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Hamlet and the Ghost: A Joint Sense of Time
- Philosophy and Literature
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 37, Number 1, April 2013
- pp. 1-19
- 10.1353/phl.2013.0012
- Article
- Additional Information
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A deconstruction of Hamlet's ontological metaphor—"the time is out of joint"—indicates Shakespeare has made an implicit commitment to a conception of time that is explicitly and systematically developed by Kant's transcendental philosophy. Consequently, a retro reading explains how Hamlet temporarily identifies with the Ghost's temporal-categorical mind-set, and how Hamlet, who has been acutely aware of the passage of time, loses track of time during the prayer/closet scene sequence. More specifically, I assert that Hamlet's identification with the Ghost's categorical sense of what is possible and impossible in accordance with the passage of outer time is what causes his inaction.