Hamlet was already greatly affected by his father's death and was in deep mourning. After the ghost came into contact with Hamlet, he embodied anger and found a deep addiction to revenge. The ghost of Hamlet's father revealed something to the young Hamlet about how the ghost, Hamlet's father, had died. From there, it set the course for the rest of the play. The ghost informed Hamlet that he had been killed by Sir King Claudius and that Claudius was, in fact, Hamlet's uncle.
This is apparent through the appearance of his father. The apparition claims that “I am thy [Hamlet’s] father’s spirit” (I.v.14). This shows that the king’s physical body is dead but not his soul. But the king admits that he had done some bad things in his life therefore he is “doomed for a certain term to walk the night” (I.v.15). As hamlet figures it out that the husband of his mother is a murderer—Uncle Claudius—he realizes that his mother is at fault.
The death of one’s father and a ghostly visitation thereafter are events that would challenge the sanity of anyone. The circumstances of King Hamlet’s death render it especially traumatic. The late King seemed to be an idol to his son; Hamlet looked up to him and aspired to have the same qualities. Hamlet doesn't like King Claudius and sees him as a swindling usurper who has stolen not only the dead King’s throne, but Hamlet’s as well(2.4). Hamlet shows Gertrude that she has lowered her standards by marrying Claudius, When he refers to old Hamlet as, “A combination and a form indeed / Where every god did seem to set his seal” (3.4.55-61).
However the main factor driving and building the plot is the element of madness. The term madness is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as either a disorder of the mind or a behaviour whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to him and others. One day, Hamlet returns to his home, Denmark’s palace to find his father, King Hamlet, dead. Still mourning and recovering from the death of his father, his mother, Gertrude marries Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle. Soon after, the young prince is visited by a ghost that resembled the appearance of his dead past father.
While he accumulates more and more evidence of Claudius’ obvious guilt, he constantly returns to the theme of his mother’s remarriage, a source of pain equally as unbearable as the circumstances of his father’s death. There is also the question: is Hamlet’s madness real or feigned? Everyone in the court seems to think that Hamlet has gone crazy. The only character who is an exception is Horatio, as he is Hamlet’s true
This method of obtaining knowledge about someone else’s plans defies morality and weakens any bond of trust formed within Hamlet’s home. Secrets are supposed to be kept, but when eavesdropping is present, it becomes virtually impossible. Hamlet’s family and piers have considered him insane within his house. He is suffering from internal struggles about his father’s death, and the task he has been given. Hamlet has been instructed by the ghost of his late father to avenge his death by killing King Claudius.
Shakespeare incorporated the theme of madness to serve a motive for Hamlet in order to deceive others. Hamlet planned everything from what he was doing to what he was going to do. Hamlet did in fact pretend to be mad, just so he could follow through on his plan to avenge his father’s death. He acted like he was mad because he did not want to directly kill Claudius, because he wanted to make him suffer. Hamlet also knew that he could not tell anyone that Claudius has murdered his father or that he had seen the ghost of his father because no one would believe him.
The guards immediately agree that they must tell Hamlet what they saw. After telling Hamlet what they saw, Hamlet decides he must see this infamous ghost for himself. Before Hamlet can venture to find the ghost he is interrupted with the concerns of his mother and Claudius. They ask him if he is handling his father’s death well since he has been so “bitterly sorrowful lately.” Hamlet answers them by stating, “Nor customary suits of solemn black, nor windy suspiration of forced breath, no, nor the fruitful river in the eye, nor the dejected 'havior of the visage, together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, that can denote me truly. These indeed “seem,” for they are actions that a man might play.
Prince Hamlet seems keen to avenge his father’s death, but throughout the narrative we see Hamlet hesitate to kill Claudius, he may be finding it hard as Claudius is the King and also a relative. The Ghost says he’s going to suffer in Purgatory until Prince Hamlet avenges his death by killing Claudius, as the way he died he didn’t have a chance to confess his sins, so he would go to heaven. “Doomed for a certain
Research Paper: Hamlet It is usual to believe that only the main characters truly highlight the thematic significance of literary works. However, as seen in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the minor characters, Ophelia and the ghost of Hamlet senior, illuminate issues of central importance to the play, especially the thematic elements and character development. The ghost of Hamlet’s father triggers Hamlet’s emotions to avenge his father’s murder which sets the course for the rest of the play: GHOST – I am thy father’s spirit, Doomed for a certain term to walk the night And for the day confined to fast in fires Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away. … Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder (Act 1, Scene 5, lines 14 – 31). Hamlet is shocked to not only to see his father’s ghost but to also hear that he was murdered; he now feels it his duty to as the ghost wishes in order to save his family’s pride.