Hamlet.

Posted by Bruce Kahl on April 30, 2000

In Reply to: Hamlet. posted by Claire Stuart on April 30, 2000

"When he appears as a Ghost he had a countenance more in sorrow than in anger."
(I.iii.232)

It seems that he is more sorry for his wife's betrayal than he is angry for being murdered. It is the concept of pride and ambition.

".....Or by some habit that too much o'er-leavens

The form of plausive manners, that these men,

Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect,

Being nature's livery, or fortune's star,--

Their virtues else--be they as pure as grace,

As infinite as man may undergo--

Shall in the general censure take corruption

From that particular fault: the dram of eale

Doth all the noble substance of a doubt

To his own scandal. (I.iv.23-38)

Immediately following these words, the Ghost appears and it is apparent that the description, "that one defect", fits Old Hamlet very well.