A Demon in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
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document in English
literature
school essay
published 05/09/2007
review : Completed
level : Advanced
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Summary
As David Bevington states in his introduction to Hamlet, “A recurring motif in Hamlet is of a seemingly healthy exterior concealing an interior sickness. Mere pretense of virtue . . . ‘will but skin and film the ulcerous place, / Whiles rank corruption, mining all within, / Infects unseen’ (3.4.154-156)” (527). Explicitly, Hamlet’s statement pertains to his uncle Cladius and mother Gertrude. However, Shakespeare implies that these same attributes apply to the Ghost character, and ironically, Hamlet as well. Ultimately the Ghost, as Hamlet himself comes to suspect, proves to be a corrupt and corrupting demon figure (much like the King), and not a holy, redeeming apparition.
Table of Contents
- When Hamlet first encounters the Ghost he is unsure whether the Ghost is a demon or an angel
- Like Hamlet, the reader or viewer certainly has his or her own doubts concerning the Ghost's character and motives
- Hamlet's corruption by the Ghost is often hinted at, and the fact that he seems to be aware of this corruption suggests that, ultimately, it is a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy that Hamlet will be damned
- Examining Act 1 Scene 4 can further advance the argument that Hamlet's anxiety about damning himself becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy
- Bevington's observation that there exists a theme in Hamlet of a 'healthy exterior concealing an interior sickness' would thus seem to apply to both the Ghost character and Hamlet.
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