Why does the ghost want secrecy?

[Miss Plum]

The ghost says "SWEAR" -- to Marcellus and Horatio, insisting they keep its existence secret.

Never to speak of this that you have seen.
...
Never to speak of this that you have heard.
...
(paraphrasing) not to give away Hamlet's game




I'm not sure why the ghost shakes the ground to get that promise from the others. (Incidentally, did you ever notice: they never actually swear?)

One more thing, I can't see proof in the text that the others hear the ghost. Horatio exclaims, "O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!" but he could be referring to Hamlet's "wild and whirling words."

[Charles Darnay]

First, the ghost does not tell Marcellus and Horatio to "swear" to secrecy: Hamlet tells them and the ghost repeats it.
A subtle, but important point. Let's go to the script.

Come hither, gentlemen,
And lay your hands again upon my sword:
Never to speak of this that you have heard,
Swear by my sword.
Ghost
[Beneath] Swear.
HAMLET
Well said, old mole! canst work i' the earth so fast?
A worthy pioner! Once more remove, good friends.
HORATIO
O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
HAMLET
And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. But come;
Here, as before, never, so help you mercy,
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself,
As I perchance hereafter shall think meet
To put an antic disposition on,
That you, at such times seeing me, never shall,
With arms encumber'd thus, or this headshake,
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,
As 'Well, well, we know,' or 'We could, an if we would,'
Or 'If we list to speak,' or 'There be, an if they might,'
Or such ambiguous giving out, to note
That you know aught of me: this not to do,
So grace and mercy at your most need help you, Swear.
Ghost
[Beneath] Swear.
HAMLET
Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!

They swear

As for whether they actually swear, all editions I just looked at (3 of them) include this stage direction. Of course, since the original texts did not include SDs, this is speculation - but I think since Hamlet ceases to press the matter, they did indeed swear by his sword.

To the more important matter - can anyone else here the ghost. My answer would be "no", but with the acceptance that when it comes to the ghost, we are kept out of the loop.

I agree with you that Horatio's line is in response to Hamlet, not the ghost - or at least in response to this the whole situation.

Horatio and Marcellus clearly see the ghost - whereas Gertrude does not in III.iv. If the former two were never able to see the ghost we could easily pass him off as a thing of Hamlet's mind - but Shakespeare does not allow this. But, again, I do not think the other two ever heard him speak: the Ghost speaks to Hamlet alone. Otherwise he would have spoke when Horatio commanded him in I.i.

(Once again, great questions, Miss Plum!)

[Miss Plum]

Thank you, Charles, for the thorough answer. I think I'm getting a better sense of the Ghost's motives and the limitations imposed on him by the otherworld.

[Jim58]

The Ghost isn't concerned about secrecy. Hamlet is concerned about secrecy. I see the Ghost as just going along with Hamlet. This sequence at the end of the scene is to lend some doubt in the audience if not Hamlet that perhaps the Ghost is the devil and its appearance bodes ill. The Ghost in the image of Hamlet's father has given Hamlet two basic tasks. One appeals to his baser instincts, revenge and the other appeals to his "god-like reason", remembrance. Wrestling between these two is the stuff of every day life.

The swearing scene from the Ghost's perspective furthers these ideas. The only other time the Ghost appears is in the closet scene when Hamlet is doing what the Ghost specifically told him to avoid. I agree with Harold Jenkins (Arden Hamlet 2nd Ed.). I think Marcellus and Horatio hear the Ghost. Otherwise there is no reason for it to say anything. As for Marcellus and Horatio not vocalizing there swearing, I think it has to be presumed from Hamlet's actions. I also think that if they did not want to swear and by that I mean if Shakespeare had a point about not swearing being a part of the scene, then there would have been dialog addressing it.

[Miss Plum]

Thanks for adding to the discussion, Jim! And to my everlasting confoundedness.

[Charles Darnay]

I agree with Harold Jenkins (Arden Hamlet 2nd Ed.). I think Marcellus and Horatio hear the Ghost. Otherwise there is no reason for it to say anything.

Is further urging Hamlet on not reason enough? I think, considering that the ghost does not speak to anyone else in the two other scenes he appears (including the first one with Horatio and Marcellus) there is no precedent for anyone besides Hamlet to hear the Ghost.

But of course, as I mentioned, when it comes to the Ghost we are meant to be confused and without knowledge.

[Jim58]

I don't get the sense that it is Hamlet that needs the urging. Hamlet is intent on completing his threefold swearing ceremony. It is the others who are reserved. Hamlet's responses to the Ghost also do not indicate that it is directed at him. See the closet scene where Hamlet acknowledges the Ghost's visitation being directed at him. Lastly, and I am drawing from Stephen Greenblatt in Hamlet in Purgatory, Shakespeare goes to some effort to base the Ghost's "visibility" on the observers memory of King Hamlet in life. This is why Gertrude can't see or hear the Ghost. She has forgotten her deceased husband.

[Miss Plum]

She has forgotten her deceased husband.

I'll have to read Hamlet in Purgatory, but offhand I'd have to dispute this as the reason she doesn't see the ghost. Hamlet has just been shoving a picture of Claudius in her face, precipitating a crisis of conscience in her.

[mevitts]

I think that Hamlet tells them to swear because he does not want them to tell Claudius about what they saw. Hamlet is planning to seek revenge on him and if word gets back that he saw his dead father, Claudius might think that something is up and get suspicious.

[darthmosh]

"To the more important matter - can anyone else hear the ghost? My answer would be "no", but with the acceptance that when it comes to the ghost, we are kept out of the loop."

But on I.v.171 (in the Folger edition), Hamlet says, "Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage." To me, that indicates that Horatio and Marcellus do hear the ghost, or at least Hamlet seems to think they do.

I agree with you that Horatio's line is in response to Hamlet, not the ghost - or at least in response to this the whole situation.

Horatio's line ("These are but wild and whirling words, my lord" [I.v.147]) comes before the ghost starts saying "Swear", so I don't see how it could be in response to the ghost; it seems it would have to be in response to Hamlet.