Hamlet · Chapter
Scene V explained
The Ghost reveals to Hamlet that he is the spirit of his father, murdered by Claudius, and commands Hamlet to seek revenge.
What happens
The Ghost reveals to Hamlet that he is the spirit of his father, murdered by Claudius, and commands Hamlet to seek revenge. Hamlet swears to remember and avenge the murder, and makes Horatio and Marcellus swear secrecy about the ghost, warning them he may feign madness.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This scene is the dramatic climax because it marks the psychological and moral peak of King Claudius’s interna…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Revenge and Morality
The Ghost commands Hamlet to avenge his murder, setting the central revenge plot in motion.
- Mortality and the Afterlife
The Ghost describes his time in purgatorial fires and the horrors of death without absolution.
Characters to notice
- Hamlet
Confronts the Ghost, learns of his father's murder, and swears revenge.
- Ghost
Reveals himself as Hamlet's father, describes his murder by Claudius, and commands revenge.
- Horatio
Arrives with Marcellus, is sworn to secrecy by Hamlet.
- Marcellus
Accompanies Horatio, swears not to reveal what he has seen.
Key passages
“I am thy father’s spirit, Doom’d for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away.”
I am the spirit of your father, condemned to wander at night and suffer in flames during the day until my sins are cleansed.
The Ghost reveals his identity and his purgatorial state.
“Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.”
Avenge his terrible and unnatural killing.
The Ghost commands Hamlet to take revenge for his murder.
“The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown.”
The snake that killed your father now wears his crown.
The Ghost reveals that Claudius is the murderer.
“The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!”
The world is disordered; what a curse that I was born to fix it.
Hamlet laments his fate as the one who must restore order.
