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Post by danielkim on Mar 7, 2015 11:06:23 GMT
In Act 3 Scene 4, Hamlet claims that he sees his father’s ghost whereas Gertrude cannot. In my class, we discussed whether the ghost was real or not.
Here are the hypotheses we made during the discussion:
Hamlet really saw a ghost.
Hamlet became mad and sees a ghost which is not actually there.
The ghost wanted only Hamlet could see him.
Gertrude saw the ghost but lied to Hamlet that she could not.
Do you think the ghost was real?
I think the ghost was not real and Hamlet really became mad. It could be a hallucination caused by his anger in previous monologue (the one with “have you eyes”) and his confirmation that Claudius killed his father.
What do you think?
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Post by mirim002 on Mar 7, 2015 16:14:46 GMT
Hmmm...that is a good question. I thought the ghost was real because Horatio seen it in the beginning. However, as the story goes on, I began to feel as if the ghost was just Hamlet's imagination. The ghost could have just been a part of Hamlet's thought, shaped as a form. Also, just like Daniel said, Gertrude couldn't even see the ghost either, so I am in confusion whether the ghost is real or not.
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Post by leeeeena on Mar 8, 2015 1:03:06 GMT
I think the ghost really exists because many people saw it in act 1, but I feel like the ghost in act 3 is Hamlet's imagination. I think he was too mad and shocked that he killed Polonius instead of Claudius.
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Post by sergeyfen on Mar 8, 2015 2:28:10 GMT
I think ghost is real because Hamlet wasn't only the one to spot him. Hamlet was not the first one to witness seeing the ghost in the castle, but the guards also spotted the king Hamlet on the castle walls during their serving hours. Personally, i think the ghost is real if Hamlet was not only the to see him and it just proves him to be not as crazy as we thought he would be.
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woori
Junior Member
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Post by woori on Mar 8, 2015 3:00:54 GMT
I also think the ghost in that Act, is not real. That time, he was the only one could see the ghost. But, in the Act 1, Horatio and the other people also could see the ghost. That doesn't make sense if the ghost is real.
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Post by justink on Mar 8, 2015 6:55:29 GMT
i agree~
Hamlet must've been overwhelmed when screaming at Gertrude. His anger must've made him go insane, which explains why Gertrude couldn't see the ghost.
Ghosts might be real in this story, but whether they can actually interact with people is uncertain.
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Post by crystalcao on Mar 8, 2015 6:56:16 GMT
I think is not real, just Hamlet imagine it or he act it. He just showed his mother.
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Post by jmoon234 on Mar 8, 2015 12:17:30 GMT
I agree with Daniel that the ghost was not real because in act 1 many people saw the ghost including Hamlet, but he was the only one who could see it in Act 3. Hamlet was driven by madness and revenge that he was hallucinating and not thinking properly.
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Post by hansoo on Mar 8, 2015 12:35:52 GMT
There is absolutely no way to figure out the answer to this question.
Everyone can have his or her own interpretation, and I think the ghost did not exist in the beginning.
I hate to say but it was probably Hamlet's extreme madness, which caused him to hallucinate.
The ghost is a form of Hamlet's self-justification or rationalization for madness.
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Post by lukejoo on Mar 8, 2015 13:02:24 GMT
I don't have an idea of exactly how this can be, but I believe that only certain people were able to see the ghost. It may be that the ghost wanted it to be like that way, but then why would he want to hide himself from his wife? Couldn't he have simply went to her or Claudius the first place? This raises suspicion of the case that Hamlet simply imagined the ghost from plain madness, but then I don't find this that convincing neither. He was on a roll, an emotional momentum towards his mother of accusing her of her sins but now he suddenly sees the ghost and starts to act nice to her. This sudden change of action doesn't seem fit. So I'm not sure what is the truth, but I'm just gonna bet on that the ghost is actually real.
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Post by chrishong on Mar 8, 2015 13:18:38 GMT
Well maybe there was a ghost but I don't think Hamlet was really mad. I think the ghost made himself only visible to Hamlet, but not to other people because Hamlet was the only one the ghost treasured most. It may seem that Hamlet is mad because other people cannot see the ghost, but I think Hamlet was just acting to be crazy.
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Post by edward95312 on Mar 8, 2015 13:20:21 GMT
Of course, the ghost was real in the play. If we think about act 1, Hamlet is not the one who saw the ghost.
His few friends saw the ghost too. Horatio tried to talk with the ghost. I am sure that the ghost was the real one in the play.
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Post by James on Mar 8, 2015 13:27:41 GMT
Since Gertrude was not able to see the ghost during the act, I thought Hamlet was hallucinating and actually became mad.
I think the ghost was real in act 1 but not in act 3.
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Post by brandonina on Mar 8, 2015 13:34:59 GMT
I think Hamlet is actually seeing the ghost since the guards also does the ghost. But I wasn't sure when Hamlet was seeing the ghost while Gertrude couldn't. It might be that Hamlet momentarily became insane right after Polonius dies. Also the fact that there were many ghosts during that time makes me wonder again. Overall, I think that this is the reason why the major theme of the story is uncertainty.  |
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Post by estherchoi on Mar 8, 2015 13:36:01 GMT
I think the ghost is real. The ghost appeared to other people and they saw it, but Gertrude said she can't see it, which makes Gertrude the only one who didn't see the ghost. So, there is a high possibility that she is lying. I don't think Hamlet sees the ghost just because he is mad. Even though I don't believe in the existence of a ghost, I think Hamlet really saw it.
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