On the Encounter Between Hamlet and the Ghost

Commentary on the encounter between Hamlet and the Ghost.

Shakespeare describes the ghost's physical appearance before the ghost actually appears. This is because Shakespeare wants to create an image of the ghost's physical appearance in the audiences' minds, so that when the ghost does come on, they will be aware of its physical appearance.

The ghost's physical appearance is described in a number of places during the first scene. Horatio, who is Hamlet's friend, describes the ghost as "fair and warlike form." When Horatio says, "warlike form," this shows the audience that the ghost is wearing armour which symbolizes war

Bernardo who is also a guard, describes the figure of the ghost as "the same figure, like the king's that dead." Here the audience get two pieces of information. First of all they find out that the ghost is the king and secondly that it is the spirit of the dead king which means that it is Hamlet's father.

When the ghost is shown in the first scene Horatio says, "Stay! Speak, speak. I charge thee to speak." This shows the audience that Horatio is ordering the ghost to speak but in return the ghost does not say a word. In this scene Hamlet has come with his friend Horatio to see the ghost. Horatio and the other guards had decided to tell Hamlet about the ghost at the end of scene one. When Hamlet sees the ghost for himself, he starts to describe what he sees in a shocked kind of manor. The ghost beckons Hamlet and he follows but Horatio and Marcellus try to stop but then Hamlet threatens them and they let him go. In this scene the ghost's physical appearance is described mostly by Hamlet. When Hamlet sees the ghost for the first time, he says, "Angels and ministers of grace defend us!" When he says, "angels," this shows the audience that he is religious and then when he says, "ministers of grace defend us," this shows the audience how scared Hamlet is. He describes the ghost as "King, father, royal Dane." All of these things are related to fit his father. This shows the audience that the relationship between Hamlet and the King might have been a strong relationship.

Horatio mentions the ghost's physical appearance when he is trying to stop Hamlet from following the ghost. Horatio says, "horrible form." Tension is at its highest levels when Horatio and Marcellus try to stop him going to see the ghost when the ghost beckons him. They do this because they think that the ghost might do something to Hamlet. Horatio says, "dreadful summit off the cliff." Meaning that he might be pushed off a cliff by the ghost if Hamlet goes.

The impact on the audience during this scene has been a great deal. This is because it was a short scene and had quite a lot of tension in it but not as much as the next scene after which has