Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1

One of the best known pieces of literature throughout the world, Hamlet is also granted a position of excellence as a work of art. One of the elements which makes this play one of such prestige is the manner in which the story unfolds. Throughout time, Shakespeare has been renowned for writing excellent superlative opening scenes for his plays. By reviewing Act 1, Scene 1 of Hamlet, the reader is able to establish a clear understanding of events to come. This scene effectively sets a strong mood for the events to come, gives important background information, and introduces the main characters. With the use of this information, it is simple to see how Shakespeare manages to create stories with such everlasting appeal.

She means a lot to him, but now she has rejected him (by returning his

By so doing it was believed that the sins of the dead person would be

In scene 4 act 7, a dialogue between Claudius and Laertes took place throughout the act. In their dialogue, Claudius acknowledges the crime that Hamlet has committed against Polonius, however, Laertes doesn’t understand why Claudius has not taken any action to punish Hamlet for his crime. Claudius in response explained to Laertes that he did not let Hamlet off the hook, but simply restrained himself from punishing him for two reasons. One, because of the queen, her devotion to Hamlet which the queen is a major part of his life and soul that he can’t live apart from her. Another reason being that the public loves him, thus, their affection towards Hamlet would only mask his fault. Not long after the conversation, a messenger enters to deliver

Polonius further displays his self-interest through his attempt to advance his cause by using his conversation with his daughter to gain favor with the king. Polonius meets with King Claudius and Queen Gertrude to inform them that the reason why their son, Prince Hamlet, is crazy is due to his love for his daughter, Ophelia. Here, Polonius is willing to sacrifice his daughter’s happiness to score points with the king. He presents to the king and queen a letter that Prince Hamlet has written to Ophelia. He replies, “I have a daughter- have while she is mine-Who, in her duty and obedience, mark, Hath given me this”(II.ii.106-108). The letter shows that Prince Hamlet is madly in love with Ophelia as he writes to her, “To the celestial and my soul’s idol, the most beautified Ophelia “(II.ii109-111)

In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Prince Hamlet’s speech or soliloquy from Act 4, Scene 4 effectively targets both the plays audience and other characters in the play. In Hamlets speech, he is reflecting on how he is meaninglessly prolonging Claudius’s death, even though he could have killed him at anytime and how he has everything he needs to accomplish his goal. He is also reflecting on how God has blessed humans with the power of thought to use when needed and that blessing is what makes humans different from animals. Hamlet’s speech opens the eyes of the audience by showing them how humans are capable of doing anything they put their minds too and the consequences of overthinking and not taking action to

In act 1 scene 2 of “Hamlet” the character Hamlet speaks his first soliloquy which reveals his innermost thoughts and feelings to the audience. In this soliloquy Hamlet’s unstable state of mind is evident as well as his feelings of despair about his father’s death and his disgust of his mother’s remarriage to his uncle Claudius. Hamlet’s hatred for his uncle is shown through harsh comparisons between Claudius and his late father. This soliloquy takes place after Claudius has begun his reign as king and has addressed the court for the first time but before Hamlet hears about the apparition that Horatio and the guards have seen. Hamlet’s character and personality are shown in this soliloquy through the use of classical imagery, diction and

In Act I Scene III of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Polonius, the father of Laertes and Ophelia, enters as Laertes is saying his goodbye to Ophelia. Polonius talks to each of the two characters directly at different points in this scene; however, the conversations are both meant to be a helpful warning and lesson to each of the characters. The main point, or crux, of the conversation between Polonius and Laertes was a series of small, fatherly tips and lessons to Laertes before he goes off on his trip to Paris. The main point of the conversation between Polonius and Ophelia was a warning that Ophelia shouldn’t get mixed up with Hamlet romantically because Hamlet wouldn’t truly love her.

as he was always off at war…who else to warm the royal bed than the

In Act 5, Scene 1 of Hamlet, Hamlet comes across two gravediggers who had been discussing the fate of Ophelia, who had committed suicide by drowning herself in the previous scene. They were trying to decide whether or not she deserved a Christian buried since she killed herself. Although this scene adds almost nothing to the overall plot of the play, it serves more as a comedic and philosophic scene of sorts. At first glance for someone like myself who is unfamiliar with the Shakespearean language, the humor of this scene was completely lost upon me. It took the reading of the actual script of the play and online research to discover the humor in this scene, mostly because of how ancient this play is, and as such, much of the language and humor doesn’t translate to the current day and age.

iii. 129-130). He is telling her to spend less time with Hamlet because he feels that his vows of love are not as true as Hamlet makes them seems to be. Just like Laertes, this advice suggests that Polonius does not think highly of Hamlet and also thinks he is childish and doesn 't actually love Ophelia. Their advice sets up their suspicions about Hamlet which leads Polonius to set up situations that will reveal Hamlet’s true feelings and show them he is not in fact mad because of Ophelia. The advice also causes Ophelia to distance herself from Hamlet, which raises some red flags in Hamlet’s mind and causes him to think that her family has something to do with it. Laertes tried to stay out of Ophelia 's love life for the most part, but Polonius had no problem inserting himself into his daughter’s life.

In the sixth soliloquy of Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, Hamlet finally begins to realize his procrastination. In this soliloquy we discover how Hamlet is purely a follower; he needs to compare himself to another person in order to realize his own flaws. This constitutes his madness as he is seemingly an intelligent man, as suggested by some of his previous soliloquies, but yet is unable to see his own wrongdoings until after it becomes too late. In his sudden realization, he confesses his procrastination and it all becomes clear that he was aware of it the whole time. It thus can be concluded that Hamlet has been fooling us, as all of his wise choices seem to come after some unusual circumstances and not solely from his intellect.

Act 5 Scene 1 sits between two of the most dramatic scenes in the play. We witness the death of Ophelia in Act 4 Scene 7 and the death of Hamlet in Act 5 Scene 2. Shakespeare opens Act five with a scene of comic relief between two gravediggers who are preparing for Ophelia to be buried. They begin by lightheartedly debating whether or not she deserves a Christian burial, saying that Ophelia is “drowned herself wittingly” (5.1.11) but because she is a “gentlewoman” (5.1.22) of higher class her body with take part in traditional religious rituals. One gravedigger then proposes a question/riddle to his associate regarding who has the most important profession. He then reveals that the answer is a gravedigger because “the houses he makes lasts

Act 4 Scene 1 of Hamlet starts out with Gertrude telling Claudius of how Hamlet killed Polonius, Claudius realizes it could have been him back there and that is probably what Hamlet was thinking. Then blames himself for the act as he feels he wasn’t controlling Hamlet enough. After talking to Gertrude and hearing what she had to say about Hamlet showing remorse, she told him Hamlet had gone to take care of the body. Claudius tells Gertrude Hamlet must be sent away and immediately starts thinking of how to tell his people. He then summons Hamlets visiting friends instructs them to find Hamlet and bring Polonius’s body to the chapel. After they left Claudius tells Gertrude they should seek counsel on how to avoid getting the blame placed on them.

Claudius starts questioning Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about Hamlet. They told him that Hamlet did admit that something was wrong, but wouldn't say why. Polonius and Claudius prepare to hide while sending Ophelia. Polonius tells Ophelia that people act religious to hide from their sins. Claudius, talking to himself, finally admits some guilt. Hamlet speaks about living and the fear of death.