The Ghost AO5

Question 1

1500’s-1600’s trend

Answer 1

enters the stage through a trapdoor (emerging from hell) - focus on supernatural element and Catholic belief in purgatory

Question 2

Browne (1600’s)

Answer 2

believes ‘Ghosts of departed persons (…) the unquiet works of devils, prompting and suggesting us into mischief, blood and villainy’

Question 3

Garrick’s Hamlet (1700’s)

Answer 3

used a hydraulic wig standing on end, to show Hamlet’s shock when first seeing the ghost

Question 4

Henry Irving (played Hamlet in Victorian era)

Answer 4

focused on ghost’s emotional impact on Hamlet

Question 5

Psychoanalyst trend

Answer 5

Freudian influence meant the ghost resembled Hamlet’s suppressed Oedipal desires and unresolved familial tensions

Question 6

Dr Greg (Psychoanalyst era)

Answer 6

a ‘hallucination’ of Hamlet’s ‘distracted nerves’

Question 7

Eyre’s production (late 20th C)

Answer 7

no ghost, Hamlet = psychically possessed

Question 8

Zeffirelli’s film of Hamlet (late 20thC)

Answer 8

ghost is seen as a tired, sympathetic, older father

Question 9

Adams’ production (Psychoanalyst)

Answer 9

ghost was unseen, only voice was heard (shows Hamlet’s isolation and psychological turmoil)

Question 10

Gontar (21st C)

Answer 10

‘the ghost is a liar who shows no concern for Hamlet’s personal welfare’