Analysis of Hamlet Acts 1 and 2

¶ … ghost of Hamlet's father appears in the very first scene of the play. The guardsmen, who were demonstrably scared, set the tone for the entire story. The ghost's intentions are eventually known when he tells Hamlet the identity of his murderer. The dark and spooky language the ghost uses in the play sums up the negative tone of the exchange and foreshadows the tragic endings for almost all of the main characters. The language used by the ghost negatively provokes the young prince to acts of revenge and murder:

I find thee apt;

And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed

That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,

Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:

'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,

A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark

Is by a forged process of my death

Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth,

The serpent that did sting thy father's life

Now wears his crown.

(ActI, Scene iv)

Question #2

King Claudius's recent marriage to Hamlet's mother who is the widow to the prior king produces a suspicion in Hamlet that is hard to deny. In Act 1 scene II Hamlet is very upset, weeping and crying while pronouncing his confusion over the recent tragic events. His father has been killed and now his uncle, through marrying his mother the queen, is now the ruler of Denmark. The reactions of the newly crowned king, and his wife's, to Hamlet's emotional pain is dismissive and cold urging Hamlet to quit being stubborn and whiney. Claudius simply states that his father's death is not a big deal and everyone eventually loses their parents to death:

Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet,

To give these mourning duties to your father:

But, you must know, your father lost a father;

That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound

In filial obligation for some term

To do obsequious sorrow: but to persever

In obstinate condolement is a course

Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief;

It shows a will most incorrect to heaven,

Question #5