Question

How does an adaptation where the ghost and Hamlet are played by the same actor differ from an adaptation where the ghost and Hamlet are played by two separate actors?

By having the same actor play both parts, the existence of the ghost is proven and Hamlet’s madness is confirmed.
By having the same actor play both parts, the need for vengeance is emphasized and Hamlet’s lack of madness is confirmed.
By having the same actor play both parts, the two characters are separated and Hamlet’s lack of madness is confirmed.
By having the same actor play both parts, the two characters become one and Hamlet’s madness is confirmed.

Answer 1

Correct answer: "By having the same actor play both parts, the two characters become one and Hamlet’s madness is confirmed."

Why: doubling the Ghost and Hamlet visually/aurally collapses the boundary between them, suggesting the Ghost is a projection of Hamlet’s mind (or that Hamlet and his father are psychologically fused). That staging choice supports a psychological reading in which Hamlet’s visions and behaviour are symptoms of interior disturbance — i.e., his madness. By contrast, casting two different actors preserves the Ghost’s otherness and the impression that the apparition is an external, supernatural presence, which bolsters readings that Hamlet is sane (or at least responding to a real external stimulus).