Discuss Act 1 Scene 1 of Hamlet as a prologue for the rest of the play.

The first 200 words of this essay...

How can act one scene one of Hamlet be seen as a prologue for the rest of the play?

Hamlet does not begin at a light pace or with a trivial introduction to characters and setting. While the first scene does not involve the central characters, it manages to begin the narrative arc of the play immediately. Amidst the inevitable exposition that dominates the first act of the play, scene one contains plot-advancing action: the ghost of Hamlet appears; and, at the very end of the scene, Horatio decides that he should inform Hamlet:

Let us impart what we have seen tonight

Unto young Hamlet [...]

This decision starts a simple chain of events that leads into scene two-which in turn leads into scene three, and so on. Before long, the younger Hamlet has establishes that Claudius murdered his Father, and this information is at the base of everything he thinks, says and does subsequently.

It can be seen throughout Shakespeare's canon that he writes the narrative of a tragedy in an intricate and interwoven style. Despite writing in a character-driven way, there is a recognition that circumstance and coincidence must conspire for genuine tragedy.