the ghost in hamlet

How important is the role of the Ghost in ?Hamlet? The tragedy of ?Hamlet is a revenge tragedy. By 1590 Shakespeare began to write plays for the stage. At that time the ancient Latin texts from Roman and Greek philosophers and writers, such as comedies from Plautus and Terenz, and the tragedies from Seneca were rediscovered, and Shakespeare rewrote a few of them into Elizabethan English. The basic elements of Seneca?s plays - sensational outrages, …

…Claudius. The uncertainty about the ghost is the trigger in Shakespeare?s ?Hamlet?. Without him and without the problems arising around and from his figure, the brother murder probably never would have been brought to light. But nobody can ever be certain - Shakespeare himself leaves us without any information - is the ghost really the spirit of the Old King Hamlet, is it the devil coming from hell, or is it only a hallucination?