View source for Ghost (Hamlet)

{{Short description|Character in Hamlet}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox character
| name               = Ghost
| series             = [[Hamlet]]
| image              = Shakespeare's Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1890) (14586366959).jpg
| caption            = Illustration of the Ghost by [[Thomas Ridgeway Gould]] from an 1890 printing of ''Hamlet''
| creator            = 
| based_on           = 
| portrayer          = 
| alias              = King Hamlet (''former'')
| affiliation        = 
| spouse             = [[Gertrude (Hamlet)|Gertrude]] (wife)
| children           = [[Prince Hamlet]] (son)
| family             = [[King Claudius]] (brother)
}}
The '''ghost of Hamlet's father''' is a character from [[William Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Hamlet]]''. In the stage directions, he is referred to as "'''Ghost'''". His name is also '''Hamlet''', and he is referred to as ''King'' Hamlet to distinguish him from the [[Prince Hamlet|Prince]], his son and the protagonist of the story.

He is loosely based on a [[legend]]ary [[Jutes|Jut]]ish chieftain named [[Aurvandill|Horwendill]], who appears in ''[[Chronicon Lethrense]]'' and in [[Saxo Grammaticus]]' ''[[Gesta Danorum]]''. According to oral tradition, the Ghost was originally played on stage by Shakespeare himself.<ref name="Barnet">Sylvan Barnet, "Shakespeare: An Overview," in ''[[Macbeth]]'', ed. [[Sylvan Barnet]], A Signet Classic, 1998, p. ix.</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of Some Account of the Life of Mr. William Shakespear, by Nicholas Rowe, Inc..|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16275/16275-h/16275-h.htm|access-date=2021-01-09|website=gutenberg.org}}</ref>

== In ''Hamlet'' ==
{{See also|Hamlet#Plot}}
The Ghost appears four times throughout the play: in Act I, Scene i; in the continuum of Act I, Scenes iv and v; and in Act III, Scene iv. The Ghost arrives shortly after midnight in at least two of the scenes, and in the other scenes, all that is known is that it is night.

The Ghost first appears to two soldiers—Bernardo and Marcellus—and Hamlet's friend, [[Horatio (character)|Horatio]]. The men draw their swords and stand in fear, requesting that Horatio, as a scholar, address the Ghost.  Horatio asks the Ghost to speak, and reveal its secret.  It is about to do so when the cock crows, signalling morning, and the Ghost instead disappears. In this scene, the Ghost is clearly recognised by all present as the King, dressed in his full armour. Marcellus notes that the Ghost had appeared to the castle guards twice before. Talk of spectral visitations has unsettled the night watch. Francisco, whom Bernardo relieves on guard duty says, "For this relief much thanks; 'tis bitter cold,/And I am sick at heart."<ref name=Egan>[http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/ghost_in_hamlet.html Egan, Maurice Francis. ''The Ghost in Hamlet and Other Essays in Comparative Literature''. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co, 1906. pp. 11–47]</ref>

Seeing the Ghost arrayed in a military aspect, and aware that the Norwegian crown prince [[Fortinbras]] is marshalling his forces on the frontier, Horatio recognises that the appearance of the Ghost must portend something regarding matters of state.<ref name=Egan/>

Horatio then persuades Prince Hamlet into staying up with the guards to see if the Ghost returns. At midnight, the Ghost appears, and beckons Hamlet to follow. Once alone, the Ghost describes his wanderings on the earth, and his harrowing life in [[Purgatory]], since he died without receiving [[last rites]].

{{Quote box
|align=left
|style=background:#c6dbf7;width:30em;max-width:25%;
|quote= "...but know, thou noble youth,<br>
The serpent that did sting thy Fathers life,<br>
Now wears his crown."
|source= ''Ghost of Hamlet's Father''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/doc/Ham_FM/scene/1.5/#tln-725 |title=Hamlet (Folio 1, 1623) |work=uvic.ca }}</ref>}}
He tells the young Hamlet that he was poisoned and murdered by his brother, Claudius, the new King of Denmark, and asks the prince to avenge his death.  He also expresses disgust at his wife, Gertrude, for marrying Claudius, but warns Hamlet not to confront her, but to leave that to Heaven.  Later, Prince Hamlet returns to his friends and has them swear on his sword to keep what they have seen a secret.  When they resist, the Ghost utters the words "Swear" and "Swear on the sword", from below the stage, until his friends agree.

Prince Hamlet, fearing that the apparition may be a demon pretending to be King Hamlet, decides to put the Ghost to the test by staging a play that re-enacts the circumstances that the spirit claims led to his death. Claudius' reaction is one of guilt and horror, and Prince Hamlet is convinced that the Ghost is, in fact, his father.

In the third appearance, Hamlet is confronted by the Ghost in his mother's closet, and is rebuked for not carrying out his revenge and for disobeying his instruction by talking to Gertrude.  Hamlet fearfully apologises.  Gertrude, however, cannot see the Ghost, and thinks Hamlet is mad, asking why he stares and talks to nothing.  In this scene, the Ghost is described as being in his nightgown. He is never mentioned again.

King Hamlet is described by the few characters who mention him—basically Hamlet, Horatio and the guards—as a warrior, as he led Denmark's forces to victory against Norway, and personally defeated its King [[Fortinbras]] in hand-to-hand combat.  Hamlet respects him, saying Claudius pales in comparison to him, and frequently reflecting on him in an endearing manner.

==Interpretations==
[[File:Harvard Theatre Collection - TS Promptbooks Sh 154.75, Henry Irving 1874.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Prompter (theatre)|prompt book]] from an 1874 staging of ''[[Hamlet]]'' by English actor and manager [[Henry Irving]] (1838–1905), in which he experimented with using [[limelight]] (burning calcium oxide) to represent the Ghost.]]
The Ghost in ''Hamlet'' is fundamental to the plot<ref name=Joseph>{{cite journal|title=Discerning the Ghost in Hamlet|first=Miriam|last=Joseph|date=12 September 1961|journal=PMLA|volume=76|issue=5|pages=493–502|doi=10.2307/460542|jstor=460542|s2cid=164022901 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CePVefwmN98C&q=%22linchpin+of+hamlet%22|title=What Happens in Hamlet|first=J. Dover|last=Wilson|date=2 January 1951|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=52|access-date=12 September 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9780521091091}}</ref> and has been the subject of a variety of interpretations. Shakespeare scholar [[W. W. Greg]] was of the opinion that the Ghost was a figment of Hamlet's overwrought imagination.<ref>Greg, W.W., "Hamlet's Hallucinations", [[Modern Language Review]], XII, 1917, 393–421</ref>
Shakespeare scholar [[J. Dover Wilson]] and others have argued that in having the Ghost appear a number of times to others before appearing to Hamlet, Shakespeare makes clear that the apparition is not a mere illusion.<ref name=Joseph/>

==Performances==
About a hundred years after Shakespeare died, the poet [[Nicholas Rowe (writer)|Nicholas Rowe]] reported that he had heard an anecdote that Shakespeare himself had played the Ghost, starting a story that is still given credence today.<ref name="Barnet"/><ref name=":0" /> Modern actors who have portrayed the Ghost include [[Laurence Olivier]],<ref>[[Felix Barker|Barker, Felix]] (1953) ''The Oliviers'' ("...the actor playing the ghost [was] Olivier himself..." p259)</ref> [[Paul Scofield]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/19/movies/review-film-from-mad-max-to-a-prince-possessed.html|title=Review/Film; From Mad Max to a Prince Possessed|first=Caryn|last=James|newspaper=The New York Times |date=19 December 1990 |access-date=31 August 2018}}</ref> [[Patrick Stewart]],<ref name="Shakespeare Survey 74">{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Luisa |title=Shakespeare Survey 74: Shakespeare and Education |date=September 2021 |page=317 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N-eREAAAQBAJ&dq=%22patrick+stewart%22+ghost+hamlet&pg=PA317 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-04108-9 |language=en}}</ref> [[Brian Blessed]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36619676|title=Brian Blessed: My heart specialist says I'm Terminator 4|first=Tim|last=Masters|work=BBC News |date=29 June 2016|access-date=31 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="Shakespeare Survey 74" /> and [[Irrfan Khan]].<ref name="Where is Adaptation?">{{cite book |last1=Hermansson |first1=Casie |last2=Zepernick |first2=Janet |title=Where is Adaptation?: Mapping cultures, texts, and contexts |date=15 October 2018 |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company]] |isbn=978-90-272-6349-0 |page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmVwDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Irrfan+Khan%22+ghost+hamlet&pg=PA154 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="'Hamlet' and World Cinema">{{cite book |last1=Burnett |first1=Mark Thornton |title='Hamlet' and World Cinema |date=4 July 2019 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-13550-5 |page=173 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTCdDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Irrfan+Khan%22+ghost+hamlet&pg=PA173 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Ghost#Depiction in the arts|Ghosts in the arts]]
*[[Ghost story]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*''[[s:The Importance of The Ghost in Hamlet|The Importance of The Ghost in Hamlet]]'' (1910). [[William Strunk Jr.]]

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[[Category:Characters in Hamlet]]
[[Category:Fictional ghosts]]
[[Category:Fictional kings]]
[[Category:Fictional Danish people]]
[[Category:Male Shakespearean characters]]
[[Category:Fiction about fratricide]]
[[Category:Fiction about regicide]]
[[Category:Fictional murdered people]]