Old King Hamlet's ghost describes his death in Act I, Scene 5 of Hamlet by relating what really happened to him.King Hamlet’s ghost tells Hamlet that he died by his brother’s hand, which is treachery at its finest. He deprived the King of his life, his queen, his crown, and his kingdom. This haunts him greatly and Claudius’ murderous actions are responsible for this, as he cut the King’s life short when he still had things to resolve in his life. He says that what he will tell Hamlet will cause Hamlet to seek revenge. King Hamlet’s ghost informs Hamlet that he must, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murther.” (Murder.)
Hamlet states, “ The spirit that I have seen, may be the devil, and the devil hath power, T’ assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me” (II.ii.627-632). The ghost resembles his father and leaves Hamlet confused and concerned. From the quote in the play, Hamlet believes that the ghost could possibly be the devil trying to persuade him into evil to continue his suffering. He also believes the ghost is targeting him because of his suffering; making him more vulnerable to evil. After numerous interactions between Hamlet and the ghost, the ghost reveals that he is Hamlet’s father.
He wants his revenge to be is only focus, and in the process some innocent people end up dying. In Hamlet, there is a lot of death and contemplations between life and death. Because of this prominent aspect in the play, the mystery of death becomes on of the main themes seen throughout the play. Through Hamlet’s questions of what happens to the soul after death, the importance in confessions before
The play starts with the death of Hamlet’s father and throughout the story, Hamlet thinks about killing those who murdered his father. Through Shakespeare’s words, “To be, or not to be,” it is clear that death is inevitable to the characters in the play (Shakespeare). We see the characters dying and being buried, for instance, Ophelia and Polonius. Moreover, the theme of death is present in the play when Hamlet plans the death of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. Therefore, the theme of death is apparent in Hamlet from the beginning of the play to the final
When the ghost of King Hamlet appears and tells his son that Claudius killed him by pouring poison in his ear, Hamlet does not act straight away he takes his time to think about what the ghost told him. He wonders whether it is a good ghost or a bad ghost. He plans things out wanting the new king to be embarrassed for what he has committed. When the group of actors come to town, Hamlet says to one of them, "Dost thou hear me old friend? Can you play The Murder of Gonzago?"
Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother and feels like he can 't trust anyone. Shakespeare gives Hamlet these struggles in the play to amplify the mental and psychological events that make the reader feel bad about what all happened to Hamlet. Hamlet eventually kills Claudius like his father told him to, but only did it after his mother, Gertrude, drank the poison that Claudius meant to give Hamlet. This is a result of external action from all the sorrows that was building up in Hamlet’s life. This brings us to our next character, Gertrude, Claudius’s wife and Hamlets
King Hamlet’s ghost in Hamlet plays a very significant role in Shakespeare’s play even though he only appears briefly in the very beginning and two other times throughout the play. King Hamlet’s ghost furthers the play in many ways. He affects action by setting the play in motion, he affects the theme of revenge, and he helps develop other characters, specifically his son, Hamlet. He sets the play in motion by causing the wheels to spin inside of Prince Hamlet’s head, the ghost is the whole reason for Hamlet trying to extract revenge upon his murderous Uncle Claudius who is now the King of Denmark. The ghost affects the theme of revenge by causing Young Hamlet to be seized by vengeance, the whole play turns into a story of Prince Hamlet trying to avenge his father’s wrongful death.
In Act 5, the tension rests when Hamlet and Claudius are both eliminated. This act of violence also leads to many other acts of violence, including the deaths of Polonius, Ophelia, and Laertes. It puts a lot of pressure on Prince Hamlet, because he feels he must devote his entire life to getting justice for his father. Since Hamlet was the King, it also creates a theme of betrayal that carries itself throughout the play. Betrayal in a tragedy is not uncommon, and it is one of the many reasons that so many acts of violence take place in Hamlet.
Just like any other sane person, just imagine your father being killed by your uncle then marrying your mother… I don’t really think that would go down well with anyone and alas, something had to be done about it. Needless To say, Hamlet embarks on a journey to avenge his father by taking down Claudius once
In Hamlet, there are many internal and external conflicts. Some of those conflicts are struggles with society, How and when to take revenge, his own family struggles, the quality of life and death, and his feelings for Ophelia. Many of the action towards the conflicts can be questionable. Such as killing Polonius, his behavior with Gertrude his mother and his behavior with Ophelia. For his how and when to take revenge, he does actually go through with it in act five scene two.