Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5

1. Summary: Hamlet speaks with the ghost of his father. He tells Hamlet about how his brother, Claudius, killed him while he slept. He tells Hamlet to get revenge on Claudius but to do nothing to Hamlet's mother. Hamlet says that he will get revenge. He makes Marcellus and Horatio promise to tell no one about what happened on that night. He also informs them that he will be acting crazy so that Claudius will not suspect that he knows that he killed his brother, Hamlet's dad.

2. Questions: Hamlet - Why would acting insane keep Claudius from suspecting that you know he killed your dad? Hamlet - How do you plan to get revenge on Claudius? Horatio and Marcellus - Will you be able to keep quiet about the events that took place on the night when Hamlet spoke to the ghost? Queen - Did you actually marry Claudius because you love him?

3. Quotations: The ghost of the late King Hamlet says to Hamlet "Murder most foul, as in the best it is,/But this most foul, strange, and unnatural." It means that murder is a horrible thing no matter what, but when Claudius killed him, it was extra bad and also odd. Its like he's saying "My murder was terrible, not that all murder isn't, but mine was extra terrible." I like this quotation because "[m]urder most foul" sounds nice. Also because the quotation is true that murder is always bad, that a man killing his brother is quite bad and that Claudius's method of killing King Hamlet was wierd.
The ghost says to Hamlet "Taint not thy mind nor let thy soul contrive/ Agaainst thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven/ And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,/ To prick and sting her." This is nice because it shows that he still loves the queen because he does not want Hamlet to kill her. It is good that the ghost did not tell Hamlet to kill his mom because it would be terrible if Hamlet would have to kill his mother. Of course, Hamlet's dad wants Hamlet's mom to be punished but he trusts that God and guilt will punish her; the part about trusting God to bring about justice is very good.