Ghost ( Hamlet ) - wikipedia Ghost ( Hamlet ) Ghost Hamlet character The ghost ( right ) appears to Hamlet ( left ) in the `` closet scene '', from Rowe 's edition of Shakespeare 's works ( 1709 ), showing the Prince and Queen in contemporary dress ; the former king 's portrait is on the wall behind Information Family Gertrude ( wife ) Prince Hamlet ( son ) King Claudius ( brother ) Other name ( s ) King Hamlet ( former ) The ghost of Hamlet 's late father is a character from William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet. In the stage directions he is referred to as `` Ghost. '' His name is also Hamlet, and he is referred to as King Hamlet to distinguish him from the Prince. He is loosely based on a legendary Jutish chieftain, named Horwendill, who appears in Chronicon Lethrense and in Saxo Grammaticus ' Gesta Danorum. According to oral tradition, the Ghost was originally played by Shakespeare himself. Contents 1 Overview 2 Interpretations 3 Performances 4 See also 5 References Overview For a synopsis of the play, see Hamlet The Ghost appears three times in the play : in Act I, Scene i ; in the continuum of Act I, Scenes iv and v ; and Act III, Scene iv. The ghost arrives at 1.00 a.m. in at least two of the scenes, and in the other scene all that is known is that it is night. The Ghost first appears to a duo of soldiers -- Bernardo and Marcellus -- and a visitor to Denmark, Horatio. The men draw their swords and stand in fear, requesting that Horatio, as a scholar, address the ghost. Horatio asks the ghost to speak, and reveal its secret. It is about to do so when the cock crows, signalling morning, and the ghost instead disappears. In this scene, the Ghost is clearly recognised by all present as the King, dressed in his full armour. Marcellus notes that the ghost had appeared to the castle guards twice before. Talk of spectral visitations has unsettled the night watch. Francisco, who Bernardo relieves on guard duty says, `` For this relief much thanks ; ' t is bitter cold, And I am sick at heart. '' Seeing the Ghost arrayed in a military aspect, and aware of Fortinbras marshalling his forces on the frontier, Horatio recognises that the appearance of the Ghost must portend something regarding matters of state. Horatio then persuades Prince Hamlet into staying up with the guards to see if the ghost returns. At midnight, it appears, and beckons Hamlet to follow. Once alone, the ghost describes his wanderings on the earth, and his harrowing life in purgatory, since he died without receiving last rites. ``... but know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy Fathers life, Now wears his crown. '' Ghost of Hamlet 's Father He tells the young Hamlet that he was poisoned and murdered by his brother, Claudius, the new King of Denmark, and asks the prince to avenge his death. He also expresses disgust at his wife, Gertrude, for marrying Claudius, but warns Hamlet not to confront her, but to leave that to Heaven. Later, Prince Hamlet returns to his friends and has them swear on his sword to keep what they have seen a secret. When they resist, the ghost utters the words `` Swear '' and `` Swear on the sword '', from below the stage, until his friends agree. The prince Hamlet, fearing that the apparition may be a demon pretending to be King Hamlet, decides to put the ghost to the test by staging a play that re-enacts the circumstances that the spirit claims led to his death. Claudius 's reaction is one of guilt and horror, and Prince Hamlet is convinced that the ghost is, in fact, his father. However, due to his over-analytical mind and the complexity of the ghost 's conditions, much time passes before Hamlet can carry out his orders. In the third appearance, Hamlet is confronted by the ghost in his mother 's closet, and is rebuked for not carrying out his revenge and for disobeying in talking with Gertrude. Hamlet fearfully apologises. Gertrude, however, can not see the ghost, and thinks Hamlet is mad, asking why he stares and talks to nothing. In this scene, the ghost is described as being in his nightgown. He is never mentioned again. King Hamlet is described by the few who mention him -- and this excludes basically all except Hamlet, Horatio and the guards -- as a warrior, as he led Denmark 's forces to victory against Norway, and personally defeated its King Fortinbras in hand - to - hand combat. Hamlet respects him, saying Claudius pales in comparison to him, and frequently reflecting on him in an endearing manner. Interpretations The prompt book from an 1874 staging of Hamlet by English actor and manager Henry Irving ( 1838 -- 1905 ), in which he experimented with using limelight ( burning calcium oxide ) to represent the ghost. `` The Ghost in Hamlet is essential to the plot of the play. '' He has also been the subject of a variety of interpretations. W.W. Greg was of the opinion that the Ghost was a figment of Hamlet 's overwrought imagination. J. Dover Wilson and others have argued that in having the Ghost appear a number of times to others before appearing to Hamlet, Shakespeare makes clear that the apparition is not a mere illusion. Performances About a hundred years after Shakespeare died, Nicholas Rowe reported that he had heard an anecdote that Shakespeare himself had played the Ghost, starting a story that continues to this day. See also List of ghosts References England portal Theatre portal Fictional characters portal ^ Jump up to : Sylvan Barnet, `` Shakespeare : An Overview, '' in Macbeth, ed. Sylvan Barnet, A Signet Classic, 1998, p. ix. ^ Jump up to : Egan, Maurice Francis. The Ghost in Hamlet and Other Essays in Comparative Literature. Chicago : A.C. McClurg & Co, 1906. pp. 11 -- 47 Jump up ^ `` Hamlet ( Folio 1, 1623 ) ''. uvic.ca. ^ Jump up to : Joseph, Miriam. `` Discerning the Ghost in Hamlet. '' PMLA 76.5 ( 1961 ) : 493 -- 502 Jump up ^ Greg, W.W., `` Hamlet 's Hallucinations '', MLR, XII, 1917, 393 -- 421 William Shakespeare 's Hamlet Characters Hamlet Claudius Gertrude Ghost Polonius Laertes Ophelia Horatio Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Fortinbras The Gravediggers Yorick Soliloquies `` To be, or not to be '' `` Mortal coil '' `` What a piece of work is a man '' `` Speak the speech '' Words and phrases `` The lady doth protest too much, methinks '' `` Thy name is '' `` Primrose path '' Terminology Dumbshow Induction Quiddity Substitution Sources Criticism Legend of Hamlet The Spanish Tragedy Ur - Hamlet Critical approaches Bibliographies Horwendill Saxo Grammaticus House of Gonzaga Damon and Pythias Influence Common phrases from Hamlet Hamlet in popular culture References to Ophelia Language of flowers Human skull symbolism Performances Moscow Art Theatre ( 1911 -- 1912 ) Richard Burton ( 1964 ) On screen 1900 1907 1908 1912 1913 1917 1921 1935 1948 1954 1961 1964 1969 2000 2011 Adaptations Films The Rest Is Silence ( 1959 ) The Bad Sleep Well ( 1960 ) Ophelia ( 1963 ) Johnny Hamlet ( 1968 ) One Hamlet Less ( 1973 ) The Angel of Vengeance -- The Female Hamlet ( 1977 ) Strange Brew ( 1983 ) Hamlet Goes Business ( 1987 ) The Lion King ( 1994 ) Let the Devil Wear Black ( 1999 ) The Banquet ( 2006 ) Tardid ( 2009 ) Karmayogi ( 2012 ) Haider ( 2014 ) Hamlet A.D.D. ( 2014 ) The Lion King ( 2019 ) Novels Gertrude and Claudius ( 2000 ) Dating Hamlet ( 2002 ) Ophelia 's Revenge ( 2003 ) The Dead Fathers Club ( 2006 ) Something Rotten ( 2007 ) Hamlet 's Father ( 2008 ) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle ( 2008 ) Plays Hamletmachine ( 1977 ) Dogg 's Hamlet ( 1979 ) Fortinbras ( 1991 ) Musicals Rockabye Hamlet ( 1973 ) The Lion King ( 1997 ) Television Hamlet ( Australian TV, 1959 ) Hamlet at Elsinore ( BBC, 1964 ) Hamlet, Prince of Denmark ( BBC, 1980 ) Hamlet ( BBC 2, animated, 1992 ) Hamlet ( BBC 2, 2009 ) Parodies 15 - Minute Hamlet The Complete Works of William Shakespeare ( Abridged ) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Io, Amleto The Klingon Hamlet `` Lyle the Kindly Viking '' To Be or Not to Be : That is the Adventure Songs `` My Robin is to the Greenwood Gone '' ( 16th century ) `` Pull Me Under '' ( 1992 ) `` Song for Athene '' ( 1997 ) Opera / classical Hamlet ( Thomas ) Amleto ( Faccio ) Hamlet ( Tchaikovsky ) Tristia ( Berlioz ) Die Hamletmaschine ( Rihm ) Hamlet ( Dean ) Story within a story Films To Be or Not to Be ( 1942 ) Acting Hamlet in the Village of Mrdusa Donja ( 1973 ) To Be or Not to Be ( 1983 ) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead ( 1990 ) Renaissance Man ( 1994 ) In the Bleak Midwinter ( 1995 ) Hamlet 2 ( 2008 ) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead ( 2009 ) Three Days ( 2012 ) Plays Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ( 1966 ) Stage Blood ( 1974 ) I Hate Hamlet ( 1991 ) To Be or Not to Be ( 2008 ) Novels Hamlet, Revenge ! ( 1937 ) Theatre of War ( 1994 ) `` The Undiscovered '' ( 1997 ) The Shakespeare Stealer ( 1998 ) Interred with Their Bones ( 2007 ) Television `` The Producer '' ( 1966 ) Slings & Arrows ( 2003 ) Art Ophelia Affe mit Schädel Video game Last Action Hero ( 1993 ) Hamlet ( 2010 ) Intertextuality Asterix and the Great Crossing The Seagull Sharpe 's Havoc Related Hamlet and Oedipus Hamlet Had an Uncle Hamlet and His Problems Hebenon Hamlet Q1 Ostalo je ćutanje The Chronicles of Amber `` Symphony No. 65 '' ( Haydn ) War Highlander II : The Quickening The Hobart Shakespeareans Gertrude -- The Cry Poor Murderer Something Rotten ! `` The Conscience of the King '' `` Born to Be King '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ghost_(Hamlet)&oldid=808746844 '' Categories : Characters in Hamlet Fictional ghosts Fictional kings Fictional Danish people Male Shakespearean characters Fratricide in fiction Hidden categories : EngvarB from September 2017 Use dmy dates from September 2017 Pages using deprecated image syntax Articles using Infobox character with multiple unlabeled fields Talk Contents About Wikipedia فارسی Norsk Polski Русский Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 4 November 2017, at 22 : 08. 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Question: who sees the ghost of hamlet's father first
Answer: Bernardo