There is No Ghost in William Shakespeares Hamlet Essay...

There is No Ghost in William Shakespeares Hamlet Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare in the seventeenth century, is a tragedy of great proportion and great debate. When the play begins, Hamlet is moping around at home. His father recently died, his mother sinfully married her brother-in-law, and he was cheated out of the throne by his ambitious uncle. He is angry and bitter, and after initial skepticism, is more than willing to accept the ghost who seems to resemble his deceased father. The specter, who claims to have been murdered by Claudius, calls upon Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlets current state of mind, the ghosts request for revenge, and the ghosts appeal to Hamlet for mercy toward his mother, all put†¦show more content†¦His frustration in his inability to state his suspicions have resulted in depression. This depression may have manifested itself in Hamlets interactions with the ghost of his dead father. Although it is true that others have claimed to have seen the ghost, it can be attributed to the fact that something is rotten in the state of Denmark (1.4.100). Because Denmark is in a state of disarray due to the Kings questionable death, Horatio and the guards could have seen the Kings image because they wanted to, not because it was really there. Secondly, the ghost does not exist because his request for revenge is hypocritical. If the ghost is religious, as he is presumed to be, he would not come to Hamlet and ask him to revenge his foul and most unnatural murder (1.5.31). In the Catholic religion, sinners are sent to purgatory to pray for reconciliation. The ghost is in limbo between heaven and hell and feels that revenge, not prayer, is the only way to absolve his sins. The ghosts views promote the eye for an eye philosophy and directly contradict the basics of the Catholic religion, which promotes forgiveness. Since the ghost does not know the basics of his religion, it is presumable that he does not exist in the religious afterlife, or even at all. Finally, the ghost is obsessed with revenge but urges Hamlet to spare his mother. The ghosts request for leniency leads the reader to believe that it is not the ghosts request at all,Show MoreRelated Significance of the Ghost to William Shakespeares Hamlet Essay1580 Words   |  7 PagesSignificance of the Ghost to William Shakespeares Hamlet In Shakespeares Hamlet, the ghost plays a key role in influencing the destinies of the other characters. The ghost is important to the play as it symbolizes both fate and catalyses the plot. It also brings the play into the revenge tragedy genre, which allows foreshadowing to occur and helps the audience, both Elizabethan and contemporary to better understand the play and appreciate it. 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