Is Hamlet's father's ghost supernatural or psychological?
I for one do not believe that the ghost of King Hamlet is not real. Although
I do agree that there was something paranormal in the first encounter with the
ghost. However I think that all of the meetings that prince Hamlet has with his
father's ghost afterward are not real, that Hamlet is not really seeing his
father. To prince Hamlet these encounters might seem very real but then again
Hamlet is still in much despair over his fathers death, Hamlet just can not seem
to "let go" of it. It is obvious that Hamlet loved his father very much and to
have to see him die as young as Hamlet was would be traumatizing. So in Hamlet's
state of mind he is desperate for any kind of interaction with his father. So I
think that because of this he is just seeing things, hallucinations even, like
he is going crazy.
Hamlet could be having these hallucinations due to mental
disease. Hamlet could have schizophrenia but he might seem normal because he is
experiencing little to no symptoms. It is a known fact that stressful events can
trigger the development of schizophrenia in a person who already has it. In case
you did not know, one of the symptoms of schizophrenia is seeing and hearing
things that are not real, but seem extremely realistic to the person with this
mental disease. Also this would make sense, seeing as how when the ghost was
first spotted it would talk to no one else other than prince Hamlet. This would
further prove my point that Hamlet might have some sort of mental illness
considering that he is the only one that can communicate with the supernatural
entity. After further investigation on some of the early on symptoms of
schizophrenia I found that a few of them seem to be shown in Hamlets behavior
throughout in the first act. Two of the symptoms that I found fit best in Hamlet's
case are depression and extreme reactions to negative comments. It is clearly
evident that Hamlet is very depressed in act one, obviously about his fathers
death, so depressed that Hamlet even considers suicide, "O that. . . the
Everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self slaughter." (1, 2, 134) Here he is saying how he wished that god had not
made it a sin to kill yourself, showing that he would have already killed himself by now but his religions prevents him.
I thought that Hamlet had an extreme reaction to when his mother tells him that
death is the cycle of life and that he should get over it, as well as when she
asks him why his father's death is so special. It seemed a little extreme to me
the way that Hamlet responds to his mother, "Seems, madam? Nay, it is. . . These
indeed seem, for they are actions that a man might play; but I have that within
which passes show." (1,2,78-88) So I for one do believe that thinking Hamlet might be
suffering from schizophrenia is a very rational accusation. Especially
considering that back then there was no way to diagnose it, but then again back
then the disease was unknown to mankind.
That is the main reason why I think
that the ghost of King Hamlet is not real but ultimately it comes down to
whether you believe in ghosts or not. I for one do not. If ghosts were real then
I believe that in this day and age there would be some definite proof of their
existence. The only proof that ghosts exist are vague, questionable, sketchy
videos on the internet, which most of them have been proven to be just edited
videos attempting to scare people. So with no real evidence that ghosts are in
fact real I find it very hard to believe in something that society knows so
little about. Also believing in ghosts or not depends on your religion and how
religious you are. Even the bible mentions what would fall into the category of
a ghost. The appearance of Jesus after his death can be thought of as a sighting
of a ghost. I am not religious though, in fact I am an atheist. So I do not
believe that once we die there is a "purgatory" where ghosts would be allowed
the chance to roam the earth, I believe that once we die we are dead nothing
more. Ultimately those are the reasons that I do not believe that the ghost of
King Hamlet is not real, I guess I am just a very closed minded person but I'll
just have to live with it.
I do agree that there was something paranormal in the first encounter with the
ghost. However I think that all of the meetings that prince Hamlet has with his
father's ghost afterward are not real, that Hamlet is not really seeing his
father. To prince Hamlet these encounters might seem very real but then again
Hamlet is still in much despair over his fathers death, Hamlet just can not seem
to "let go" of it. It is obvious that Hamlet loved his father very much and to
have to see him die as young as Hamlet was would be traumatizing. So in Hamlet's
state of mind he is desperate for any kind of interaction with his father. So I
think that because of this he is just seeing things, hallucinations even, like
he is going crazy.
Hamlet could be having these hallucinations due to mental
disease. Hamlet could have schizophrenia but he might seem normal because he is
experiencing little to no symptoms. It is a known fact that stressful events can
trigger the development of schizophrenia in a person who already has it. In case
you did not know, one of the symptoms of schizophrenia is seeing and hearing
things that are not real, but seem extremely realistic to the person with this
mental disease. Also this would make sense, seeing as how when the ghost was
first spotted it would talk to no one else other than prince Hamlet. This would
further prove my point that Hamlet might have some sort of mental illness
considering that he is the only one that can communicate with the supernatural
entity. After further investigation on some of the early on symptoms of
schizophrenia I found that a few of them seem to be shown in Hamlets behavior
throughout in the first act. Two of the symptoms that I found fit best in Hamlet's
case are depression and extreme reactions to negative comments. It is clearly
evident that Hamlet is very depressed in act one, obviously about his fathers
death, so depressed that Hamlet even considers suicide, "O that. . . the
Everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self slaughter." (1, 2, 134) Here he is saying how he wished that god had not
made it a sin to kill yourself, showing that he would have already killed himself by now but his religions prevents him.
I thought that Hamlet had an extreme reaction to when his mother tells him that
death is the cycle of life and that he should get over it, as well as when she
asks him why his father's death is so special. It seemed a little extreme to me
the way that Hamlet responds to his mother, "Seems, madam? Nay, it is. . . These
indeed seem, for they are actions that a man might play; but I have that within
which passes show." (1,2,78-88) So I for one do believe that thinking Hamlet might be
suffering from schizophrenia is a very rational accusation. Especially
considering that back then there was no way to diagnose it, but then again back
then the disease was unknown to mankind.
That is the main reason why I think
that the ghost of King Hamlet is not real but ultimately it comes down to
whether you believe in ghosts or not. I for one do not. If ghosts were real then
I believe that in this day and age there would be some definite proof of their
existence. The only proof that ghosts exist are vague, questionable, sketchy
videos on the internet, which most of them have been proven to be just edited
videos attempting to scare people. So with no real evidence that ghosts are in
fact real I find it very hard to believe in something that society knows so
little about. Also believing in ghosts or not depends on your religion and how
religious you are. Even the bible mentions what would fall into the category of
a ghost. The appearance of Jesus after his death can be thought of as a sighting
of a ghost. I am not religious though, in fact I am an atheist. So I do not
believe that once we die there is a "purgatory" where ghosts would be allowed
the chance to roam the earth, I believe that once we die we are dead nothing
more. Ultimately those are the reasons that I do not believe that the ghost of
King Hamlet is not real, I guess I am just a very closed minded person but I'll
just have to live with it.