Hamlet Act I Scene 1

Hamlet

Act I, Scene 1

• Summary

-It is midnight and bitterly cold. On the battlements of Elsinore Castle, Bernando, Marcellus and the scholar Horatio take over the watch from Franciso.

- The soldiers tell the skeptical Horatio about the Ghost they seen in two previous nights. 

- The Ghost appears; dressed in full armor, it closely resembles Old Hamlet, the late warrior-king of Denmark. Offended by Horatio's challenge, it stalks away. 

- We learn that Young Fortinbras of Norway threatens to invade Denmark. He hopes to recover by force lands lost by his dead father in ceremonious combat with  Old Hamlet thirty years ago. We hear of Denmark's frantic preparations for war. 

- The Ghost reappears. Horatio questions it formally but before it can answer, the **** crows, the Ghost 'start(s) like a guilty thing'  and vanishes.

- The men decide to tell Young Hamlet what they have seen. 

• The Ghost Appears to the Guards

Shakespeare uses various language techniques to create the right mood in this scene

- This scene begins with a q question, "Who's there?" and there are many more in the following conversation. This creates a tense mood of uncertainty. 

- Shakespeare also uses half-lines to create a broken rhythm in the conversation. This increases the feeling of uncertainty and unease because the text doesn't flow.

- The discussion about the Ghost is full of contrasts and tension. Marcellus calls it "majestical" but Horatio says that it acted "like a guilty thing". This indicates that there's confusion over the Ghost's intentions and origins from the start. 

• The Use of the Ghost Establishes the Genre

- The appearance of the Ghost means that the audience knows what to expect from the rest of the play Supernatural elements were a common theme in Elizabethan revenge tragedies. 

- The Ghost's existence indicates that 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark". King Hamlet hasn't passed on to the afterlife peacefully, suggesting that there was something suspicious about his death. 

- The fact that the Ghost appears wearing armor also suggests that it's going to reveal an aggressive message. 

- The Ghost's appearance foreshadows the tragedy that's to come. 

• Horatio Introduces some Key Themes

- Horatio helps the audience to understand what's happened

Horatio's first thought on seeing the Ghost is that Denmark's future under the new king is uncertain. He voices the concern of the Danish people at a time of political change. 

He thinks the Ghost is a bad omen for Denmark. He compares it to the "precurse of feared events" that foreshadows the assassination of Julius Caesar

Horatio is portrayed as educated, rational, and skeptical- his part-acceptance of the Ghost's existence could persuade the audience to believe in the Ghost as well. Horatio's testimony is far more convincing than the superstitious…