What Does The Ghost Tell Hamlet?

In the first act of the play Hamlet is already suspicious about his father’s death. All of Prince Hamlet’s doubts are, however, removed in Scene 4 when he encounters the ghost for himself, learning from it the truth of his father’s death: “A serpent stung me, so the whole ear of Denmark…/The serpent that did this sting thy father’s life/Now he wears his crown.” This evidence allows Prince Hamlet to overcome his initial moral reluctance to believe such foul suspicions of his own family, specifically Claudius, convincing him of the guilt of the new monarch. Now all he has to do is fulfill his father’s request of revenging him: “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” He believes this is his duty to his father as a son, signifying the importance that he places upon this relationship, though he hesitates on completing this duty throughout the play. Although Hamlet himself desires to see Claudius pay for his crime, he realises the evil in the deed of murdering the king. The ghost has placed Hamlet in an unusual state of mind in asking him to murder the king for his treachery, but he would not act on that hate if he were not prompted to do so by the ghost.
The first appearance of King Hamlet’s ghost changes the entire plot of the play. Being one of the main sources of evil, the ghost had created a domino effect which had began the downfall for everyone. As all of Hamlet’s doubts are totally confirmed after meeting the ghost, his thirst for revenge becomes his main thought.