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ACT 1
SCENE 1
- Q: "Who's there?" - Bernado
- The guards, Barnardo & Marcellus, are uncertain whether the ghost is real or not
- Questions whether or not it is the deceased King Hamlet or not
SCENE 2
- Claudius addresses the death of his brother, King Hamlet, and announces his marriage with his wife, Gertrude. He wants us to realize that we can balance sadness and happiness at the same time.
- On top of bringing up the issue with Fortinbras, Claudius tries to persuade the audience that he has everything under control. This shows he is manipulative since the reader knows that he is hiding a big secret under his swift responses.
- Uses language to manipulate people
- On top of bringing up the issue with Fortinbras, Claudius tries to persuade the audience that he has everything under control. This shows he is manipulative since the reader knows that he is hiding a big secret under his swift responses.
- Q: "Seems madam? Nay, it is. I know not "seems" - Hamlet
- Q: "Of impious stubbornness. 'Tis unmanly grief" - Claudius
- Hamlet's first soliloquy
- When Hamlet is alone on the stage, he express his true feelings about his mother's remarriage and how he finds it "incestuous"
- "She married: -O most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!" (I, ii, 156-157).
- Here we find out Hamlet is angry & disgusted by Gertrude's & Claudius' marriage
- He doesn't get why nobody can see this corruption
- However, he has to "hold my tongue" (I, ii, 159) and not tell anyone his true feelings
- When Hamlet is alone on the stage, he express his true feelings about his mother's remarriage and how he finds it "incestuous"
SCENE 3
- Polonius uses a difference approach when talking to his son Laertes and his daughter Ophelia
- For Laertes, he seems to give advice. In reality, he wants a good reputation for himself. Thus, he wants his son to act and look a certain way so others can appreciate how Polonius' parenting skills
- For Ophelia, he gives orders rather than advice. He orders Ophelia to break up her relationship with Hamlet because he hears bad things about him and does not want his daughter to be influenced by someone who has a bad reputation.
- Instead of listening to the concerns of his daughter, he rather believes gossip from others to influence the way he perceives a person.
- Though at a glance, he appears to be a caring father who is looking after his children, but in reality he is only focused on himself and his own reputation. He ignores his children's concerns for his own benefit.
SCENE 4
- Q: "The dram of evil/ Doth all the noble substance of a doubt/To his own scandal-" - Hamlet
- When the Ghost appears, Marcellus and Horatio tries to restrain Hamlet from following the Ghost
- They believe that the Ghost seems evil. Thus they hold Hamlet back.
- Hamlet ignores his friends because he believes the ghost looks good but in reality it could be bad as well
SCENE 5
- The Ghost tells Hamlet how he died from Claudius pouring poison down his ear
- The Ghost is telling Hamlet the truth / reality, yet we wonder if the ghost is reliable since we do not know if Hamlet is just really imagining the ghost or not
- Q: "O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!" - Hamlet
- Q: "To put an antic disposition on" - Hamlet