The ghost of Hamlet’s father . . .
The ghost of Hamlet’s father [was] either illusions of minds unhinged by melancholy or devils masquerading as spirits of the departed in order to lure the persons they address to damnation.
- Campbell and Quinn (1966)
The ghosts of departed persons are not . . .
The ghosts of departed persons are not the wandering souls of men but the unquiet walks of devils, prompting and suggesting us into mischief, blood and villainy.
- Thomas Browne 1642
Notes the devil often adopts the . . .
Notes the devil often adopts the form of a dead father to incite evil ‘we will sooner harken to him than otherwise’
- Thomas Nashe
Once the ghost manifests itself for a second time . . .
Once the ghost manifests itself for a second time, the pace of the action immediately quickens . . . the actors are, paradoxically, in some way enlivened by this creature from the dead; each abandons a sedentary position to assume and active role.
- Peter Reynolds 1988
