Hamlet again :: essays research papers

Scene i: The play opens in the dead of night on the walls of Elsinore Castle. Gloom, uncertainty and anxiety hang over the kingdom of Denmark, the first words spoken coming as the sentinel's challenge, "Who's there?" In short order we learn from the guard of the night watch that the long-time King of Denmark, "Old Hamlet" or "Ur-Hamlet," died mysteriously just two months earlier, that his brother, Claudius, has taken the throne, and that Claudius has married the dead king's wife, Queen Gertrude. The members of the watch, including Prince Hamlet's loyal friend Horatio, are further alarmed over the recent appearance of a ghost who resembles Hamlet's late father, and they plan to tell Hamlet about this disturbing apparition. (Jump to the text of Act I, Scene i) Scene ii: The play now shifts to the royal court of King Claudius and his new wife, Queen Gertrude, as we first see Hamlet's uncle dealing capably with affairs of state. In this, he is advised by his chief counselor, Polonius, and the King has a cordial exchange with his minister's son, Laertes. Hamlet, however, remains in the background, a surly figure muttering resentful asides. Claudius rejects Hamlet's request to return to college at Wittenberg, and urges him to cease his "unmanly" mourning for his father. When the royal entourage departs, Hamlet speaks a soliloquy about his resentments toward his stepfather, his mother, and their incestuous marriage. Horatio and his cohorts arrive and tell the prince about the ghost they have seen. Hamlet vows to observe it himself. (Jump to the text of Act I, Scene ii) Scene iii:The scene is comprised of an exchange among Polonius, his son Laertes and his daughter, Ophelia. The young maiden Ophelia reveals to her father and brother that Prince Hamlet is "madly" in love with her. Both Polonius and Laertes strongly warn her about any romance with a prince of the realm, particularly one who seems to be mentally unbalanced. (Jump to the text of Act I, Scene iii) Scenes iv-v: Back at the walls of the castle, the Ghost of Hamlet's father speaks to his son directly and urges him to follow him to a one-on-one encounter. Hamlet has misgivings, but he obeys and the ghost then confirms that he is, in fact, the dead King. He also discloses that he was the victim of a murder, that Claudius poured poison into his ear while he was asleep.