At least the whisper goes so.” This further exaggerates the message that something secret, something that not many people should be aware of is occurring; as Horatio describes what he knows as “the whisper”.
The play begins with the two sentinels, Barndardo and Fransisco, on the gun platform of Elsinore Castle patrolling at night. In an Elizabethan theatre it would be very challenging to physically create a night time environment on the stage; plays were usually performed in the afternoon, in open air theatres so there was no escape from the sunlight. This also proves to be a problem when the text presents significance in the weather as the weather inside the theatre may not reflect what is written in the text. Shakespeare used his language to create the correct atmosphere for the first scene. One of the most obvious and clear examples, is the use and constant repetition of the word night, and reference to the time in the dialogue:
”Tis now struck twelve, get thee to the Fransisco”
“Well, good night.”
“Give you good night.”
The audience would now be aware of the time of day in the scene and would completely disregard to streaming sunlight pouring through the open air theatre.
Frasisco comments “For this relief much thanks, ‘tis bitter cold.” The reference to cold exaggerates the audience’s new found belief that the scene is at night, but also hints towards to weather, perhaps the season or the time of the year. The very fact that it is a cold dreary night time scene may reflect on the audience’s perception of the mood.
The dialogue that first begins with Barnardo and Fransisco reflects what may be said by a sentinel on guard, helping to create their status and character. Yet in this instance it also creates a sense of great tension, in that they both wrongly believe the other to be an intruder. Barnardo even admits “You come most carefully upon your hour” which reveals that he would have expected Fransisco to arrive then, so his appearance would not have been unexpected. This tension and unease would allow the audience to believe that something is not right.
The short staccato lines in the opening dialogue also give a sense of unease and nervous haste: “Who’s there?” An educated Shakespearian audience would be aware of the poetry of his plays and the regular rhythm of the iambic pentameter that structures all of the text. Therefore to being with a two word, fast line may be very unexpected and exciting and would immediately grip the audience. The shared lines also give a similar effect yet follow the iambic pentameter:
“Give you good night.
Oh farewell honest soldier.”
The shared lines are not as concentrated as the staccato lines and allow the audience to recognise the regular structure of a Shakespeare play yet still allow the fast pace of the nervous scene to flow consistently and to sustain the dramatic tension.
Before the ghost appears Barnardo, Marcellus and Horatio are seen discussing it. Amongst this discussion however, they fail to directly refer to it as anything descriptive enough for the audience to appreciate:
”What, has this thing appeared again tonight?”
“Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us.”
”That if again this apparition come”
This does not allow the audience to fully understand what they are talking about, and would leave them interesting into what it was, keeping them watching.
The character of Horatio gives an alternative opinion on the appearance of the ghost:
”Tush, tush, ‘twill not appear”
This alternative sceptical view layers the dialogue; dialogue with characters that all believe in the appearance of the ghost may look unexciting on stage and may even appear ridiculous and unbelievable. Yet when the ghost makes it appearance the sudden change in Horatio’s dialogue is very dramatic: “Most like. It harrows me with fear and wonder”
This sudden change would be very noticeable to the audience and would help appreciate and emphasize the significance and effect the ghost has on the scene.
A Shakespearian audience may also have found the appearance of a ghost more significant than perhaps a modern audience would. I would imagine a modern audience would appreciate that the ghost was a vital part of “Hamlet” yet may find it difficult to follow the fact that a ‘ghost’ was walking about the stage, due to their own personal beliefs. Yet in the 16th century people were a lot more superstitious towards ‘spirits’ and may well have accepted the ‘ghost’ in “Hamlet” as a believable character.
Shakespeare effectively uses imagery to allow the audiences imagine to illustrate the language:
”I am sick at heart.”
This is Fransisco’s exclamation when relieved his duty Barnardo. As well as simply expressing the emotion of the character, it also seems to be a metaphoric statement, commenting on the idea of disease within “Hamlet” the idea that it begins with a single event, but that slowly escalates and eventually it has affected everything. Everyone. This is also true of:
”This bodes some strange eruption to our state.”
This would stimulate the audiences imagination into thinking about a volcano and how the lava initially explodes from a single point, yet eventually it is seeming down the sides of the volcano spilling out, unfolding over the land.
The end of the scene sees a real transformation. Dawn breaks, and seems to take away the fear and nervous tension that the night contained. This is shown in the description of the arrival of dawn: “The morn in russet mantle clad
Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill.” The comparison of dawn to a traveller wearing a russet (red) mantle brings a certain warmth to the scene and seems to relax the atmosphere. For this line the iambic metre is broken:
”But LOOK the MORN in RUSset MANtle CLAD
WALKS o’er the DEW of YON high EASTward HILL.”
The stresses on the language here is very different to that of the previous language of the scene. This captures the feeling that a change has occurred with the arrival of dawn and that the scene is more relaxed.
Shakespeare uses his first scene of “Hamlet” to introduce vital background knowledge of the play and allows the audience to appreciate some of the content of the play, making them a little more aware of what sort of play they are about to see. Not having the technically enhanced artificial lighting and sound that modern theatres and directors are privileged to have, Shakespeare indulged in a very rich use of descriptive and emotive language to create, for the audience, the mood of the play.
