RALPH: The ghost seems to be evoking different sides to Queen Gertrude, almost as if these sides were different personalities or characters.

SARAH: So, Gertrude's virtuous side cannot be corrupted by any temptation, no matter how sophisticated or lovely - the ghost says "a shape of heaven" — but she nevertheless succumbs to Claudius's seduction because of her lust...

RALPH: And Gertrude's lust is compared here to an insatiable appetite that will feed on anything, even garbage. Ewww. But, Sarah, what about this line, "what a falling off was there!"?

SARAH: Well this is a rather subtle pun. The most straightforward meaning is that the ghost thinks that Claudius is inferior to himself — and that Gertrude's affections therefore fall off, fall lower, when they refocus on Claudius. But "to fall off" had the additional sense of rebelling against royal authority, which aptly describes Gertrude's behavior in regards to King Hamlet.

RALPH: The ghost is implying that Gertrude remarrying is almost a kind of treason.

SARAH: But the pun extends yet further. Shakespeare often describes sexual lust as the body rebelling against the will. So, Gertrude's lust could be seen as falling off, or rebelling against, her own royal person. Again, the ghost's language portrays Gertrude as someone who is internally divided, almost at war with herself.