At another part of the platform Hamlet says he will go no further and demands the ghost to speak.
The ghost’s reply is “Mark me” which means listen and pay attention (I, v, 3). Also, before the ghost decides to unfold reveal its story he tell Hamlet that he must be ready to exact revenge after he is done hearing him out.
The ghost’s first words into the story confirm that he is Hamlet’s “fathers spirit” (I, v, 14). Before the ghost reveals his story he says he’s condemned to purgatory by day and to wander the earth “Till the foul crimes done in [his] days of nature/ Are burnt and purged away.” (I, v, 16-17).
But the most important part is when the ghost tells Hamlet to “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” which verifies that something was rotten in Denmark (I, v, 30). The King got murdered.
Later on in the discussion the ghost reveals even more. He explains that “Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, / A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark / Is by a forged process of my death / Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth, / The serpent that did sting thy father's life / Now wears his crown.” (I, v, 41-46). Everyone was led onto believe that Hamlet was bitten by a snake but he was murdered by his brother who now happens to be the king.
Hamlet’s response in “O my prophetic soul! My uncle!” which I think he’s basically saying “I knew it!” (I, v, 47).
The ghost then also says that Queen Gertrude was seduced into giving Claudius her “lust”. But as he’s explaining the whole story he believes the sun is about to rise so he decides to be brief. The ghost explains that Claudius poisoned him by pouring poison into his ear while he was sleeping.
The ghost says he was robbed of his crown, life and queen all at once in the midst of his sin filled life which he didn’t get the opportunity to repent for. So he tells Hamlet to exact revenge on those who conspired against him but to leave his mother out of it so that she can succumb to her own guilt.
The ghost leaves and Hamlet is by himself and he basically says that he wants to exact revenge on Claudius and that he will remember his father. Then Horatio and Marcellus arrive happy that he is safe and sane. But after seeing that their friend is safe they’re both curious and they want to know how Hamlet’s discussion with the ghost went. Hesitant to tell, Hamlet gets them to swear that they won’t tell anyone about what they had seen that night and that if someone asked them about it they would say they know nothing.
Hamlet didn’t come out and say what had just happened. He had promised his dead father that he would exact revenge on the new illegitimate king and this would require secrecy so he got Marcellus and Horatio to swear to secrecy and they departed.
Considering that it’d be immensely difficult to assassinate any king. Do you think Hamlet will succeed?
Do you think Hamlet will abide by his father’s request to leave his mother out of the plan considering that she is at fault just as much as Claudius is?
Thanks for this, Keenan. This is a daunting amount of work. You even included the line references, which is setting the bar pretty high.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to hear what some of your classmates will have to say in response to your questions. I think I will support this with class time.
Thank you for the summary Keenan! :)
ReplyDeleteHmmm. As you mentioned, Keenan, it would be difficult to assassinate the king but Hamlet also mentioned something about acting crazy and getting close to Claudius, which leads perfectly to the quote "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer". So if Hamlet can manage getting the king's trust, he is pretty much in control and it also helps that Hamlet has close friends within the castle.
As for the second question, I think Hamlet will have a hard time abiding by his father's request of leaving Gertrude out of the plan. In Scene II, we already catch a glimpse of Hamlet's hate and disgust towards his mother when they are speaking to each other. At the end of the scene, Hamlet also goes into a speech, expressing how much he hates the idea of Gertrude betraying his father so soon after his death and that marrying Claudius( Hamlet's uncle) is incest. So to answer the initial question, I do not think he will abide, even though he respects his father so much. I also think that in his own way, Hamlet is trying to show his father respect by getting revenge on the people who betrayed him, and unfortunately for the deceased king, that includes Gertrude.
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ReplyDeleteI think that he would be successful in assassinating the king because he believes the ghost, which he and Ophilia were in love but then her father banned her from seeing him. With this in mind I get a feeling that he would do something crazy just to get to the King to kill him. I totally agree with Linda about his hate for his mother and the fact that he is loyal to his father.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Keenan!!