first time). Horatio, sceptic, expresses his fear and amazement in the first line he speaks since seeing the ghost:

“…. It harrows me with fear and wonder”.

The audience would have been filled with similar emotions on seeing the ghost, and would have realised that the appearance of the ghost signifies that something is wrong. Elizabethans believed that only people who died without the chance of confessing their sins walked the earth as troubled spirits. Horatio questions the ghost, which disappears mysteriously without speaking. When the ghost fails to speak, it adds to the tension of the scene and the apprehension of the characters.

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The ghost makes a second appearance in Act 1 Scene 1 after Horatio has talked about preparations for war with Norway. This sets up the idea in the minds of the audience that the ghost may have something to do with the on going war, but, again the ghost does not speak, and so the audience is left with unanswered questions. This sense of mystery sustains interest and builds suspense in the preparation for scene 2.

At this point the nature of the ghost is ambiguous. Is it a good ghost, it appears in the form of Old Hamlet, or ...

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