CHARACTERS: Ghost

Question 1

The ghost of Hamlet’s father . . .

Answer 1

The ghost of Hamlet’s father [was] either illusions of minds unhinged by melancholy or devils masquerading as spirits of the departed in order to lure the persons they address to damnation.

• Campbell and Quinn (1966)

Question 2

The ghosts of departed persons are not . . .

Answer 2

The ghosts of departed persons are not the wandering souls of men but the unquiet walks of devils, prompting and suggesting us into mischief, blood and villainy.

• Thomas Browne 1642

Question 3

Notes the devil often adopts the . . .

Answer 3

Notes the devil often adopts the form of a dead father to incite evil ‘we will sooner harken to him than otherwise’

• Thomas Nashe

Question 4

Once the ghost manifests itself for a second time . . .

Answer 4

Once the ghost manifests itself for a second time, the pace of the action immediately quickens . . . the actors are, paradoxically, in some way enlivened by this creature from the dead; each abandons a sedentary position to assume and active role.

• Peter Reynolds 1988