The ghost told Hamlet, it was his uncle who murdered his father, but Hamlet needs proof to go ahead and openly accuse King Claudius as a murder. Hamlet decides to devise a trap for Claudius. He wants the traveling players to put on a play whose plot resembles the murder of his father. Hamlet is determined that when Claudius watches a murder take place on stage, his emotional reaction will prove or will deny his guilt. Hamlet believes that “The play’s the thing,” “where in I’ll catch the conscience of the king” (II.ii.581–582)
For the Elizabethan society, the theater represents a very powerful place. The theater was used as a tool for advertising and drawing the public attention to whatever is being performed. While we may consider Hamlets
plan a bit nutty, he actually was very reasonable as it mirrors some true stories that actually happened in Shakespeare’s times. Back in 1612, Thomas Heywood, who was known as Shakespeare’s contemporary playwright wrote a story about a woman in the audience getting extremely emotional while watching the play History of Friar Francis. The play was about a wife, who kills her husband. The scene was so overwhelmed for the women in the audience that she couldn’t help, but confessed to murdering her own husband a few years ago. Another bright example that reveals the power of the theater for Elizabethans takes place in 1601 when the Earl of Essex’s rebel faction asked Shakespeare’s theater company to perform a play Richard II in which Henry Bolingbroke takes over the throne from the corrupt King Richard II. Essex thought that the play’s story was referring to him and the very next day he takes action in the queen’s court. The theater was so powerful during the Elizabethan era that it could make people reveal their darkest secrets and confess crimes.
In the beginning of the play, Hamlet's father comes to him as a ghost from the grave. He tells Hamlet of his uncle's betrayal of him and tells Hamlet that he must kill Claudius to set things right. Through this event, Hamlet...
Hamlet struggles constantly, trying to decide how he should go about avenging the loss of his father to his deceitful uncle-stepfather. Planning to kill him isn’t easy. Hamlet is given many opportunities to kill Claudius, but keeps stalling for time to be certain the ghost had spoken the truth about the murder. Finally, Hamlet decides upon a plan. “the play’s the thing/Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King”(II.ii.612-613). He will stage a performance for the King that would actually be a reenactment of his father’s murder. The play he chooses to reenact is entitled "The Murder of Gonzago" with a few changes made to accommodate Hamlet’s new lines and actions reflecting Claudius murdering his father. Upon seeing Claudius’s crazy behavior during and following Hamlet’s play, Hamlet realizes that his ghost-father had spoken the truth.
Hamlet's display of mental illness allows him to prove to himself that Claudius did, in fact, murder his father. After seeing the ghost of his father, Hamlet vows to avenge his death and decides that feigning lunacy will provide him with the means to prove Claudius' guilt. Following his initial encounter with the ghost of his father, Hamlet is very excitedly speaking with Marcellus and Horatio and tells them:
The question of why Hamlet delays in taking revenge on Claudius for so long has puzzled readers and audience members alike. Immediately following Hamlet's conversation with the Ghost, he seems determined to fulfill the Ghost's wishes and swears his companions to secrecy about what has occurred. The next appearance of Hamlet in the play reveals that he has not yet revenged his father's murder. In Scene two, act two, Hamlet gives a possible reason for his hesitation. "The spirit that I have seen / May be a devil, and the devil hath power / T' assume a pleasing shape" (2.2.627-629). With this doubt clouding his mind, Hamlet seems completely unable to act. This indecision is somewhat resolved in the form of the play. Hamlet comes up with the idea of the play that is similar to the events recounted by the ghost about his murder to prove Claudius guilty or innocent. Due to the king's reaction to the play, Hamlet attains the belief that the Ghost was telling the truth the night of the apparition.
The plays the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King". (55) Towards the end of the play, Claudius hastily removes himself from the crowd, verifying Hamlet's suspicions. Now, Hamlet not only possesses every reason to believe the ghost, but entrusts his faith in the ghost as well. However, Hamlet's faith does not lie solely in the ghost. He has another kind of faith faith in himself. Hamlet's belief that he can see through his revenge blatantly exemplifies his faith in himself.
In the players’ scene, Hamlet revises the play of The Murder of Gonzago, adding in a scene that hints at the murder of King Hamlet. When Claudius reacts to Hamlet’s trap and makes a sudden exit, Hamlet now knows that the ghost’s story is true and will “take the ghost’s word for a thousand pound.” He now has no reason not to act. Prior to witnessing Claudius’ reaction, Hamlet has been debating with himself over the legitimacy of the ghost and its story. He has been questioning himself and whether he is a coward, because all he has done is talk, not having taken any action. Now that Hamlet knows the murderous sin Claudius has committed, Hamlet feels no guilt in avenging his father’s death. The plot takes a turn, as Hamlet becomes more of a man of action than a philosopher.
Ethical or not, the simple effort of investigating whether the ghost’s claims were true shows that Hamlet was a just man not entirely fixated on avenging his father in the beginning of the play. Hamlet could have simply ignored the ghost’s request of removing Claudius or could have killed Claudius without any tangible proof, both being disgraceful in injustice or in recklessness. But instead, with great effort, Hamlet discovered the truth of Claudius’ crime by arranging the play “The Mousetrap” to draw out Claudius’ well-hidden guilt publicly. It was then that Hamlet had the evidence he needed to serve his uncle’s
After the play Hamlet orchestrated as an experiment to test Claudius' reaction, Hamlet ensues in a conversation with the spies. Hamlet had Horatio closely watch Claudius to study the king's reaction to the play which so resemble his own situation. Horatio determined that Hamlet's suspicions about Claudius were well-founded due to Claudius' over-reaction and storming out of the play. Upon Horatio's judgment, Hamlet determined that the message from the ghost must have been true, thus he must go forward with vengeance for his father's ghost. Just as they discuss their conclusions, courtiers Guildenstern and Rosencrantz enter to have the described con...
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet the king of Denmark is murdered by his brother, Claudius, and as a ghost tells his son, Hamlet the prince of Denmark, to avenge him by killing his brother. The price Hamlet does agree to his late father’s wishes, and undertakes the responsibility of killing his uncle, Claudius. However even after swearing to his late father, and former king that he would avenge him; Hamlet for the bulk of the play takes almost no action against Claudius. Prince Hamlet in nature is a man of thought throughout the entirety of the play; even while playing mad that is obvious, and although this does seem to keep him alive, it is that same trait that also keeps him from fulfilling his father’s wish for vengeance
Hamlet is made to do some detective work in this melodrama. His first order of business was to figure out if the ghost of his father that he thought he saw, was in fact real and if it was, was it unfeigned or a demon. Then, he must decide if the ghost of his father was truthful about Claudius, his father's brother, Hamlet's uncle who was also the reigning King, committing fratricide against his father. To find evidence of Claudius' involvement, Hamlet uses the players, to bring about his uncles deep seated feelings hopefully lodged in his conscience.
The Role of Ghost in Hamlet and His Resolution on the Dramatic Work The ghost of the previous Danish king in Hamlet is a potent element that causes Prince Hamlet a variety of reactions toward the world around him and to the unexpected killer, King Claudius. Besides, the Ghost is the tool of knowledge that lights Hamlet's heart with the love of insisting on searching for the credibility of the crime. The Ghost of Hamlet's father played a crucial role in the play, especially on Hamlet, by telling him the truth of his death and commanding him to revenge from the killer. The role of the Ghost and his command in Hamlet caused Hamlet hesitation and skepticism about Ghost's credibility.
Some waiters had seen a ghost at the castle, and it looked like the spirit of Hamlet's father. When Hamlet talks to the spirit, it says that it was the spirit of his father. Claudius and Hamlet's mother murders him and Hamlet has taken revenge. He must kill Claudius, but must not
In literature, ambiguities of the human character are wildly studied and speculated upon. The collective opinion regarding right and wrong often influences human behaviours, leading to characters with both ambiguous goals and differing ethical lenses, understood in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Othello respectively. Hamlet tells the story of the title character, a prince of Denmark seeking to avenge his father’s death after the death of his father. Othello is the tale of a Moor general of Venice, after being tricked by his ancient into believing his wife is unfaithful for his lieutenant. Protagonists Hamlet and Othello struggle with the betrayal of their friends and significant others, leading them to betrayal themselves. Furthermore, the motivations
The exposition usually has a ghost who provides a motivation for revenge to the main character. Obviously, in Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears to him and prompts him to avenge his murder. The anticipation comes when Hamlet decides to have a play performed which reenacts his father’s death so he can watch Claudius’ reaction and “...catch the conscience of the king,” (II, II, 634). The dramatic irony involved with “a play within a play” is a common aspect of revenge, and even though the audience knows the truth behind the death of the king, they anticipate how Hamlet will act to Claudius’ reaction. The confrontation comes when Hamlet sees Claudius praying and decides to spare him at that time. This action also delays the progression of the play, as it allows for a second confrontation between Hamlet and
If Hamlet were crazy like many scholars claim that he is; he would be the only one claiming to see the ghost, instead we have a host of witnesses who can testify to the ghost’s existence. Shortly after Hamlet’s first encounter with the ghost of his father, he asks his constituents Marcellus and Horatio his best friend to swear that they would refrain from making any remarks concerning what went on that night or anything strange that they see him do. Hamlet is thinking cognitively by forming a plan, his plan is to make sure that his uncle Claudius the current king of Denmark does not become suspicious of hamlet’s plot to murder him because if Claudius becomes aware that Hamlet is trying to kill him, Claudius will end his nephew’s life first. People that are mad cannot form cohesive thoughts like