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- The Ghost impresses on Hamlet the gravity of what happened to him and entreats Hamlet to seek revenge for his death. After Hamlet agrees, he plainly tells Hamlet that Claudius poisoned him to take his wife and throne.
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Intensely moved, Hamlet swears to remember and obey the ghost. Horatio and Marcellus arrive upon the scene and frantically ask Hamlet what has happened. Shaken and extremely agitated, he refuses to tell them, and he insists that they swear upon his sword not to reveal what they have seen.
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Hamlet describes the ghost, but Gertrude sees nothing, and in a moment the ghost disappears. Hamlet tries desperately to convince Gertrude that he is not mad but has merely feigned madness all along, and he urges her to forsake Claudius and regain her good conscience.
After Hamlet agrees, he plainly tells Hamlet that Claudius poisoned him to take his wife and throne. After all the relevant information is on the table, however, the Ghost starts to reveal an emotional and performative tendency that is plainly echoed and amplified in his son Hamlet.
When the ghost reveals this fact to Hamlet, he responds by suggesting that he suspected as much all along, saying "O my prophetic soul!" The ghost describes the details of his murder,...
If Claudius doesn’t seem guilty, then it’s possible that he’s innocent and the ghost that appeared to Hamlet was a demon—but if he does, action must be taken. Horatio promises to do what Hamlet has asked of him.
Other characters may see the ghost (the castle guards and Horatio, for example), but Hamlet's the only one who has a dialogue with it. He's also the only one who sees or hears the ghost when it shows up in Gertrude's chamber to remind Hamlet to be nice to his mom (3.4.126-131).
The horrified Hamlet listens, rapt, as the ghost urges him to seek revenge for the late king’s “foul and most unnatural murder.” Hamlet urges the ghost to tell the tale of the king’s murder as quickly as it can, so that he can immediately go and get revenge.
