What Role Does A Ghost Play In Hamlet

Hamlet, a play by William Shakespeare, is a tragic story involving themes that are shown through the actions os several important characters. However, there is one character that has a minor part but plays a major role: the the Ghost of King Hamlet.

The Ghost plays a vital role in the understanding and interpretation of Hamlet’s sanity. When Hamlet first encounters the Ghost of his father, the Ghost reveals to Hamlet the way Hamlet's father died. After Hamlet hears this news coming out of his own father’s ghostly mouth, he instantly feels rage towards his uncle and mother. He is angry with his mother because of the fact that she would marry Hamlet's uncle right after the death of his father. All of the problems with his family start to make Hamlet feel like he cannot trust anyone, not even his own mother. These issues alone could be enough to affect his mental status, and combining it with the fact his father actually returns as a ghost to tell him this terrible information, could cause
It is Hamlet's mourning for his father that provokes him to demand revenge from Claudius. Before Hamlet sees the ghost of his father, he is already mourning the loss. He tells Horatio, "My father-methinks I see my father." However, once Hamlet sees the ghost, it changes his emotions about the death of his father. Learning about the murder and deceit just makes the death seem more tragic, providing Hamlet with a reason to sink into a state of deeper mourning. Although he may not walk around in a constantly depressed mood, his grief affects his indecision to kill Claudius and his attitudes towards Gertrude and Ophelia. His oppressed frame of mind results in a lack of motivation, and hatred and distrust towards life. Because of this, his mourning can also account for his perceived sickness and insanity. The mourning of his father's death causes him to make some rash decisions and to do and say things he wouldn't normally