Good and Bad Spirits in Hamlet

In “Of Ghosts and Spirits Walking by Night!” by Lewes Lavater, the author discusses the four criteria on how to distinguish between good spirits from evil spirits. The first criterion that Lavater says is ghosts that are good will confront men in a terrifying way but later will comfort them. Hamlet by William Shakespeare has a storyline that revolves around the ghost of Hamlet. During the ghost’s first appearance to the men on guard at night, he frightens them with fear and curiosity. They clamor about the image of the mysterious ghost to Hamlet and bring him outside the castle during the middle of the night. While Hamlet at first was dubious, he was put to ease to see his father again. Hamlet responds to the encounter of the ghost by saying “Whither wilt thou lead me? Speak. I’ll go no further.” (1.5.93) This leads into a private conversation to the reunion of the son and the ghost of the father. The second criterion that Lavater discusses is if the ghost appears to be in a form of dog, bear, or a form of beast then the ghost is evil. In contrast if the ghost emerges in a form of a man, lamb or a figure of brightness than it is a good ghost. The voice must be mellow, sober, and sorrowful. During the appearance of the Ghost of Hamlet, he appears to be seen as a man in full armor. The ghost looks absurd and ghostly with a whitish hue around his stature. Constantly in context, King Hamlet’s ghost responds the dialogue of the guards after the encounter by whispering with a solemn voice saying “swear” (1.5.151) Whenever Hamlet speaks to the men around him, the ghost responds to the same word, swear. Next, Lavater introduces the third criterion saying that a spirit is evil if it teaches the surroundings with biblical texts and the use of church beliefs to influence. The ghost of Hamlet does not misuse any religious phrases to anyone. The ghost of King Hamlet talks to Hamlet with his insights of the morals of life. How he views Claudius and past wife of Denmark.