Hamlet's Love for His Father In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Hamlet is presented as a son devoted to the memory of his father, King Hamlet. He is unhappy with his uncle, Claudius', marriage to his mother so soon after his father's death. It has only been two weeks since his death and his uncle has now become his father and King of Denmark. When he sees the apparition of his late father he is amazed at the mere sight. He wonders if he is from heaven or hell. Why did she appear to him this way? What are his intentions with Hamlet? Hamlet does not know, until the ghost speaks, that his father has been murdered. It was a cruel, cold murder at the hands of his uncle, and now his stepfather, Claudio. The ghost asks Hamlet to avenge his death, to which Hamlet agrees. Hamlet tells his son that he was killed by his brother, contradicting the story Claudius told the court. He told him how Claudius had poured poison into his ear while he was dozing in the orchard. She also tells Hamlet about her brother's adulterous behavior even before his untimely death, and asks him to leave Gertrude's punishment to the higher authority of God. Young Hamlet is outraged by the news and vows to avenge his father's death. His friend and confidant, Horatio, and Marcellus who first saw the ghostly spirit, are both sworn to secrecy about Hamlet's sword. Young Hamlet does not tell them what he knows for fear that they will "reveal" it. Hamlet is now ready to enact a plan to avenge his father's death. To this end he warns his friend and confidant of his impending "madness". Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius while he is praying in the chapel but abandons it for a good reason. If he were to kill Claudius now, he would be no better than Claudius for killing his father, and he would not receive the just punishment for his action. It would be better to kill him in his "adulterous bed", or when he was "in anger". But better than all that, it would be better to make his uncle's feat public. Hamlet hatches a plot to make known Claudius' murder of his father.