play:“Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn’d, Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitable,”(I.IV.40-42)He casts doubt on the true intentions of the ghost, giving the audience the thought that perhaps the ghost is of ambiguous nature rather than just trapped in purgatory and seeking revenge. Hamlet fears this as he is by nature, a good tempered, philosophical character who, I believe, would be incapable of committing sin but knowing that the ghost is of his father, who Hamlet held up to be a God, if his father asked him to commit as sin, he would have no choice but to do so. This is ultimately his downfall.The ghost terrifies Hamlet with the thought of eternally haunting him if Hamlet does not obey the ghosts orders. The ghost then goes on to describe his murder in detail but we are never sure if the description is true or not. One of the lines that suggests the nature of the ghost is not just of revenge is line 3:“When I to sulph’rous and tormenting flames Must render up myself.”(I.V.3)The description is reminiscent of a description of hell, where it is suggested the ghost must “live”. When the word “murder” is directly used, we are alerted to a sin having been committed. The description that follows is of how Claudius killed his brother by pouring poison into his ear. Whether this is metaphorical or actual is never disclosed. Claudius later admits to killing King Hamlet but does not say HOW he killed him. The Ghost also brings to our attention that Claudius is an “incestuous, adulterate beast,” (I.V.42) and that he seduced “my most seeming-virtuous queen.” (I.V.45) In basic terms, King Hamlet was killed by his brother, Claudius, to seduce the queen, then marry her and then take the throne. Incest, Murder and deceit; all sinful things.However, Hamlet is told not to take revenge on his mother, just his ...
