SARAH:  Ralph, you mentioned earlier that it’s ironic that Ophelia would describe Hamlet as someone “loosed out of hell,” when Hamlet’s just come from seeing a ghost that literally came back from the afterlife.  But this parallel between Hamlet and the ghost goes beyond a bit of irony.

RALPH:  Good point, Sarah.  It’s almost as if Hamlet is identifying with the ghost in some way.

SARAH:  The ghost is described by Horatio as being “very pale” — he’s come back from Purgatory, if not Hell — and he does indeed speak of horrors — the revelation of his own murder.

RALPH:  And — just as the ghost initially does not speak, but simply frightens the castle guards by his appearance, so too does Hamlet approach Ophelia without saying a word — with the same effect of frightening her. If we do see a parallel here, Sarah – what are we to make of it?

SARAH:  That’s certainly up for interpretation.  It could be that Hamlet is identifying with the ghost as he is identifying with the ghost’s mission: to seek revenge for the murder.

RALPH:  But maybe it’s also a more abstract parallel: perhaps the knowledge of profound evil has an alienating effect on Hamlet.

SARAH:  Interesting idea, Ralph.  So the fact that Hamlet knows these terrible things has, in a sense, put him on the other side of life, making him a stranger, making him strange to look at, and making it difficult for him to relate to others in a normal way.  It’s made Hamlet himself a kind of phantom.