Hamlet Ch. 5: The Ghost Appears

Summary

On the cold castle battlements at midnight, Hamlet waits with his friends Horatio and Marcellus for his father's ghost to appear. While they wait, the sounds of King Claudius's drunken party echo from inside the castle. Hamlet explains that Denmark has a reputation for heavy drinking, and this embarrasses the whole country in the eyes of other nations. He reflects on how one bad trait can overshadow all of a person's good qualities - a single flaw can ruin someone's entire reputation.

Then the ghost appears, looking exactly like Hamlet's dead father in full armour. Hamlet is terrified but determined to speak with it, calling it by various names - father, king, royal Dane. He demands to know why his father has risen from the grave.

The ghost beckons Hamlet to follow it to a private place. Horatio and Marcellus desperately try to stop him, warning that the ghost might lead him to a cliff or drive him mad. But Hamlet breaks free from their restraining hands, threatening to kill anyone who tries to stop him.

He follows the ghost into the darkness, leaving his friends with no choice but to follow at a distance. Marcellus delivers the famous line: 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.' This chapter marks the point of no return - Hamlet is about to learn the truth that will change everything.

In this chapter:Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Pausing Before Secret Truths

Grief can make any guide promising answers look trustworthy. On the platform the ghost beckons Hamlet away from his friends and he threatens whoever blocks him while Marcellus says something is rotten in Denmark.

Before you chase a private revelation, bring a witness and ask who gains from your urgency.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Hamlet

While he waits for the ghost, Hamlet turns the king's revel into a lecture: a custom that stains the nation, a mole of nature that ruins the rest. The lecture is exact, and it is also a place to stand. He can finish a theory of Denmark before he follows a dead father off the platform.

Continue this thoughtA Strike That Would Stain Him

Coming Up in Chapter 6

Alone with the ghost, Hamlet finally learns the shocking truth about his father's death. What the ghost reveals will set Hamlet on a path of revenge that will consume him and everyone around him Hamlet follows the ghost to a remote corner of the castle and hears the charge he feared. The spirit identifies itself as Hamlet's father, bound to walk at night until.

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Original text

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Chapter 05

The Ghost Appears

SCENE IV. The platform. Enter Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus. HAMLET. The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold. HORATIO. It is a nipping and an eager air. HAMLET. What hour now? HORATIO. I think it lacks of twelve. MARCELLUS. No, it is struck. HORATIO. Indeed? I heard it not. It then draws near the season Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk. [A flourish of trumpets, and ordnance shot off within.] What does this mean, my lord? HAMLET. The King doth wake tonight and takes his rouse, Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels; And as he drains his…

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The Ghost Appears

Summary

Why This Matters