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... be different than anything they have seen before. After all, they (as well as other guards) have already seen the ghost. It seems as though Hamlet is assuming they have witnessed the entire interaction with the ghost. The most powerful yet subtle evidence can be found in the text when Hamlet again demands they swear an oath and the ghost responds, "Swear. " In most productions the ghosts voice is somber, resonant and more than a little frightening when considering these are supposed to be medieval, superstitious people that hear it. Yet, they do not respond.
In fact, no single man in the group, save Hamlet, responds to the ghost. Neither do any of the men save Hamlet seem affected in any way by the ghost. Hamlet, following the first "swear, " says, "come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage, / Consent to swear" (1. 5. 150). Horatio does not respond with any common sense line such as "oh my God a voice just sounded from the depths of Hell itself. " Horatio does not even say, "who said that. " Instead he simply says, "Propose the oath, my lord. " The ghost says "swear again and Hamlet responds "hear and everywhere, " then demands they swear an oath. None of the men respond. The ghost, for a third time, says swear and Hamlet alone (again) responds, "Well said, old mole, canst work i the earth so fast" (162).
Horatio then says, "O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!" At last it seems Horatio acknowledges the ghost. Yet, in truth there is no real evidence he is in fact acknowledging the ghost. Horatio already established that Hamlet is acting strangely when he described his speech as "wild and whirling. " The most commonsensical way to interpret Horatio's statement is to see it as a response to Hamlets strange behavior. Hamlet just mentioned some fellow underground whom they should listen to. If Horatio did not hear the ghost he would consider Hamlets dialogue strange indeed. This interpretation makes sense considering it is not until Hamlet responds to the ghost three times that Horatio responds to Hamlet.
By the time Horatio responds to Hamlet, Horatio can no longer assume he misunderstood Hamlet or that Hamlet was speaking of some other person in passing. Horatio must acknowledge that Hamlet seems to be hearing other voices. It is possible to attribute Hamlets dialogue with the ghost to auditory hallucinations. Having already established his melancholic disposition this scenario is not unlikely. According to researcher P. Slade, Commonly people who have auditory hallucinations hear voices sometimes the person may recognize the voice as one of a family member or deceased friend.
Sometimes auditory hallucinations may take on the form of imperative statements asking the patient to kill someone or themselves (23). F. Pasquini, another researcher, states that "auditory hallucinations have been found to happen with a wide range of different physiological and emotional states. Sleep deprivation can also contribute to having auditory hallucinations" (11).
Hamlet is evidently under emotional stress. In a couple instances he implies that he has trouble sleeping as well. When speaking to Horatio after the play he says, "For some must watch, while some must sleep" (3. 2. 273). This is important when considering Hamlet stresses that watching the kings reaction during the play is the key to the murder. Hamlet must therefore be on watch and will by default not be some who "must sleep. " Later, while again speaking to Horatio, Hamlet says, "Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting, That would not let me sleep" (5. 2. 4 - 5). This is evidence of the turmoil Hamlet was going through and again implies he maintained, at least some form, of insomnia.
Further, and equally powerful evidence, is found in the scene where Hamlet confronts his mother in her bedroom. This scene reeks of evidence that Hamlet is not thinking straight. First, the ghost appears to only him. He asks his mother if she sees the ghost and she replies, "to whom do you speak?
Nothing at all, yet all that is I see nothing but ourselves" (131 - 133). Not only does Gertrude not see the ghost but again she does not hear it speak. This is strange when considering there is evidence that Gertrude, though possibly guilty of infidelity, knew of, or was responsible for the murder of old Hamlet. With that in mind, one must consider that the dead king was her husband who she spent a number of years with and must have been at least somewhat close to, even closer than Hamlet. Therefore she might at least be able to see the ghost of the man she was so familiar with but does not. Also, the ghost appears in a nightgown as opposed to a suit of armor implying that it has been revenged.
However, only Polonious has died in the interim and the ghost specifically said that Claudius was responsible for his death. So, even if Polonious was a factor in the death it seems that the king would not be revenged until Claudius is killed. In fact, the ghost tells Hamlet his purpose has become "blunted, " or in other words he is to get back to the business of avenging. At this point the ghosts and Hamlets dialogue starts to break down common sense, and this is evidence that the ghosts words are being drawn from a troubled source such as an emotionally and / or psychologically disturbed Hamlet. By the end of the play it seems as though Hamlet has actually become the ghost, or rather the part of him that created the ghost surfaces completely.
As he dies his words are almost identical to the ghosts. He tells Horatio to remember him just as the ghost told Hamlet to remember him. He tells Horatio he is dead but continues to speak long after he should have been dead just as the ghost continued to speak long after he should have been forced back into hell by the breaking dawn. Additionally, the revenge Hamlet was to take for the kings death seems satisfied as Hamlets breath expires. Yet, he gives us the impression it is he, Hamlet, who is avenged. He never once mentions his father in relation to the revenge he has exacted.
Yet, the entire play seems to be about revenging his father. This gives evidence to the possibility that the ghost and Hamlet are the same person or entity. The text of Hamlet is often confusing and filled with twists. It would be very easy to read through it, or watch a version of the play and say the surface plot that is shown is what is true. In other words, Hamlet sees the ghost of his father who tells of a murder that Hamlet must avenge. Other possibilities not only exist but also are strongly supported by the text of the play, in this case, the possibility that Hamlet did not in fact speak to the ghost of his father but spoke to himself either through his own imagination or the projection of his own thoughts through the mouth of a demon.
Hamlet thus convinced himself of his uncles guilt and gave himself reason to kill his uncle. There was ample motivation for his hatred of his uncle well before the ghost made an appearance as established in his first speech with his uncle and his first soliloquy. Whether or not Hamlet is completely nuts cannot be ascertained by the little information Shakespeare provides us. What is known is that Shakespeare was known to be mourning a drowned son as well as his own father just prior to writing this play. It is quite possible his own depression surfaced in the character of Hamlet. This would make a lot of sense out of some of the more confusing aspects of the play.
Hamlet, whether mad or not, is definitely under extreme emotional and psychological stress and is therefore a candidate for auditory hallucinations as well as temporary psychosis, which might cause him to obsess about killing Claudius. Bibliography: Works Cited Lavater, Lewes, 1572. Of Ghosts and Spirits. Website: , 1997 - 99. Pasquini, F. and Cole, M. (1997): Idiopathic musical hallucinations in the elderly.
Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology. Vol. 10; January, pp 11 - 13. as quoted in the Website: Slade, P. and Bentall, R. (1988) Sensory deception: A scientific analysis of hallucination. , Johns Hopkins University Press, pg 23.
as quoted in the Website:
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Research essay sample on Ghost Of His Father Auditory Hallucinations
