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What happens in Act 1, Scene 4 of Hamlet?
Hamlet waits with Horatio and Marcellus for the ghost to appear. When it does appear, Hamlet runs after it, and the others follow.
Read our Summary & Analysis of Act 1, Scenes 3 & 4. (2-minute read)
The Ghost of Hamlet’s father real?
Questions about whether the Ghost is real, merely a figment of Hamlet’s imagination, or even a demon sent to tempt Hamlet into eternal damnation will repeatedly crop up during the play. Like a great many aspects of Hamlet, the Ghost is veiled in a shroud of doubt. (See a discussion of the play’s primary theme of The Impossibility of Certainty below.)
To learn more about the possible explanations of the Ghost you can read the answer to our Q&A of “Is the Ghost Real?”. However, keep in mind that understanding and appreciating Hamlet as a foundational work of Western literature has less to do with finding definitive answers to its many questions and mysteries than it is about considering why Shakespeare made uncertainty its most important theme.
What is the most important theme of Hamlet?
The Impossibility of Certainty is the thematic cornerstone theme of Hamlet because everything that happens in the play is veiled in ambiguity and uncertainty. Examples of this in the play are plentiful, but here’s just a few of the most consequential questions that Hamlet faces that shape the play’s plot:
- • Did Claudius kill Hamlet’s father?
• If so, was Gertrude involved in her husband’s murder?
• Is the Ghost of Hamlet’s father real or is it a demon in disguise?
• Should Hamlet kill his uncle?
• Did Hamlet ever love Ophelia?
• Is Hamlet mad or just pretending to be?
• Is life even worth living for Hamlet?
The weight of all this uncertainty is a particular problem for the character of Hamlet, because he is the type of person who gets rattled and thrown off track when something isn’t 100 percent clear and certain. In the end, however, one of the main messages of the play might be that coming up with irrefutable answer to life’s many mysteries is much less important than being able to continue to exist in the face of ambiguities, which are largely unavoidable.
Read about the Theme of the Impossibility of Certainty. (2-minute read)
How is the importance of the setting emphasized in Act 1, Scene 4 of Hamlet?
We already discussed the importance of Elsinore and Denmark in Act 1, Scene 1, but in Scene 4, the setting again comes to the forefront in two quotes. In the first quote, Horatio warns Hamlet that the castle at Elsinore as a place that naturally inspires suicidal impulses, or “toys of desperation” after they encounter the Ghost on the castle grounds. A bit later in the scene, Marcellus utters the famous “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” quote, a metaphor that invokes images of corruption and decay.
Read about these two quotes Elsinore and Denmark from Act 1, Scene 4.
