Hamlet Study Guide (not yet complete) ACT 1 - Completed by Stevie, Alexie and Zoe 1.1 1. Which Kings die at the outset of Hamlet? (NB: plural) We are provided with the information of two passings. • Old Hamlet (Hamlet’s father) – King of Denmark • Fortinbras (Fortinbras’s father) – King of Norway 2. What happens when Francisco and Bernardo meet at the beginning of 1.1?
Horatio describes the conditions of Rome before the murder of Julius Caesar, and thinks that the Ghost is a sign and warning to Denmark that something calamitous will happen, as the sick moon was portent to Rome before the death of Caesar. In scene four when Hamlet sees the ghost of his father and follows in order to try to speak to it, Marcellus says, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (Act 1. 4. 90). This quote shows that the Ghost brings a bad omen to Simbajon 2 Denmark, but also shows that there is a connection between the morals of a ruler and the well-being of the state of Denmark as a whole.
Hamlet also expresses the possibilities that the ghost could have been the devil. Although hamlet gets upset with himself he believes that the play he arranged would display Claudius’ guilt and then he will know for sure he killed his father. This reveals to the audience that Hamlet is a procrastinator and he is a coward. In Hamlet’s fifth soliloquy he contemplates the idea of suicide, he suggests that maybe the only reason we choose life is because we know so little about death other than it Is final. After contemplation Hamlet decides not to take his own life.
It suggests that he is putting on a disguise, which is later confirmed when it is revealed that he is the one who murdered the king. After his speech, Claudius turns to Hamlet and says that he and the queen do not wish him to go back to school in Wittenberg, for
The Ghost The dictionary definition of a ghost is an apparition of a dead person that is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image. This very nebulous image may have only only been present for a handful of scenes at that, but the fact of the matter is. He surely left a major impact on what would happen, how he affected the characters present in the book, and he set the theme that would be revenge. Prince Hamlet first came into contact with the “nebulous image” in the first act. Hamlet was already greatly affected by his father's death and was in deep mourning.
The first prediction occurs when Macbeth meets the three witches, and they foretell that Macbeth will first become the Thane of Cawdor and eventually become king (Harlan, n. d.). They also predict that Banquo will have kings in his bloodline. Macbeth and Banquo are cautious to believe the predictions at first. Banquo even asks Macbeth if they are hallucinating, or if the witches are corporeal. At first, Macbeth hesitantly rejects the witches’ prophecy; however,
In the beginning he is confused trying to figure out who the spirit is, if it’s holy or evil, and why it is even there. This shows Hamlet’s childlike side, he’s scared but like a child he wants to follow and find out what this ghost truly is. He’s prying at what he knows is something unknown and just brushes off Horatio and Marcellus’s suggestions of staying or at least letting them come along as well. Close to the end of the passage Hamlet explains that he doesn’t care about life, yet he looks at himself as an immortal figure as any other man would. This explains that Hamlet is still a young man physically and mentally.
The act of logical thinking demonstrates that Hamlet did not act hastily and commit a sin after witnessing his father’s spirit. As he is in a vulnerable state one may think of the ghost might take advantage of his state of mind, therefore he does consider the ghost as a reliable source. He deliberately formulates a plan to determine whether or not what his father’s apparition was true about Claudius murdering his father. The plan verifies the truth behind his father’s death by observing Claudius reaction to the play in which it re-enacts Old Hamlet’s death. Furthermore, Hamlet’s sense of understanding can be illustrated as he is able to develop
This method of obtaining knowledge about someone else’s plans defies morality and weakens any bond of trust formed within Hamlet’s home. Secrets are supposed to be kept, but when eavesdropping is present, it becomes virtually impossible. Hamlet’s family and piers have considered him insane within his house. He is suffering from internal struggles about his father’s death, and the task he has been given. Hamlet has been instructed by the ghost of his late father to avenge his death by killing King Claudius.
Shakespeare incorporated the theme of madness to serve a motive for Hamlet in order to deceive others. Hamlet planned everything from what he was doing to what he was going to do. Hamlet did in fact pretend to be mad, just so he could follow through on his plan to avenge his father’s death. He acted like he was mad because he did not want to directly kill Claudius, because he wanted to make him suffer. Hamlet also knew that he could not tell anyone that Claudius has murdered his father or that he had seen the ghost of his father because no one would believe him.