Hamlet
...tory aspect of the play. Hamlet Senior, the late king, was being tormented in hell throughout the daylight hours and during the night he was forced to walk the castle. He stated that he was "Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confin'd to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my [being the late King's] days of nature Are burnt and purg'd away (50 lines 10-13). His release from this torture would not be permitted until his avenger is retaliated against by his son. Hamlet, Francisco and Bernardo all see the ghost of the late king, but the apparition will only speak to his son. The ghost brings an unnatural feel to the drama and leaves the reader/viewer wondering if it was real or all in Hamlet's mind. Hamlet is made to do some detective work in this melodrama. His first order of business was to figure out if the ghost of his father that he thought he saw, was in fact real and if it was, was it unfeigned or a demon. Then, he must decide if the ghost of his father was truthful about Claudius, his father's brother, Hamlet's uncle who was also the reigning King, committing fratricide against his father. To find evidence of Claudius' involvement, Hamlet uses the players, to bring about his uncles deep seated feelings hopefully lodged in his conscience. In reading the play it is unclear as to what extent Claudius is affected by the play that is within the play. It is stated by Ophelia that "The King rises" (94, 250), which does not fully admit his guilt after hearing the plot of the play by the characters revealed to him by Hamlet.. Queen Gertrude's involvement with the late king's murder is also a problem to which Hamlet must get to the bottom of. According to the ghost of his father it was unclear to him whether she was involved or not. Hamlet had trouble finding out whether or not she was involved. The theme of revenge is d...