Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1
Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1 Aniela Baseley 13FO On the battlements of Castle Elsinore, Bernardo arrives to relieve Francisco of his watch. Horatio and Marcellus arrive and greet Francisco. They talk of the ghost they have seen 'this apparition'. Marcellus has invited Horatio to come and see the ghost for himself. Shakespeare immediately sets the scene, which will be prevalent throughout the whole play, which is concerned with what is truth and what is illusion. Horatio doubts the men's reports, but before Bernardo can reaffirm what he has seen, the ghost appears. Horatio admits that he can see the ghost himself and he recognizes it as the recently deceased King Hamlet. The guards are anticipating this haunting and we can tell this from the line, "Who's there?" This sentence is short and snappy which creates a sense of expectation and tension, which continues into the act. On a symbolic level there is a sense that something is not right and w feeling of unease, especially portrayed through the character of Fransisco. We later find out that the 'divine right of kings' has gone adrift as Hamlet should be the king not Claudius and this therefore will confirm Fransisco's bad feelings. The frequent use of punctuation such as exclamation marks and commas are used to suggest jumpiness. "Stand, Ho! Who is there?" The comma is used as a pause to create
Hamlet Scene 1 Act 1
HOW EFFECTIVE IS ACT I SCENE I AS THE OPENING TO THE TRAGEDY? Thomas Kyd is the author of the 16th Century play A Spanish Tragedy which was highly influential and introduced a new variant of tragedy that includes a ghost and a mad hero. Many subsequent works followed that developed Kyd's original idea into the sub-genre known as revenge tragedy. A piece of literature that falls under this genre is Shakespeare's Hamlet and in order to meet the specification to become an effective tragedy it is heavily based upon Aristotle's criteria used to measure tragedies and Ancient works of literature such as Virgil's Aenied. In Hamlet dialogue accomplishes a variety of things. It develops relationships but most importantly displays the hostility of the characters towards the "strange" and "gross" ghost. Shakespeare uses dialogue to describe the setting including the "cold" weather and the time so that a contemporary audience in an Elizabethan theatre would be able to imagine the scene. The description is able to evoke a mood and create and sinister atmosphere. The language used in Hamlet is dramatically intense and unfamiliar due to the use of heavily-charged words such as "harbingers" which are uncommon in both contemporary and modern vocabularies. The diction and syntax of these words are not problematic during a performance of Hamlet but can cause difficulties when studying the
Hamlet Act 3 scene 1
ACT III SCENE I - HAMLET AND OPHELIA Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It recounts how Prince Hamlet of Denmark goes about taking revenge for his father by killing his murderer, Claudius. In act 3, scene 1 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fail to report the reason for Hamlets 'madness', so Ophelia, Hamlet's lover, is instructed by Claudius to see if his 'madness' is caused by her. I chose to perform this scene because it shows key elements of Hamlets character, his contemplative yet cynical side, shown fully in his famous "to be, or not to be" soliloquy and Hamlet's rash and impulsive side, showing his anger at Ophelia as well as his unpredictability. The area that I focused on was from the start of his soliloquy to where he leaves Ophelia before her "oh what a noble mind" speech. I started the scene in silence, keeping a neutral body posture, and slowly began with "to be, or not to be", instead of making it a huge dramatic statement, I chose to make it more hesitant, with a lengthened pause at the comma, this was done to make it look like it was a statement that had just come to Hamlet. Hamlet is a scholar and a philosopher and I was trying to portray this by making it seem as if he had discovered this notion of the 'point of existence', a key recurring theme throughout the whole of the play. Hamlet is not talking about a wish to commit suicide, in fact he does not
Analysis of Act 1 - Hamlet
Analysis of Act 1 The supernatural appearance of the ghost on a chilling, misty night outside Elsinore Castle indicates immediately that something is wrong in Denmark. The ghost serves to enlarge the shadow King Hamlet casts across Denmark, indicating that something about his death has upset the balance of nature. The appearance of the ghost also gives physical form to the fearful anxiety that surrounds the transfer of power after the king's death, seeming to imply that the future of Denmark is a dark and frightening one. Horatio in particular sees the ghost as an ill omen boding violence and turmoil in Denmark's future, comparing it to the supernatural omens that supposedly presaged the assassination of Julius Caesar in ancient Rome (and which Shakespeare had recently represented in Julius Caesar). Since Horatio proves to be right, and the appearance of the ghost does presage the later tragedies of the play, the ghost functions as a kind of internal foreshadowing, implying tragedy not only to the audience but to the characters as well. This supernatural theme is illustrated from the outset when, only 25 lines into the book the subject of the ghost is introduced when Horation says "What, has this thing appear'd tonight?". Later on into the scene Hamlet after being told about the ghost, decides to see it for himself and after he does so he has a great deal of
Hamlet Act 1 Soliloquy commentary
Good morning teachers and students, Today my speech is on a small excerpt from Hamlet from the second scene of the first act. Hamlet is a tragedy play by the famous playwright William Shakespeare. This play is set in the Kingdom of Denmark and revolves around two different countries; Norway and Denmark, where both kings are being replaced by their successors as they have recently passed away. In the first act, Hamlet and his men find out that there is a ghost that seems to be Hamlet's deceased father and seems to be telling the truth above his death rather than the version that was revealed to the public. This sets the scene for the excerpt that is in focus. It provides a background to the story that allows the tragedy to be built upon. Hamlet finds out that his father did not die of natural causes but instead is killed by Claudius. This adds to his rage, as he associates his father with all things good, while associating Claudius with all things evil. This along with Claudius becoming King has made Hamlet feel that his world has been turned upside down and has been taken over by evil. This scene begins at the court of Claudius and Gertrude, the King and Queen of Denmark. They have just been married. This marriage has followed quickly after the death of the former King of Denmark, Old Hamlet, Claudius' brother. Claudius addresses the quickness of the marriage,
Analysis of Hamlet in Act 1
Hamlet’s first Soliloquy (I.2.129-159): Purpose: Shakespeare uses soliloquy so Hamlet can share with the audience feelings he could not voice in public. Overall Structure: The verse starts and stops, punctuated by expression of pain and confusion. The disjointed rhythm and dislocated progress of Hamlet’s thoughts conveys to us his inner turmoil. Hamlet's thoughts are not fluent; he often interrupts himself with his own expressive comments, as evident in the lines: ‘That it should come to this - But two months dead, nay not so much, not two-‘ (I.2.137). Analysis: ‘O, that this too too solid flesh would melt’. (I.2.129) - We start off with a whimper: he's moaning about how depressed he is over his father's death and mom's remarriage, and wishing that his ‘flesh’ would ‘melt’ - i.e., that he'd die. The duplication of ‘too’ intensifies Hamlet's feelings of regret. Textual Note: Some modern editions of the play read ‘sullied flesh’ instead of ‘solid flesh.’ (I.2.129). ‘Sullied flesh’ - suggests that Hamlet feels that he personally has been soiled, stained, or contaminated by his mother's incestuous relationship with his murderous uncle. Given how he seems to feel about sex, we'd buy that. ‘melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew.’(I.2.130) - He wishes that his physical self might just cease to exist. He complains that his
Hamlet ACT I Scene I:1
ACT I Scene I:1 After encountering the ghost of his deceased father Hamlet gains a new view of Claudius. He finds that the new king, his uncle, murdered his father, King Hamlet. Claudius is more than just a committee of incest. The ghost reveals this information to Hamlet first in lines 38 and 39 of the scene, "The serpent that did sting thy father's life Now wears his crown," (Shakespeare, 34). After examining the ghost's description of the murder the following images and themes can be found to represent key events and symbols in Hamlet: Angelic (pg. 35, line 55): Gertrude is described by King Hamlet's ghost to be a radiant angel, thus forbidding Hamlet to ever hurt her in his plot of revenge. Demonic (pg. 35, lines 10-13): King Hamlet is a ghost, sentenced to walk the earth and in hell for a "certain term". This is central to the novel as Hamlet ultimately commits certain crimes in order to set his father's spirit free. Sleep (pg. 36, line74-75): sleep symbolizes death, "Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand of life, crown, of queen, at once dispatched." Garden (pg. 34, line 36): the garden is a leitmotif which is representative of Denmark. "Tis give out that, sleeping in my orchard..." Poison (pg. 35, line 62): "With juice of cursed hebenon..." King Hamlet was poisoned by his brother, Claudius. Milk (pg. 35, line 69): "And curd, like eager droppings into
Discuss the dramatic significance of Hamlet Scene 1 Act 1
Discuss the Dramatic significance of Act 1 Scene 1 The play 'Hamlet' was written in tempestuous times for England. There was death caused by 'The Plague' and poverty was rampant. Much importance surrounded the outward support of the monarch, Elizabeth. During her reign, religion caused divisions and factions of the Protestant church considered the theatre as sinful, amoral perhaps. In his plays, Shakespeare uses his understanding of humanity to entertain by addressing love, power, loyalty, honour and friendship. These values address unchanging aspects that touch us even today. 'Hamlet' is intended to portray the importance of the monarchy and the insecurity created by the threat of a foreign invasion - the message being that anything can happen to anyone. This then is the underlying setting of the theme for 'Hamlet' - taking place on a dark winter night, creating suspense, intrigue and providing entertainment to an otherwise deprived audience. In the opening, Act 1 and Scene 1 of 'Hamlet', the playwright, William Shakespeare, uses several dramatical devices to influence the crowd's moods, behaviour and attitude towards the play; this is known as psychological audience manipulation. Shakespeare cleverly uses one - dimensional characters to deliver background information to the audience in a more entertaining style. The setting - the guard - platform of the Castle, on
A detailed analysis of Act 3, Scene 1 of Hamlet.
A detailed analysis of Act 3, Scene 1 So far in the play, Hamlets madness has been causing people worry. He is acting mad so he can have revenge on Claudius. Polonius suspects he has gone mad because Ophelia has rejected his love. Claudius isn't sure that's the reason. The scene is focused on Polonius and Claudius carrying out their plan to spy on Hamlet. Polonius and Claudius hide behind a curtain to listen to Ophelia talking to Hamlet. They do this to see if Ophelia is really why Hamlet has gone mad. Polonius says " at such a time I'll lose my daughter to him. Be you and I behind an arras then" Gertrude and Ophelia don't know anything about the plan. The play doesn't say if Ophelia overhears Claudius. Claudius and polonius tell Gertrude " we have closely sent for Hamlet hither, that he, as 'twere by accident, may here affront Ophelia." If Ophelia did overhear she might be part of the plan because she wants to find out what's wrong with Hamlet or she wants to obey her father. Ophelia shows her obedience when she says, " I shall obey, my lord" The women of the time were expected to be obedient and chaste. Ophelia is shown accurately. It seems strange that Polonius disapproved of their relationship. He disapproves because Hamlet is part of the royal family and because he thinks Hamlet is using Ophelia. In this scene the Queen offers her approval she seems to even wish for
Discuss and analyse images of corruption and deception in Act 1 of Hamlet
Discuss and analyse images of corruption and deception in Act 1 of Hamlet In the play "Hamlet" corruption and deception are shown with the use of many images. This suggests that corruption and deception are central to the play. I am going to look at only the first act of the play to discuss the ways in which the images are used. Polonius is considered to be one of the main deceptive characters in "Hamlet". Shortly after he is introduced, we learn that he plans to have someone spy on his son Laertes to ensure he does not get into trouble and so that he knows what he is doing while in France. This is deceptive to Laertes as it shows that Polonius does not trust Laertes to stay out of trouble. The central storyline of the play is based around Claudius, the old King Hamlet and Hamlet. In the final scene of Act 1, Marcellus declares 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.' This can be read in two ways, the literal reading or an impending war and the suggestion of Claudius' misdoings and the murder of King Hamlet. Before the play starts we learn that Claudius is the new King of Denmark because his brother, the former King was killed in an act of war. We later find out when the ghost tells Hamlet, that it was in fact Claudius that killed King Hamlet, The ghost to Hamlet, describing the true cause of his death: "Murder most foul, as in the best it is, But
