Hamlet - Two

Ghost:
"I am thy father's spirit,
Doomed for a certain term to walk the night
And for the day confined to dast in fires
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their
spheres,
Thy knotted and comined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand an end,
Like quills upon the fearful porpentine....
List, list, O list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love-


I chose this passage because it introduces another important aspect of the plot, and is the beginning of a very significant scene. Since the ghost first entered the play, a feeling of suspense was created. In this scene, Shakespeare is finally allowing the reader to be informed of the ghost's significance. The line " I could a tale..." serves to set up the rest of the play. The language, similies, and references to nature/life ("two eyes, like stars", "eternal blazon") make the reader aware of the importance of the secret that must be discovered. In this way, the passage builds up to the discovery of the king's murder - which is the central issue of the play.