lso, he said that it was questionable whether Ophelia took her own life, or accidentially fell in the water.I wanted to respond to Tom's posting on Christian imagery in Hamlet. I thoughthe brought up some interesting points that I had overlooked in my reading. The ideaof the Ghost of Hamlet as a parallel to the Holy Ghost is obvious to me. I agree with Tom in his description of what the Holy Ghost (spirit) is meant to be to us Christains.Along those same lines, the Ghost of Hamlet seems to have the same purpose in thisplay. He speaks to Hamlet without ever saying a word. He seems to guide him in hisquest to revenge his death. Just as Christians are taught to "feel" the presence of the Holy Ghost, Hamlet feels the presence of his father's Ghost. In the scene wherehe is argueing with Gertrude, Hamlet stops when he "feels" his father's ghost. I believe he indeed felt his presence before he say him. There is no evidence in the text to support my claim, but it is just an interpretation I have. Another reference I like is "our saviour's birth is celebrated", (1672, line 140). This also to me shows how King Hamlet is often viewed as Christ-like. There seems to be a constant parallel between Christ and Hamlet throughout the play. I'm not sure if this is direct or indirect. A scene that I felt also had strong Christian imagery in it was during Act IV. When Hamlet goes to see his mother, he seems to be on a mission. The entire play he has beenmore focused on showing her the error of her ways, than getting revenge on Claudius. This has a certain sence of Hamlet trying to be almost God-like. He attempts to show his mother a portrait of good vs. evil when he sets up the mirror to compare King Hamlet to Claudius. By doing this, he wants to point out the sins that Claudius (as well as Gertrude)have committed. At the same time, he wants to glorify his father's perfect image. To me,Hamlet is attempting to show Gertr...
