"
This grotesque and absurd fable has for two hundred years been accepted
as an almost indisputable historical fact. Men of great intelligence in
other matters seem when the life of Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon is
concerned, quite prepared to refuse to exercise either judgment or
common sense, and to swallow without question any amount of preposterous
nonsense, even such as is contained in the above statement. The part of
the Ghost in the play of "Hamlet" is one of the smallest and most
insignificant possible, and can be easily played by the most ignorant
and most inexperienced of actors. All that is required is a suit of
armour with somebody inside it, to walk with his face concealed,
silently and slowly a few times across the stage. Then on his final
appearance he should say a few sentences (84 lines in the Folio, 1623),
but these can be and occasionally are spoken by some invisible speaker
in the same manner as the word "_Swear_" which is always growled out by
someone concealed beneath the stage. No one knows, and no one cares, for
no one sees who plays the part, which requires absolutely no histrionic
ability. Sir Henry Irving, usually, I believe, put two men in armour
upon the stage, in order to make the movements of the Ghost more
mysterious.
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