Hamlet AO5: Interpretations
Of the ghost…
Richard Eyre (1989) Eyre presents the ghost as possessing Hamlet, highlighting that
it may be a product of insanity. Suggests the conflict between
Hamlet taking on the old ways of his father or evolving beyond
the past.
Zeferelli (1990) The ghost scene is emotional- there seems to be genuine care
between Hamlet and his father. There are tears in Hamlet’s
eyes. The ghost holds out his hands to Hamlet and Hamlet
mimics his actions- symbolising the passing down of
transgenerational trauma.
Lawrence Olivier (1948) The ghost is terrifying and monumental. It arrives in swirling
mist and Hamlet bows down before it, showing his submission.
It backs up the idea that Hamlet sees his father as God-like.
Benedict Cumberbatch Cumberbatch raises the idea of ‘intergenerational trauma’ –
that trauma is passed down from older generation and the
younger generation suffers- they Ophelia, Hamlet and Laertes
all die due to their parents.
Greenblatt The ghost is symbolic of the conflict between Catholicism and
Protestantism. Catholicism represents the past and
Protestantism is more modern. In a way this shows the ghost
as a harmful representation of the past coming to haunt the
present and supports the idea of intergenerational trauma. A
Catholic interpretation of the ghost sees it as a benevolent
family member coming to warn Hamlet (A spirit of health)
whereas a protestant view sees the ghost as a ‘goblin damned’
no purgatory means only spirits from hell return. This
interpretation backs up the ambiguity of the first line of the
play – ‘who’s there?’.
Northrop Fry “If purgatory is a place of purification, why does the Ghost
come from it shrieking for revenge? and why does purgatory,
as the ghost describes it, sound so much as if it were hell?
On revenge/ delay:
Francis Bacon ‘revenge is a kind of wild justice’
Kerrigan 'Hamlet never promises to revenge only to
remember'
Hazlitt He is the prince of philosophical speculators;
and because he cannot have his revenge
perfect, according to the most refined idea his
wish can form, he declines it altogether.
Kiernan Ryan ‘Hamlet’s tormented resistance to performing
the role of revenger expresses a justified
rejection of a whole way of life, whose
corruption, injustice and inhumanity he now
finds intolerable’
Of the ghost…
Richard Eyre (1989) Eyre presents the ghost as possessing Hamlet, highlighting that
it may be a product of insanity. Suggests the conflict between
Hamlet taking on the old ways of his father or evolving beyond
the past.
Zeferelli (1990) The ghost scene is emotional- there seems to be genuine care
between Hamlet and his father. There are tears in Hamlet’s
eyes. The ghost holds out his hands to Hamlet and Hamlet
mimics his actions- symbolising the passing down of
transgenerational trauma.
Lawrence Olivier (1948) The ghost is terrifying and monumental. It arrives in swirling
mist and Hamlet bows down before it, showing his submission.
It backs up the idea that Hamlet sees his father as God-like.
Benedict Cumberbatch Cumberbatch raises the idea of ‘intergenerational trauma’ –
that trauma is passed down from older generation and the
younger generation suffers- they Ophelia, Hamlet and Laertes
all die due to their parents.
Greenblatt The ghost is symbolic of the conflict between Catholicism and
Protestantism. Catholicism represents the past and
Protestantism is more modern. In a way this shows the ghost
as a harmful representation of the past coming to haunt the
present and supports the idea of intergenerational trauma. A
Catholic interpretation of the ghost sees it as a benevolent
family member coming to warn Hamlet (A spirit of health)
whereas a protestant view sees the ghost as a ‘goblin damned’
no purgatory means only spirits from hell return. This
interpretation backs up the ambiguity of the first line of the
play – ‘who’s there?’.
Northrop Fry “If purgatory is a place of purification, why does the Ghost
come from it shrieking for revenge? and why does purgatory,
as the ghost describes it, sound so much as if it were hell?
On revenge/ delay:
Francis Bacon ‘revenge is a kind of wild justice’
Kerrigan 'Hamlet never promises to revenge only to
remember'
Hazlitt He is the prince of philosophical speculators;
and because he cannot have his revenge
perfect, according to the most refined idea his
wish can form, he declines it altogether.
Kiernan Ryan ‘Hamlet’s tormented resistance to performing
the role of revenger expresses a justified
rejection of a whole way of life, whose
corruption, injustice and inhumanity he now
finds intolerable’
