The Hamlet Project

In becoming a a ghost,
Hamlet’s father has not only lost his life and his body,
He seems to have lost the sense of himself.
He speaks of himself in the third person
As if he is not Hamlet’s dear father
As if Hamlet’s dear father were some distant foreign figure
As if the person saying these words had nothing to do with the father once loved.
He is Hamlet’s father’s spirit.
He is not Hamlet’s father. Nor does he seem
to be any other identity of the former king of Denmark.
Wait – strike that – he’s dressed as the version of himself that once went to war
But he’s not wearing his crown, he’s wearing his helmet.
Which makes me wonder –
Is the spirit that walks these walls the version of his father that Hamlet most remembers?
Is this the idealized vision of his dad?
Younger, triumphant, coming home from the wars.
Little boy Prince runs to these arms as a child
Not the stately king.
This ghost, disconnected from all of his worldly initiatives and desires
(Save one: to get revenge against his brother)
Can not even identify himself as the one his son dearly loved,
He just calls that identity up
To compel the prince to what he wants him to do.
Ghost psychology, though, is tricky.
No one really knows the rules.