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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 , his son and the protagonist of the story.
The contrast between appearance and reality is a significant theme. Hamlet is presented with an image, and then interprets its deeper or darker meaning. Examples begin with Hamlet questioning the reality of the ghost. It continues with Hamlet's taking on an "antic disposition" in order to appear mad, though he is not.
What follows is an overview of the main characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, followed by a list and summary of the minor characters from the play. [1] Three different early versions of the play survive: known as the First Quarto ("Q1"), Second Quarto ("Q2"), and First Folio ("F1"), each has lines—and even scenes—missing in the others, and some character names vary.
In contrast, Goethe's Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, written between 1776–1796 not only has a production of Hamlet at its core but also dwells on parallels between the Ghost and Wilhelm Meister's dead father. [5] In the early 1850s, in Pierre, Herman Melville focuses on a Hamlet-like character's long development as a writer. [5]
Hamlet addresses the Ghost (Hamlet: Spectre infernal! Image venerée! – "Infernal apparition! Venerated image!"). The ghost gives a sign indicating that Horatio and Marcellus should withdraw, and Hamlet orders them to do so. The ghost speaks: Écoute-moi! – "Listen to me!". He identifies himself and commands Hamlet to avenge him.
In Hamlet, it is the ghost who demands that Prince Hamlet investigate his "murder most foul" and seek revenge upon his usurping uncle, King Claudius. In English Renaissance theater , ghosts were often depicted in the garb of the living and even in armor, as with the ghost of Hamlet's father.
David P. Gontar in his book Hamlet Made Simple proposes that Hamlet's delay is best explained by conceiving of Prince Hamlet as the son of Claudius, not Hamlet the Dane. Noting that Hamlet is suicidal in the first soliloquy well before he meets the Ghost, Gontar reasons that his depression is a result of having been passed over for the Danish ...
Hebenon is the agent of death in Hamlet's father's murder; it sets in motion the events of the play. It is spelled hebona in the Quartos and hebenon in the Folios. This is the only mention of hebona or hebenon in any of Shakespeare’s plays. Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,