Act 1 Scene 5

Hamlet

Act I scene 5

Lines 1-92

Enter Ghost and Hamlet.

  Ham. Where wilt thou lead me? Speak; I’ll go no further

   Ghost. Mark me

   Ham. I will

   Ghost. My hour is almost come,

When I to sulphurous and tormenting Flames

Must render up my self

   Ham. Alas poor Ghost

   Ghost. Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing

To what I shall unfold

   Ham. Speak, I am bound to hear

   Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear

   Ham. What?

  Ghost. I am thy Fathers Spirit,

Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night;

And for the day confined to fast in Fires,

Till the foul crimes done in my days of Nature

Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid

To tell the secrets of my Prison-House;

I could a Tale unfold, whose lightest word

Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,

Make thy two eyes like Stars, start from their Spheres,

Thy knotty and combined locks to part,

And each particular hair to stand an end,

Like Quills upon the fretful Porcupine:

But this eternal blazon must not be

To ears of flesh and blood; list Hamlet, oh list,

If thou didst ever thy dear Father love

   Ham. Oh Heaven!

  Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural Murder

   Ham. Murder?

  Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is;

But this most foul, strange, and unnatural

   Ham. Haste, haste me to know it,

That I with wings as swift

As meditation, or the thoughts of Love,

May sweep to my Revenge.

   Ghost. I find thee apt,

And duller should'st thou be than the fat weed

That rots it self in ease on Lethe Wharf,

Would'st thou not stir in this. Now Hamlet, hear:

It's given out, that sleeping in mine Orchard,

A Serpent stung me: so the whole ear of Denmark,

Is by a forged process of my death

Rankly abused: But know thou Noble youth,

The Serpent that did sting thy Fathers life,

Now wears his Crown.

   Ham. O my Prophetic soul: mine Uncle?

  Ghost. I that incestuous, that adulterate Beast

With witchcraft of his wits, with Traitorous gifts.

Oh wicked Wit, and Gifts, that have the power

So to seduce? Won to this shameful Lust

The will of my most seeming virtuous Queen:

Oh Hamlet, what a falling off was there,

From me, whose love was of that dignity,

That it went hand in hand, even with the Vow

I made to her in Marriage; and to decline

Upon a wretch, whose Natural gifts were poor

To those of mine. But Virtue, as it never will be moved,

Though Lewdness court it in a shape of Heaven:

So Lust, though to a radiant Angel link'd,

Will sate it self in a Celestial bed, & prey on Garbage.

But soft, me thinks I sent the Morning’s Air;

Brief let me be: Sleeping within mine Orchard,

My custom always in the afternoon;

Upon my secure hour thy Uncle stole

With juice of cursed Hebona in a Vial,

And in the Porches of mine ears did pour

The leprous Distillment; whose effect

Holds such an enmity with blood of Man,

That swift as Quick-silver, it courses through

The natural Gates and Alleys of the body;

And with a sudden vigor it doth posit

And curd, like Eager droppings into Milk,

The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;

And a most instant Tetter bark'd about,

Most Lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,

All my smooth Body.

Thus was I, sleeping, by a Brothers hand,

Of Life, of Crown, and Queen at once dispatched;

Cut off even in the Blossoms of my Sin,

Unhouzzled, disappointed, unaneled,

No reckoning made, but sent to my account

With all my imperfections on my head;

Oh horrible Oh horrible, most horrible:

If thou hast nature in thee bear it not;

Let not the Royal Bed of Denmark be

A Couch for Luxury and damned Incest.

But howsoever thou pursues this Act,

Taint not thy mind; nor let thy Soul contrive

Against thy Mother ought; leave her to heaven,

And to those Thorns that in her bosom lodge,

To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once;

The Glow-worm shows the Matin to be near,

And gins to pale his uneffectual Fire:

Adieu, adieu, Hamlet: remember me.

Hamlet and thy ghost of father.

 Hamlet Abridged 

1)One of the main issues in Act I, Scene V of Hamlet is simply that Hamlet's father is posthumously ordering Hamlet to avenge his death.

2)Hamlet's response to his father's appearance showed that Hamlet was shocked, almost beyond belief. However, Hamlet ultimately felt that this was his father's legitimate ghost, andd felt that he had to carry out what his father wanted.

3)This problem in particular is essential to the play simply because it is what we believe to be the main problem of the piece. Also, there are certain aspects of the problem that one may not realize immediately. For example, it is one thing to be ordered to execute the King. However, an issue one must take into consideration is the level of difficulty accomplishing that task is, as well as adding the complication that Claudius, who is Hamlet's uncle, is married to Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. While these may be seen as obvious complications, they are complications nonetheless that give the main problem support that carries it through the story.

4)There are many instances which may make this issue more complex. One idea we pondered was, what if Hamlet was exiled by Claudius for whatever reason? That would certainly make the situation more interesting. Another scenario we thought of was, what if the ghost was lying about Claudius' murdering ways, and the ghost is actually jealous of Claudius' claiming of Gertrude?

5)We do not think that this issue is very relevant in our time. Vengeance definitely exists in our world today, but the execution of the display of vengeance in the play simply is not realistic in our world. We highly doubt that there are ghosts that claim to be family members that command you to kill people.