Discuss the dramatic significance of the ghost in Act 1.
“It harrows me with fear and wonder.” Horatio’s expressive words
on first encountering the ghost in Hamlet are reflective of the concerns
that were preeminent in the minds of the Elizabethans of Shakespeare’s
time with regards the supernatural. The influence of the people’s rampant
belief in ghosts, witches and superstitious ideas is evident on the pages of
such Shakespearean works as Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Richard
III. This idea of ghosts triggered a sense of fear, and instigated thought on
matters such as death and the afterlife. The appearance of King Hamlet’s
ghost is thus not only typical of the era in which the play was supposedly
written, as well as typical of other Shakespearean works, but brings to
mind issues which are still widely debated today.
Act 1 begins with a change of guards at the Elsinore castle, an active
scene which has been interpreted by some to set off the tension in the
play. The guards on duty, Marcellus and Barnardo, attempt to convince
Horatio of an ‘apparition’, a ‘dreaded sight’ which they had twice
previously seen. Horatio, however, is filled with disbelief, proclaiming,
“Tush, tush, ‘twill not appear.” The repetition of the word ‘tush’ in this
alliterative statement draws our attention to his doubts of the ghost’s
appearance, and thus makes it even more dramatic when the ghost
suddenly appears.
The setting of the first scene on the castle battlements past
midnight, and the manner in which the ghost’s previous appearances are
described by the guards, employing such adjectives as ‘dreaded’ and
references to heaven and the “star…where now it burns” all come together
to create a fearful scene. These all pave the way for the appearance of the
ghost, and further dramatic description of it and its actions. The way the
ghost moves and acts, seen in the use of sibilance in “See, it stalks away”,
and in the stage directions, “It spreads his arms” can be described as
frightening and haunting.
Horatio says of the ghost, “…it started like a guilty thing/ Upon a
fearful summons” This simile implies that the ghost is still facing
judgement, and this introduces the idea of purgatory. It is believed by
Catholics that when a person dies, they either go to heaven, hell or are in
judgement in purgatory. The ghost further hints this idea to Hamlet when
he says, “Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature/ Are burnt and
purged away.” This further connotes the idea that Hamlet’s father is
Catholic whereas Hamlet, a student at Wittenberg, the same university
attended
by Martin Luther the religious Reformist and founder of
Protestantism, is Protestant. This idea of religious differences can be
linked to the era in which Shakespeare was writing, in that the Church of
England had broken away from the Catholic Church under King Henry in
the 16th century and there was thus consciousness of differing
denominations among Catholics and Anglicans in England.
It is also very dramatic that the ghost does not speak to the guards,
and indeed it speaks to no other person but Hamlet. Although Horatio, the
scholar, bids it to speak to him with the continuous repetition of ‘Speak
to me’, the ghost does not speak till it has met Hamlet and led him away
from the others. The delay between when the guards see the ghost in the
first scene and when the ghost actually speaks to Hamlet in Scene Four
creates suspense and heightens the tension in the play. The appearance
and words of the ghost confirms the speculation by the guards and Horatio
that “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” This is reminiscent of
where Horatio earlier points out, making use of alliteration, that “this
bodes some strange eruption to
our state.” There is a lot of war imagery used in this Act, including “…assail
your
ears/ That are so fortified…” and “martial stalk”. The Danes are worried
that war will be waged on them by Fortinbras of Norway, and thus the
reason for people working to make weapons day and night, and guards
watching the palace all night long. The ghost only seems to buffer these
thoughts, appearing in “warlike form” and wearing the same armour
which King Hamlet had on when he “combated” Norway. However, the
ghost’s calling of Hamlet aside is significant as it proves that he has
appeared for a more private reason than those concerning the wars of
Denmark.
The evocative and vivid language which the ghost employs in
speaking to Hamlet about purgatory is highly significant as it encourages
Hamlet to spur to action
in avenging his father’s death. The ghost states that he is ‘doomed for a
certain term to walk the night’ and in the day to “fast in fires”. The
alliteration in the last phrase places emphasis on the suffering which he
is going through. He further describes
purgatory with the imagery of a “prison house” and says, in a simile, that
should he detail Hamlet on the secrets of purgatory, his hairs would
stand on end like quills upon a ‘fretful porpentine’. The ghost also
introduces the idea of murder in the play, stating alliteratively, “Murder
most foul.” Orders are also given to Hamlet by the ghost such as
“Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” and the haunting
“Remember me.” All of these factors come together to make Hamlet pity
his father and be even more prepared to seek his father’s revenge.
Important information for the events of the play yet to unfold is
revealed to us by the ghost. For instance, the ghost tells us of how he was
poisoned in the ear by Claudius through references to the situation such
as the metonymic phrase “…the whole ear of Denmark…” and the
imagery, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears his
crown.” Hamlet’s views are also largely influenced by the language used
by his father’s ghost. The ghost refers to Claudius in an unhealthy,
animalistic manner, calling him, “that incestuous, that adulterate beast.”
Hamlet thus thinks of Claudius in this manner for the rest of the play. The
ghost also informs Hamlet that he was “cut off in the blossom of…sin” ,
meaning that he was killed before even being allowed to ask for
forgiveness, and thus he was still in purgatory. This later influences
Hamlet’s actions as he does not kill Claudius at the opportunity he gets
when Claudius is praying, believing that Claudius would then go “…to
heaven.” Little does he know that Claudius is not actually praying, as
Claudius confirms in the rhyming couplet, “My words fly up, my thoughts
remain below./ Words without thoughts never to heaven go.”
The fact that there is a ghost present in the play influences
several other things. One of these is the fate of the protagonist, Hamlet.
Hamlet is obliged to do as the ghost says, and thus situations are beyond
his control. The ghost charges him to avenge his father’s death and,
should he slack, the ghost reappears to urge him to carry out the
revenge. For instance, the ghost appears when Hamlet is being violent
towards his mother later on in the play, rather than paying full attention
to what he had been charged to do- to revenge.
However, the fact that the ghost is present in the play means that
we, and Hamlet, can question the validity of what the ghost says. The
whole basis of the revenge lies on the words of the ghost, but what if the
ghost is an illusion of Hamlet’s? What if the ghost leads Hamlet to
destruction, as is hinted at by Horatio’s rhetorical question “Which might
deprive your sovereignty of reason/ And draw you into madness?” This is
notably the first hint at madness in the play, and Hamlet, perhaps having
doubts about what the ghost says, delays his revenge and sets out to find
proof for himself. He wants proof to assure himself that the ghost’s words
are valid, and thus he puts on a ‘play within a play’ on the theme of his
father’s death called the Murder of Gonzago to watch the reaction of his
uncle. Whilst he delays his revenge, Hamlet does pretend to be mad,
fulfilling Horatio’s prediction in a manner.
The result of all of this is that Ophelia, his lover, actually turns mad and
commits suicide.
The play is thus, very importantly, set off by the appearance of the
ghost. He is a sort of catalyst to the subsequent events of the play.
Described in Act 1 as a “portentous figure”, the ghost does not fail to fulfil
its potential as the initial trigger which led to the chain of events that make
up the plot of this play. The significance of the ghost in this Act is therefore
highly important, as the ghost’s appearance, words an actions, are the
basis on which the rest of the play is built.