Hamlet+1.5

2. This scene is significant because the reader finally learns the ghost's motives and that it is in fact the deceased King Hamlet. Without this scene, the audience would be left unsure of whether or not the ghost was Hamlet, how the king was killed, and left without a definite understanding of why the ghost is focused on contacting Young Hamlet.

6. It is clear that the ghost has complete authority over Young Hamlet now that he knows it is his deceased father. It claims that young Hamlet will face a burden of shame and guilt if he does not do what it says. The ghost bitterly expresses his anger towards Claudius and his feelings of betrayal towards the Queen, which causes young Hamlet to experience these feelings as well. The ghost refers to Claudius as, "the serpent that did sting thy father's life" since he is the one who poisened him while napping (1.5.46). He also refers to the queen's actions in a negative light as she left him symbollicaly to,"prey on garbage" (1.5.64). Though the ghost is furious about his means of death and the fact that his widow is now marrying his murderer, he only wants young hamlet to rid of Claudius.

8. As Hamlet is reacting to what the ghost requests of him, he is unsure what exactly he should swear by. He exclaims, "O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else? And shall I couple hell?" (1.5.99-100). This shows the ambiguityof the state that the ghost of King Hamlet is in. Is it of heaven, hell, earth, or somewhere between? It seems as though the ghost is in fact lingering in some world between all three, waiting for his death to be avenged and put to rest. The ghost staes,"I...Doomed for a certain term to walk he night and for the dat confined to fast in fires till the foul crimes done in my days of nature are burnt and purged away" (1.5.14-18). The ghosts ambiguous existence is dependen upon young Hamlet's mission to kill Claudius.