In Hamlet, explain the importance of Act 1, Scenes 4 and 5.

Scenes 4 and 5 of Act 1 are absolutely crucial to the play
because they introduce one of the biggest dilemmas that haunts Hamlet for a large part
of the action: is the ghost real or not?

The scenes, which
present Hamlet going with Horatio and Marcellus to see the Ghost, present us with
important information regarding the state of Denmark, where something is "rotten,"
according to Marcellus. The scenes also reveal the exact way King Hamlet died, according
to the ghost.

These scenes also set Hamlet on his course of
revenge and destruction. Based on the information that he is given about the death of
his father here, Hamlet is honour-bound to revenge his father's
death.

We even see the first element of procrastination in
this play, as Hamlet plans to take on an "antic disposition" rather than acting
directly. Note how Hamlet ends Act I scene 5:

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The time is out of joint: O cursed
spite,

That ever I was born to set it
right.

Hamlet here expresses
his sadness and deep sense of unfairness that it is he who must "set it right" and
avenge his father, which foreshadows why he takes so long to accept his position in the
play as avenger.