In the opening scene, the characters consist of Barnardo, Marcellus and Francisco of which are all soldiers/sentinels, Horatio who is a friend of Prince Hamlet and last but not least, the most terrifying of all if it can be called a character, is the Ghost which is said to be the Ghost of Hamlet (lately King of Denmark).
Before the opening scene begins, it is written `Enter Francisco and Barnardo, two sentinels', we immediately get the impression that something important is about to happen which is why there are soldiers or is about to happen because a soldiers role is to serve the king and its nation, therefore if one hears of soldiers we immediately assume that something big is going to happen or are reporting something that has happened.
Barnardo starts the scene by asking `Who's there?', he starts of with a question and this relates to the play as the play has questions surrounding it, this in fact may reflect Hamlets thoughts and state of mind as he continuously asks questions about his confusion about his mums and uncles relationship and his desires to know why his mum betrayed his father. The effect of Barnardo asking a question reveals uncertainty, nervousness and maybe the unease that he feels. He might be afraid because he feels that he is in danger. For him to feel this, something had to have happened before which may have been frightening, however it could simply that Barnardo is curios to know who it is because of the noises that he must have heard for him to ask this question. From this, the atmosphere and tension starts to build slowly yet surely.
Barnardo says `Tis now struck twelve. Get thee to bed, Francisco' and Francisco replies `For this relief much thanks. Tis bitter cold, and I'm sick at heart', th...
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...oes appear to be his father and Hamlet will of course listen to everything that Horatio has got to say therefore this adds to the waiting/suspense of what will happen next the Ghost will return.
To conclude, Shakespeare uses a lot of questions throughout the opening scene for the atmosphere to be built up. He also uses the most important element, which is the Ghost. A Ghost is an evil spirit therefore the atmosphere has to be evil and will be easily built up because of this key element. Shakespeare uses Ghost to represent the late king Hamlet to add to the curiosity of the audience as well as the characters of why it walks. The Ghost might not even be Prince Hamlets father but an evil spirit in disguise used to trick Hamlet. This adds some excitement for the audience yet some tension which is how the atmosphere gets built up in many different moods and levels.
Hamlet was not sure if the ghost was really his father or if it was the devil trying to trick him to commit a crime. He needed to prove to himself that what the ghost said was true or not. Therefore he is going to stage a play that will reenact the killing of his father to see if the King is guilty.
Throughout the story, Horatio is continuously shown as the voice of reason and clarity. He is the authority figure and it is through him that we see the truth behind the actions of Hamlet and the others. Horatio is the outside observer to the play and it is a result of his words and actions that we can ground the play in reality. Ever since the beginning of the play, Horatio is shown to be a voice of cautious reason and measured skepticism along with a voice of truth, for it was not until he saw the ghost that the ghost became a reality. This idea is clearly portrayed atop the battlements when Horatio says “Before my God, I might not this believe/ without the sensible and true avouch/ of mine own eyes.”(I.i.56-58). Here Horatio confirms that he is the “narrator” of the play and the most sensible observer. However no matter what, Horatio is still Hamlet’s friend and despite his calm mindedness, at the end...
Hamlet is extremely proud of Old King and respects him.“He was a great human being. He was perfect in everything. I’ll never see the likes of him again” (I.ii.185-188). Hamlet loves his father and gives the greatest praise at the funeral. Grief driven by love tempts Hamlet to think his father’s goodness, and more, the loss of such a favorable figure. Hamlet believes that the ghost that is said to look like the dead king is indeed his father.”He waxes desperate with imagination”(I.ii.92). The Prince, who is deep in sadness and does not think sufficiently, is convinced that the spirit is the Old Hamlet, he is the only person that can physically communicate with the ghost. Hamlet for the second time talks to the apparition in his mother’s chamber, where Gertrude does not see any. What Horatio and other witnesses encounter at the gate at night proves the possibility of the existence of the ghost, Hamlet later in the play is considered to be truly mad on the account of his unusual ability to see and talk to the spirit, which is obviously conjured up by his mind. Rising actions in both the book and the play are implied at the beginning of the stories: Amir’s memory of 1975 and Old Hamlet’s death. The journey of redemption or revenge takes actions of concealing their true emotions and implementing devised
In act I scene ii Hamlet,his mother, and father/uncle were discussing how Hamlet should remain in Denmark and not go back to school in Wittenberg. This scene is crucial in the play because it takes the quote "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" very literal. By asking Hamlet to stay Claudius is getting the upper hand with having the ability of keeping his eye on Hamlet.The main character Hamlet is viewed as a recently become madman because of his rejected love from Ophelia. He is also seen a inexperienced prince by his stepfather, Claudius and Polonius. In Hamlet's soliloquies we can see that he disapproves of his mothers marriage to Claudius[uncle/stepfather] because she married him so soon after his fathers death.Along with
An orchestral background that enters the scene halfway through, as if to add emphasis to the point that Hamlet was driving toward, cheapens the scene even more. David Tennant’s approach to the scene is the opposite of the Branagh interpretation. Tennant’s Hamlet in a manner in which he is isolated and the only audio that the audience hears is the actor’s voice, in addition to a slow, detached speech pattern during the recital of the lines that Branagh seemingly sped through without necessary pause. Tennant’s version connects with the audience in a more real way, making the onlooker feel as if he or she could be in Hamlet’s position and the weight that he feels in that moment.
Horatio serves often as the voice of reason, for instance; he is skeptical of the watchman's testimony that a ghost appeared during their watch in the previous night. Marcellus says of the watchman's testimony, "Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy, / And will not let belief take hold of him" (1.1.23-4). Horatio believes the watchmen only when he witnesses the ghost and even then is still skeptical. He is also the voice of reason when he asks Hamlet to restrain himself from meeting the ghost. He is afraid that Hamlet will hurt himself or go mad (1.4.63-91), finally telling Hamlet, "Be ruled, you shall not go" (1.4.81). Hamlet often seeks verification of events from Horatio as well. Horatio agrees with Hamlet, in 1.4, that the night is cold (1.4.2), and verifies Hamlet's belief that the ghost is "wondrous strange" (1.4.164). Horatio does not exaggerate about the length of the stay of the ghost. In 1.2, Horatio tells Hamlet that the ghost stayed in his presence for possibly "a hundreth" (1.2.137), followed by Marcellus and Barnardo's utterance, "Longer, longer" (1.2...
all the events which form the play's framework are reduced to a symbolic representation, to an internal unrest which no action will resolve, and no decision will quell. The deepest theme, masked by that of vengeance, is none other than human nature itself, confronted by the metaphysical and moral problems it is moulded by: love, time, death, perhaps even the principle of identity and quality, not to say 'being and nothingness'. The shock Hamlet receives on the death of his father, and on the remarriage of his mother, triggers disquieting interrogations about the peace of the soul, and the revelation of the ghost triggers vicious responses to these. The world changes its colour, life its significance, love is stripped of its spirituality, woman of her prestige, the state of its stability, the earth and the air of their appeal. It is a sudden eruption of wickedness, a reduction of the world to the absurd, of peace to bitterness, of reason to madness. A contagious disease which spreads from man to the kingdom, from the kingdom to the celestial vault':
Hamlet grants himself the opportunity to momentarily direct himself, yet it remains unknown as to whether he directs a representation of truth or a falsity. He exemplifies madness so well, as the sight of "a damned ghost" (77) insanely induces his imagination and comfortably transforms his identity to one of lunacy. This role he acquires is one he portrays so explicitly well as an actor that he easily utilizes it as the foundation for his players. He instructs the players:
In the play,”Hamlet, Act 3 scene 1” the target audiences between both plays were to a wide variety of people. Back when Hamlet was first written, it was made to be viewed by a wide variety of audiences. Typically during the renaissance era, plays were made more common to the lower part of society; this being why Hamlet was written. Although both plays are to the same audience, the first one is more distinct into who it wants viewed. It had elegance, and was more formal and professional. You could see in the audience people were wearing suits a formal attire. As to the second one, it was smaller scale, and the audience had people in shorts and sweats.
In the first act of the play, King Hamlets ghost emerges in front of some sentinels and Hamlets frien...
Many characters in the play have confidence in Horatio because of his trustworthiness. Horatio is very trustworthy, and not only in the way that he can keep a secret if needed, but he is honorable and keeps his word, and is honest to himself, showing integrity. Here, Horatio shows this trait by revealing to Hamlet that Hamlet’s father’s ghost had appeared.
Horatio's role in Hamlet is minor, however he serves two purposes central to the drama. Horatio provides the truth. It is through Horatio that the actions taken by Hamlet and other characters gain credibility. He is the outside observer to the madness. Hamlet could soliloquize to no end, but it is his conversations with Horatio that ground the play in reality. Horatio believes Hamlet and thus we have permission to believe. He sees the Ghost and so we can believe that Hamlet has seen the Ghost. If Horatio were not there, Hamlet's sanity would truly be in doubt.
When the encounter with the ghost occurs at the beginning of the play, Horatio’s original skepticism introduces doubt. When Horatio agrees that the spirit exists, the readers are allowed to believe that the ghost was not a figment of Hamlet’s imagination. At the first sighting of the ghost, Horatio, urging Hamlet to stay away from the ghost, says, “What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord.../And there assume some other horrible form/Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason/ And draw you into madness? Think of it./The very place puts toys of desperation/Without more motive, into every brain” (III.ii.75). Horatio is foreshadowing Hamlet’s descent into madness. Here, Horatio is...
Thus, the first appearance of ghost in front of hamlet is a huge impact and sets the action in motion for the entire plot. The appearance becomes the most important scene in the play. To Hamlet, Hamlet really admired his father, and his father’s death entirely affected his emotion and life. As Hamlet knew that the ghost was the symbol of his father and the unnatural murder. The nightmare...
A ghost appearing in the form of Hamlet's father makes several appearances during the play. It first appears to the watch men, Marcellus and Bernardo along with Heratio, at the guardsmen's post. The ghost does not speak to them. It is not until the appearance of hamlet that the ghost does speak.