Act One, Scene Five Summary

During Act One, Scene Five of Hamlet, several different important occurrences take place. The key acts of this scene are Hamlet joining watch with Horatio and Marcellus, the ghost appearing and telling Hamlet to follow him, this leads onto the ghost telling Hamlet that he is the spirit of his father, and that he must seek revenge on his murderer, King Claudius, he then accepts this challenge set by his father’s spirit and vows his friends to secrecy.

During act one, scene five Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father as the ghost continues to explain the story of his death. The Ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius poured poision in his ear, and then tells Hamlet that he must gain revenge on his behalf and to “cleanse the throne of the pollution of incest”, and not to cause harm to Gertrude, and that he must leave her future to God’s judgement

Hamlet then goes on further to share his opinions to the audience, as he says he will follow the spirit of his father’s “commandments”, and that everything else must be forgotten. The word “commandments” shows that Hamlet looks up to his father as an idol or god like figure, and that he is appalled and disgusted at the behaviour of his mother (Gertrude) and King Claudius and how action must be taken against Claudius.

Later on in the scene, Hamlet re-joins with Horatio and Marcellus, Hamlet is in a good mood and seems thrilled as he uses words such as “wild and whirling”, which shows he is excited, he also tells Horatio and Marcellus that the ghost is “honest”, this shows that Hamlet has so much faith and belief in his father that he is willing to seek revenge on Claudius, the word “honest” also makes the ghost sound kind, which is often not something associated with ghosts, as they are normally marked as being evil and frightening creatures. Horatio and Marcellus swear to secrecy on behalf of Hamlet’s fight to get revenge on Claudius, this is important for Hamlet.

The Ghost and Hamlet appear to have a very strange relationship, as Hamlet talks to the ghost in a playful manner, and also talks to it in the same way, as he often refers to the ghost as “boy” or “truepenny”, this may be Shakespeare trying to express Hamlet’s confusion, or maybe that he has been overrun by madness. Hamlet’s behaviour may have come across as frightening or scary to the audience, which may have helped develop Hamlet’s character in the play.

Sam Haines

Sam Haines