The conversation Hamlet has with the ghost is one of the most important events of the second act of the play. After he follows the ghost deep into the woods, Hamlet speaks with the ghost. The ghost claims to be the soul of the late king Hamlet. The ghost tells Hamlet of Claudius' betrayal and murder. This meeting marks an important transition as it provides Hamlet with the motive for his actions in the following acts as well as change Hamlet's state of being.
Hamlet's meeting with the ghost can be seen as almost an internal epiphany he has by himself. Hamlet chases the ghost into the woods. A dark forest suggests the unknown and transitional period as well as the subconscious. By rushing after the ghost, Hamlet is in fact rushing deeper into his own mind to garner the inner motives that he himself has in regards to Claudius and Gertrude. This idea is also supported by the fact that Hamlet shares a name with his father, and in turn, the ghost. This shared name makes the conversation Hamlet has with the ghost seem like a conversation with himself. If this is true, this meeting is an epiphany that Hamlet has which changes the way he thinks about his father's death and marks the start of his revenge. These ideas were always within Hamlet, but it was the manifestation of the ghost that pushed him towards action.
A ghost, as a symbol of disorder and the unnatural in Elizabethan, could represent the chaos within Hamlet and the rest of Denmark. Before and after the meeting with the ghost, the motif of disorder and entropy can be seen in many places. The untimely death of King Hamlet and the unnatural marriage of Claudius and Gertrude both suggest disorder that is widespread throughout all of Denmark. The appearance of the ghost then, could symbolize the internal chaos that is within Hamlet due to the death of his father and the remarriage of his mother. This chaos is then manifested as a ghost as it spreads throughout all of Denmark, first through its nightly appearance to the guards, and then in its conversation with Hamlet.
Following the meeting with the ghost, Hamlet uses the chaos as a guise in order to follow through with his motives. He acts insane so his actions are dismissed as he pries on Polonius and Claudius. The meeting with the ghost pushes Hamlet out of grief and into the false insanity he uses to plot against Claudius. After this point, Hamlet changes from the grieving man we saw in Act 1 into the deceiving and plotting man we see in Act 3. This new Hamlet is trying to restore order and balance in Denmark. The fact that he uses his appearance of insanity and madness to further his cause of order again shows the theme of illusion and reality seen in the play.
