Commentary on Hamlet Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 1-41

What is immediately clear from this extract is Hamlet and his father have, or at least had in the latter’s living years, a close relationship. This is seen by how both characters’ speech contributes to the verse, in that they share lines, on many occasions. The combination of their words further contributes to the fact that they are of the same descent and thus it is unsurprising to us as an audience as earlier in the play there were assumptions that the Ghost is of Hamlet’s father, “majesty of buried Denmark” (1.1.47). The scene opens with both the son and father contributing to the pentameter of the verse, and it occurs a further three times before Hamlet is revealed the identity of his father’s murderer, and it is such revelations that make this scene so pivotal to the play, and also allow us to understand its structure. By structure, I mean to point out the use of stichomythia, particularly at the opening of the play (lines 1-8 and 24-31). Stichomythia is usually used in drama to speed up the action of the play, partly to keep the audience engaged by making them excited from the change of pace, but the excitement also makes the audience aware that something is about to be revealed, thus creating more intrigue amongst them who before this moment in the play have gone through a lot of dialogue and are possibly growing weary and bored by the play, especially Shakespeare’s contemporary audience. However, instead of a quick direct revelation that usually follows stichomythia in drama, in this moment it is a long monologue by the Ghost, as it takes 24 lines in total for him to reveal that he was murdered by his brother, Hamlet’s uncle, “But know, thou noble youth,/The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown.” Such a pause of delivery is to perhaps illuminate the tragic flaw of Hamlet, and of course the general flaw of his role as a revenger and the play’s genre as a revenge tragedy, that is pointed out by A.C. Bradley – procrastination – and the Ghost’s own procrastination by discussing whether he should or shouldn’t reveal the truth of his death to Hamelt, “I am forbid to tell the secrets” (line 13). Further similarities drawn between the two characters can be found again in the verse. This time it is in their use of caesuras, as there are 22 full stops, commas, exclamation or question marks found in only 40 lines of dialogue between the both of them. In overview, this scene is highly pivotal to the play and its themes, as it explores not only just the relationship between Hamlet and his father, but also in outlining the clear flaws of their characters. Furthermore, this scene holds the most vital revelations that are key for the audience in their understanding of the rest of the play, or at least for an audience that does not know how the play unfolds before it starts.