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Post by dannyoh on Jan 25, 2015 6:35:23 GMT
So in class we were arguing if the ghost of Hamlet's father is really his father... Do you think it's really his father or just a supernatural figure that causes Hamlet to go all psycho? I think It's just some demonic figure that pretends to be his father so it could purposely create all the mess in the story but.. that's just what I think.
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Post by danielkim on Jan 25, 2015 10:09:04 GMT
I think the ghost is a supernatural figure who wants to corrupt Denmark.
To begin with, is it possible for the soul in purgatory to go outside and tell his son to revenge? I don’t think so. Also, there is no reason for him to appear out of nowhere and terrify the sentinels at the beginning of the story if he only wants Claudius dead.
If the ghost was really Hamlet’s father who wanted Claudius to die, why did he tell the fact to Hamlet instead of everyone else in the castle? If he told it to only Hamlet, Hamlet would get caught easily even before he kills Claudius or be executed after the homicide. It is inefficient for one person to kill the VIP for these reasons. But if Hamlet’s father told it to everyone, then people would rebel and kill Claudius immediately (only if he could make the claim convincingly). As a father, he would not want his son to get killed after he killed Claudius. By telling the plan to only Hamlet, the ghost could bring instability to Denmark by letting Hamlet to kill Claudius and make Hamlet get killed as a consequence. From this conclusion, I think what the ghost really wants is the anarchy in Denmark and make it into a place where people cannot find a new leader after the death of Hamlet’s father, Hamlet, and Claudius.
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Post by James on Jan 25, 2015 10:29:40 GMT
I think the ghost was the spirit of hamlet's father. It was claimed by two guards that the ghost appears at exact place and time. Hamlet's father obviously didn't have a "fair death" because he was killed by his own brother. Therefore the father had to remain as a ghost to take an avenge to his brother.
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Post by justink on Jan 25, 2015 11:18:44 GMT
I think that the ghost is just Hamlet's subconscious/ imaginary figure. There are several similarities Hamlet and the ghost shares. 1. Incest; both the ghost and Hamlet both expressed their disgust for the incestuous relationship 2. Misogamy; both mentions about how women are frail and can't survive on their own
Also an interesting idea is regarding purgatory. Since the ghost mentions that its currently in purgatory and needs to purge of its sins in order to move up to heaven; however the ghost is asking a mortal to kill someone. isn't that against the purpose of purging of its sins?
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Post by chrishong on Jan 25, 2015 12:02:41 GMT
Since I'm doing to present Hamlet's father's monologue, I think the ghost is the real dead Hamlet's father. After he got killed by his own brother, he became a ghost and had been going around to seek his son so that he son could avenge his death.
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Post by elisalee on Jan 25, 2015 12:09:54 GMT
My prediction is that the ghost is not Hamlet's father. I think it is a supernatural figure that will drive Hamlet insane later. I don't know what is going to happen but if the ghost isn't really Hamlet's father, would the ghost tell the truth to Hamlet? How would Hamlet know if the ghost is telling the truth since it looks exactly like his father? Why would ghost do such thing to Hamlet?
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Post by brandonina on Jan 25, 2015 12:10:31 GMT
I think the ghost can be a real spirit. If the ghost was a Hamlet's illusion or solely an imaginary figure, only Hamlet would've seen the ghost. But in fact, Horatio and Marcellus saw the ghost. So I believe the ghost isn't Hamlet's subconscious or imaginary figure. But to be honest, I don't really believe in ghosts or supernaturals so I'm not exactly sure. Now I see that ghost is pretty important since it seems like it causes all the conflict of the whole story.
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daniel
Junior Member
Posts: 83
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Post by daniel on Jan 25, 2015 12:18:04 GMT
Since Hamlet's father died sadly and unacceptably, there is more than enough reason that he could be a ghost and tries to revenge for his sorrow death.
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Post by nerdira on Jan 25, 2015 13:01:26 GMT
I think the ghost might actually just be Hamlet's inner desire to take revenge for his father's death. The ghost appears so Hamlet could 'justify' his actions against his uncle and his mother. On the other hand, the ghost might just be real, and is actually Hamlet's dad asking his son to take revenge for him. But that might be unlikely, since Hamlet was the only person able to communicate with the ghost, the ghost might just be a figment of Hamlet's imagination.
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bachle
Junior Member
Posts: 83
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Post by bachle on Jan 25, 2015 13:14:10 GMT
I think the ghost was just a demonic figure because it is the cause of all conflicts happen later on, appeared at a night time and sacred of light. I think it can connected to the witch back in that time which inspire and bring up the idea of ghost to Shakespeare.
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jimim
Junior Member
Posts: 98
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Post by jimim on Jan 25, 2015 13:36:38 GMT
I think Hamlet became crazy after his father was dead. So Father's ghost might be Hamlet's hallucination from his madness and sadness. Ghost is supernatural thing but for this situation I think Hamlet's mental shock was too big.
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Post by crystalcao on Jan 25, 2015 13:42:03 GMT
I think the ghost is Hamlet's father's soul, he can't go to heaven or hell because he was not reconciled his death.
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Post by estherchoi on Jan 25, 2015 13:43:06 GMT
I kinda don't make sense to me that the ghost is a supernatural figure because it already appeared to people like Horatio, Marcellus, and more. I believe the ghost is really the spirit of Hamlet's father because like James mentioned he had an 'unfair' death. It is most likely that the ghost appeared for some kind of a revenge.
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Post by mirim002 on Jan 25, 2015 14:35:40 GMT
Now that you say it, the ghost COULD be a supernatural figure. This whole thing could have been all an illusion for Hamlet. He could have gone crazy after his father's death, & the ghost could have just been an illusion. The ghost could have just been his mind formed into a figure, thinking of revenge.
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Post by anyuchen on Jan 25, 2015 14:40:12 GMT
For my opinion, I think that ghost is hamlet's father's ghost. In the traditional western culture and asian culter, there is a belief that if a person has a huge regret in his life, he would stay in this world as a ghost and in some websites said many famous big castle has ghost of their old owners. I think the ghost in Hmalet should be his father's.
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