Scene IV. The platform.
Prince Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus enter the cold, windswept platform after hearing the earlier thunder and trumpets that announce King Claudius’s revelries. Horatio remarks on the biting air and wonders what hour it is, while Hamlet muses on the king’s drunken celebrations. As they speak, the apparition of King Hamlet, the former monarch, materializes. Hamlet calls to the spirit, imploring it to identify itself—whether “a spirit of health or goblin damned”—and demands to know why the dead king’s “cerements” have burst open to return. He urges the ghost to answer why it has risen again, asking what it means and what should be done.
The ghost gestures toward a farther part of the battlements, beckoning. Horatio warns that the spirit may be commanding Hamlet alone, and Marcellus urges him not to follow, describing the ghost’s courteous motion toward a more remote ground. Despite their admonitions, Hamlet declares his indifference to fear, stating that he does not risk his life for a “pin’s fee” and that his soul is immortal. He repeats his intention to follow the ghost, even as Horatio imagines possible dangers—being led to a flood, a cliff, or madness. Marcellus physically tries to restrain Hamlet, but Hamlet shoves them away, proclaiming that his fate cries out within him, likening his blood to that of the Nemean lion, and threatens anyone who stops him.
The ghost retreats, and Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus argue briefly. Marcellus, frustrated, remarks that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Horatio resolves to follow, and the trio exits, intending to pursue the apparition further.