Act I Hamlet by William Shakespeare Act I

Act I Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Act I Synopsis Scene 1: The ghost appears to Marcellus, Bernardo, and Horatio. They agree to tell Hamlet about it. Scene 2: Claudius addresses his court. Hamlet’s soliloquy regarding anger and depression occurs. Scene 3: There is a lot of advice giving - Laertes to Ophelia, Polonius to Laertes, and Polonius to Ophelia.

Act I Synopsis Scene 4: Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus wait for the ghost. The ghost appears and beckons Hamlet to go with it - Hamlet follows the ghost. Scene 5: The ghost tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius using poison. The ghost instructs Hamlet to avenge his death by killing Claudius, but to leave Gertrude alone. Hamlet tells Marcellus and Horatio that he may need to put on an antic disposition and forces them to swear to secrecy.

Exposition (The 5 Act Play) Setting: Denmark, Elsinore Castle (inside at court and outside on the ramparts), dark, spooky, 1600 s Elizabethan England. Characters: Bernardo, Claudius, Marcellus, Horatio, Polonius, Hamlet, Ophelia, Gertrude, King Hamlet (ghost), Laertes, and Francisco. Inciting Incident: The ghost tells Hamlet he is King Hamlet and he has been murdered, that is was Claudius who did it, and that he must be avenged.

Act I Characters Hamlet: The Prince of Denmark, son of the late King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude. The Ghost: The ghost of the late King Hamlet. Married to Gertrude and brother to Claudius before his passing. Tells Hamlet to seek revenge against Claudius for killing him. Claudius: The King of Denmark, The brother to the late King Hamlet now married to his widow, Queen Gertrude: The Queen of Denmark. Widow of King Hamlet now married to Claudius. Horatio: Hamlet’s friend and confidant. The voice of reason.

Act I Characters Polonius: Father of Ophelia and Laertes. An advisor to Claudius. Laertes: The son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia: The daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes. Has romantic feelings for Hamlet (“girlfriend”). An example of innocence and goodness in the play. Fortinbras: Prince of Norway. Planning to reclaim lost lands in Denmark to avenge his father’s death (His father, King Fortinbras of Norway was killed by Hamlet’s father). A foil character to Hamlet.

Act I Characters Bernardo: Danish soldier. On top of the tower with Horatio during the night watch. Marcellus: Danish soldier. On top of the tower with Horatio during the night watch. Reynaldo: Servant to Polonius.

Theme, Tone, and Mood: Mysterious and suspenseful Tone: ● Dark ● Uncertain ● Tortured Theme: ● Appearance vs. reality ● Retribution and honour

Important Points! ● There are 5 acts in Hamlet ● Hamlet was written between 1599 -1601. ● The ghost (Hamlet Sr. ) accuses his brother, Claudius, murdering him by poison. ● The ghost (Hamlet Sr. ) asks Hamlet to seek revenge for his murder, but asks that he doesn’t harm Queen Gertrude. ● No one at the royal court knows how King Hamlet was killed/ ● Hamlet decides to seek revenge, but does not act immediate as a way to “play his cards right”.

Quiz Review

Quiz Review ● The author, the date it was written, the number of acts, and the system for identifying passages in the play. ● The characters that are introduced in the first act. ● The setting. ● The initiating incident (3 details). Terms: Antic Disposition: acting mad or crazy. Soliloquy: an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud by oneself.

Quotes A piece of advice Polonius gives to Laertes. This above all: to thine own self be true

Quotes This quote is said by Hamlet during one of his soliloquies. Hamlet is referring to this mother and suggesting that all women are false in their emotions. Frailty thy name is woman.

Quotes Have we, as ‘twere with a defeated joy, Who is the speaker? With on auspicious and a What is the significance of the quote? dropping eye, With mirth in funeral and dirge in marriage.

Who is the speaker? Claudius My grief is great for the loss of my brother. We all mourn him. It is with sorrow and joy that I married my sister-in-law.

Quotes Or that the everlasting had not fix’d Who is the speaker? What is the significance of the quote? His cannon against selflaugher! God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seems to me all the uses of this world.

Who is the speaker? Hamlet In Hamlet’s 1 st soliloquy. We learn that Hamlet is suicidal. He is sad as wishes he was dead, but he cannot kill himself because it is a sin.

Quotes But, in the gross and Who is the speaker? scope of my opinion, What is the significance of the quote? This bodes some strange eruption to our state.

Who is the speaker? Horatio A bad omen upheaval in Denmark.

Quotes Who is the speaker? A little more than kin, and What is the significance of the quote? less than kind.

Who is the speaker? Hamlet He is talking about Claudius and his dislike for him - You may be family, but you are not kind. It asserts that he neither resembles Claudius in nature nor feels kindly to him.

Quotes Who is the speaker? Of life, of crown, of What is the significance of the quote? queen, at once despatch’d

Who is the speaker? The ghost (Hamlet Sr. ) We learned that because he was murdered, he died without sacrament to absolve his sin. He is made to wander the earth from dusk until dawn until his sins are forgiven.

Quotes Who is the speaker? What is the significance of the quote? My lord, he hath importuned me with love In honourable fashion.

Who is the speaker? Ophelia She is talking about Hamlet - He was given her love in an honourable fashion.

Quotes She married-O most wicked speed, to post Who is the speaker? What is the significance of the quote? With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor cannot be good; But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue!

Who is the speaker? Hamlet In Hamlet’s 1 st soliloquy. Canon law (ecclesiastical law, especially in the Roman Catholic Church, that laid down by papal pronouncements) considered marriage with deceased brother’s widow to be incestous.

Quotes The time is out of joint; Who is the speaker? O cursed spite, What is the significance of the quote? that ever I was born to set It right!

Who is the speaker? Hamlet He is thanking his friends and cursing the enormity of the task ahead of him, but he is going to go through with it despite its enormity.