Passage Analysis: Hamlet Essay

This commentary will examine a passage in William Shakespeares Hamlet that takes place in Scene Five of Act One, from lines 42 to 73. It is a speech made by the Ghost of the late King of Denmark, Hamlet, to his son who is named Hamlet as well. In the speech, the Ghost speaks harshly about how he was killed by his brother Claudius who is now the current King of Denmark. This passage is significant as it is the first real sign of plot progression within the play. The Ghost explains how brutal his death was and wants Hamlet to act upon this by seeking retribution against Claudius.

The Ghost chooses to use harsh and slandering words like incestuous, adulterate and wicked when speaking about his brother Claudius. He sets the tone for what is to come in the rest of the passage immediately by demeaning his brother and promoting hate against him. This choice of diction makes sense as he is obviously outraged by the fact that his brother killed him and stole his wifes hand in marriage. His decision to ise the word adulterate arouses some suspicion that Gertrude had cheated on him with Claudius before his death. This only acts to increases the tension between Hamlet and Claudius. Within this short tirade early in the passage, the Ghost uses the rhyme, With witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts, to further enhance his hatred of his brother. He explains how he thinks his brother used his personal wit and fancy gifts to win over his Queens, Will, meaning sexual desire. The fact that the Ghost believes Claudius has only won over his ex- wifes sex drive and not her true love proves to be a catalyst for the rest of the play. The Ghost shows to Hamlet that women, in his opinion, are easily manipulated by sexual feelings and act on impulse rather then rash judgment. He unknowingly preaches to Hamlet that no female can be trusted.

However, the Ghost quickly shifts the tone of the passage to a somewhat lighter mood when speaking about Gertrude, the Queen. He reminisces about his former love with her and has a glorified view of himself when thinking back to their marriage. He says, From me whose love was of that dignity, and, Even with the vow, to explain how good of a husband he felt he was. The Ghost believed he took his marriage seriously and still is unable to comprehend how Gertrude could lower her standards to a man with, Natural gifts, poorer than his own. This is a tactic used by the Ghost to anger Hamlet further. The Ghost makes Hamlet feel sorry for him by explaining how good of a husband he had been and how unfair it was that his wife had left him. Whether he was a good husband or not, he uses this tactic to his advantage to get Hamlet riled up as his ultimate goal is to get him to seek revenge upon Claudius.

There is an overwhelming theme of good versus evil within this passage that the Ghost uses well to persuade Hamlet into avenging his death. Whenever the Ghost talks about himself, he portrays everything he has done in a positive way and everything his brother has done in a negative way. The second line of the passage is the first example of this. The Ghost uses cacophony through the line, With witchcraft of his wits, which creates a harsh feeling immediately against Claudius. The stressing of the consonants in this line creates an unpleasant combination of loud, jarring sounds. The Ghost does this to create a feeling of hate and resentment that he wishes to instill on Hamlet. To show to Hamlet how he is the opposite of his, Wretch, of a brother, the Ghost explains how he has always been faithful and virtuous. He juxtaposes himself and Hamlets uncle further in presenting himself as having good morals and Claudius as possessing poor ones. He says that the new King is lewd and lustful. He believes that you are never able to be virtuous if you have been lustful or lewd. Once again, the Ghost is convincing Hamlet that Claudius is a bad man.

Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter within this passage. However, he breaks this pattern three separate times. This is done deliberately to develop the Ghosts argument that Claudius is a traitor and Hamlet should seek revenge for his fathers death. The most important break in this pattern comes on line 57. The Ghost is on a rant of how only the virtuous will go into heaven and anyone that I lustful can never be pure and good like him. He ends this short diatribe with stating that anyone who can be satisfied with sleeping around will, Prey on garbage. Unlike every other line in his rant before, this one only has five syllables. This puts all the stress on the word garbage and makes it all the more powerful. Hamlet listens to his dead fathers rant on what a good man he was and is left with the harsh image that his uncle is nothing more than a man who will prey on any type of garbage, meaning female, thrown his way.

The description of the Kings death is vile and vulgar. He creates an eerie and even crude image of his death. Through words like leperous, blood and curses we as the reader can visualize how gruesome the former Kings murder was. The Ghost may be embellishing his death in order to get Hamlet angry over the torturous murder his father had to go through. The most important part of this passage comes when the Ghost explains how he was poisoned. He explains how the vile of poison was placed in the, Porches, of his ears and it flowed quickly through the, Gates and alleys, of his body. Shakespeare personifies the Ghosts death by using these inanimate objects. The significance of this is that it shows how Hamlet must not only seek revenge for the loss of his own father, but also for the loss of the leader of Denmark. The use of the words gates, alleys and porches shows how the people of Denmark have lost their leader who once controlled all of the things in their state. Hamlet must seek revenge against Claudius not only for his familys name, but also for the reprisal of the state of Denmark. This is what makes the play all the more dramatic.

Within the course of the passage, the Ghost of the late King of Denmark cries to Hamlet how he was brutally murdered by his brother, his wife abandoned him and how Hamlet must seek vengeance against Claudius. The Ghost instills a sense of hate into Hamlet that only a father who knows his son well could do. He creates a dark mood by using malicious words against Claudius. This passage is important for the rest of the play because it is the first movement in the plot thus far. It makes it obvious to the reader that Hamlet will seek revenge against Claudius. Furthermore, the Ghost obviously does not like Claudius as a King and indirectly states that Hamlet will have the good sense to become the rightful heir to the throne.