Hamlet and the Ibbur

Hamlet and the Ibbur

At the beginning of the play, the ghost plays the role of the benevolent. The ghost, rather the spirit, transmigrates into Hamlet’s self to carry out the desired goal(s). This certainly refers to the ibbur, an ancestral spirit that returns from the dead to take over a child or person to accomplish a good deed(s), which in the Jewish culture exists as a mitzvah(s). The ghost’s obsession with sin, Denmark’s sin specifically saying, “Let not Denmark not be a couch for luxury”. This serves as an important line by the ghost regarding Denmark’s sin. Remember, the avenging of this natural murder cannot have sin included, telling Hamlet to, “Taint not thy mind; be pure in spirit.” We need to put emphasis on the ghost’s non-vengeful spirit. The ghost mourns his sins telling Hamlet he forbids himself to reveal his sin. An inference made based upon this secrecy alludes to the insulting of Hamlet, furthermore; King Hamlet seduced his fiancé. Notice the persistency by Laertes and Polonius to stay away from Ophelia.

Hamlet no longer controls the actions of himself after the ghost impregnates itself into Hamlet. When Hamlet says to Polonius, “You’re a fishmonger”, the initial reaction from Polonius does not exist. Polonius does not expect this from Hamlet; he does not think Hamlet developed the ability to process all this nor does he know about the impregnation of the spirit in Hamlet’s soul. Calling Polonius a “fishmonger”, suites his actions of serving up his daughter to the king upon the King’s request, we infer. The King admits to this sinful action, announcing his existence in purgatory and his burning desire to purge Denmark of these terrible sins. Notice the linkage between Claudius poisoning the King and the mentioning of the “full of sin” aspect when Claudius committed this action. Immediately after the affair with Ophelia had ended, Claudius must have poisoned him, ensuring his decline into purgatory. The action of killing someone remains immoral but to kill a man full of sin gives Hamlet a predisposition to Claudius’s future actions. After his “To be or not to be” soliloquy he mentions, “What should such fellows as I do crawling between heaven and earth?” identifying the notion of the ghost overtaking Hamlet’s bodily actions. The ghost’s wishes Hamlet to carry out his will of purging Denmark of these terrible condemnations.