Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1978

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Nathan, Norman

Abstract

Uncertainty about the Ghost's role lies at the heart of controversy over Hamlet. No previous study has established the Ghost's full significance as a focus for ethical conflict. Eschewing assumptions that the Ghost must be an instrument of God or Satan, the text is given a closer look. A Herculean image keys the exploration of Old Hamlet's voluntary ghostly appearances in heroic conflict with purgatory. Parallels of this feat with Hercules' harrowing of Hades reinforce the bearing of that image. An expiatory mask implies purgatorial sanction for restoring universal order. But that concept proves ironic, a cultural mirror for ghostly dissembling. Underlying conflict reverberates both in symbol and in ironic treatment of Hercules' role as a Renaissance analog of Christ. Revenge cannot be reconciled with Christ's rule of forgiveness; the conflict focused in Old Hamlet's bolt from purgatory implicitly reveals a Christian God as overseer of the play.

Extent

57 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1978.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT13937

Format

pdf

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