Hamlets Antic Disposition

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and Marcellus are seen waiting for the Ghost Horatio had encountered the previous night. When it appears before them, Hamlet agrees that the Ghost bears a striking resemblance to his deceased father and it calls him forth to engage in some discourse-as during the previous night, The Ghost eluded the queries of Horatio and Marcellus to retreat at the call of a crow. At this point none of Horatio, Hamlet or Marcellus are certain whether the Ghost had come bearing evil or good sentiments. Hamlet is obviously intrigued by this spectre, and agrees to follow it, forcing his way past the concerned pair of Horatio and Marcellus. Scene v. of the Act begins with Hamlet and the Ghost engaging in conversation on another platform of the battlements. Hamlet is shocked to learn that Claudius was responsible for his father's death, and readily agrees to avenge his "most foul, strange, and unnatural murder." The Ghost tells Hamlet, and effectively, the audiences, for the first time the complete ...

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actually exists at this point is redundant: the sheer fact that Horatio and Marcellus witnessed its manifestation on more than one occasion, in addition to Hamlet's lengthy discourse with the spectre, is proof enough for the audience. At this point, we are meant to assume that the Ghost is indeed some ethereal reflection of the deceased King. Indeed, the Ghost even appears in the dramatis personae. The only doubt comes later, with Gertrude's failure to see the phantom while Hamlet speaks to it in her presence. In the previous acts, both Laertes and Polonius question Hamlet's nobility and ethics; no doubt in response to the mounting allegations of the young prince's affairs with "loose ...

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