Fairbloom Blyth The play opens at night with

Fairbloom, Blyth

§ The play opens at night with Barnardo and Francisco. § Barnardo asks, “Who’s there? ” which is a question of identity. § Line 3: “Long live the King!” § Francisco saying this is ironic because the present King (Claudius) murdered his brother, the previous King (Hamlet Sr. ) § Lines 25 – 40: (Barnardo, Horatio, Marcellus) § Horatio and Marcellus have entered the scene § Lines 35 – 38: Sit down awhile, And let us once again assail your ears, That are so fortified against our story, What we have two nights seen. § The King was killed by poisoned poured into his ear

Lines 47 – 101 (Barnardo, Horatio, Marcellus) § The ghost has entered and we learn that Barnardo and Marcellus have seen this ghost before § They think the ghost looks like the late King, Hamlet Sr. and want Horatio to speak to it § Line 50: Looks he not like the King? Mark it, Horatio. § They try to speak to the ghost, but it won’t answer § Horatio is essentially freaking out that he has seen his best friends father’s ghost § Line 51: It {harrows} me with fear and wonder. § Harrows = torments (tool used in farms) § Line 66: Before my God, I might not this believe Without the sensible and true avouch Of mine own eyes. § Horatio is a figure of reason, which is why he tries to dismiss the ghost at first as a figure of superstition

THEME: Revenge § Line 69 – 75 § Marcellus: Is it not like the King? § Horatio talks about the armor the ghost of the King was wearing which was similar to the castle fortified against a threat of danger § Such was the very armor he had on When he the ambitious Norway combated § He is talking about when King Hamlet killed King Fortinbras § Horatio explains further starting on Line 90 – 101 about the external dangers § Fortinbras and Hamlet are foils to one another, meaning they are similar characters § Hamlet’s father killed Fortinbras’s father, which is why Fortinbras wants to kill Hamlet to avenge his father § King Claudius killed Hamlet’s father, which is why Hamlet will want to avenge his father’s death.

Lines 1 – 20 (King Claudius) § Line 1: Hamlet our dear brother’s death The scene opens with King Claudius explaining himself. He makes reference to his brother’s death and that he very soon afterwards married his brother’s widow Gertrude. § Line 8: Therefore our sometime sister; now our queen § Lines 12 – 14: With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage…. Taken to wife § Balancing mourning and celebrating life – he is trying to rationalize his marriage with Gertrude § Line 17 talks about Young Fortinbras § Line 20: Our state to be disjoint and out of frame § Claudius talks about Fortinbras’s threat and invasion, but denies the state of disjoint with Denmark

Lines 64 – 69 (King Claudius, Hamlet) § Line 66: But now, my cousin Hamlet and my son § We see Hamlet’s first aside on line 67: A little more than kin and less than kind § Aside: the character steps aside, the scene freezes, and the character speaks to the audience / to them self § “More than kin” = twice related, he was his uncle and now is his step-father § “Less than kind” = in an unnatural relationship § Hamlet is punning his relationship with Claudius, who he knows has not behaved kind § Line 68: How is it that the clouds still hang on you? § Hamlet in the “clouds” as a mysterious figure who refuses to join in the celebration, which is upsetting Claudius and Gertrude

Lines 122 – 164 (King Claudius, Hamlet, Queen Gertrude) § Claudius and Gertrude ask Hamlet to stay, but Hamlet wants to leave § Lines 122 – 123: (Gertrude) Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet. I pray thee, stay with us. Go not to Wittenberg. § Wittenberg is where Hamlet went to University with his close friend Horatio, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern § Line 124: (Hamlet) I shall in all my best obey you, madam. § Hamlet will obey his mother, but does not want to obey Claudius

• Beginning on page 29 we have Hamlet’s first big soliloquy. • Soliloquy: when an actor is alone speaking their thoughts aloud regardless of any hearers • Hamlet is suffering a loss of role. He tries to explain himself, but he cannot say what is really on his mind because it would be too dangerous with Claudius around. Hamlet should be the natural successor of his father, but his position was stolen from him. Hamlet is in melancholy. • Hamlet is moaning about how depressed he is over his father’s death and his mom’s remarriage, wishing that his flesh would melt – in other words – that he would die • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=U 4 kc 88 Z 7 El. Q

• This is Hamlet’s first soliloquy about death. After Hamlet lost his father, he became obsessed with the idea of death, and examines it from various perspectives. He begins (here) with the spiritual aftermath of death represented in his father’s ghost. Throughout the play Hamlet is trying to find truth in his ambiguous world, struggling with the uncertainty of death, and what happens after, and if the ghost is truly his father. • Example Questions: • Why does Hamlet wish his "too, too solid flesh would melt"? What's the cause of his suicidal tendencies? Under what circumstances, and at which moments of the play, does Hamlet dwell on the possibility of ending his own life? • What counterarguments for suicide does Hamlet provide throughout the play? Do the arguments change or evolve in any way?

§ Lines 166 – 167: Horatio enters. Horatio is Hamlet’s confidant. Horatio has confidence and poise, which Hamlet has lost. Horatio is the only person in the play that is Hamlet’s intellectual equal. § I am glad to see you well. Horatio – or I do forget myself! § Horatio went to the University of Wittenberg with Hamlet

Lines 187 – 205: (Hamlet, Horatio) § Lines 187 – 191: § The funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio! My father – methinks I see my father. § Hamlet is being sarcastic about the wedding (Claudius and Gertrude’s wedding) coming too soon after the funeral § Hamlet and Horatio go on to talk about Hamlet’s father. Hamlet says “methinks I see my father, ” and then Horatio tells him that he may have actually seen his father’s ghost the night before. § Hamlet has only seen his father in his mind, he has not seen his actual father or the ghost. § Hamlet becomes animated and excited. Horatio tells Hamlet about the ghost. § Hamlet has a new sense of purpose and an urge to see and communicate with the ghost.

§ The scene ends with Hamlet alone full of excitement. Lines 277 – 280: § My father’s spirit – in arms! All is not well. I doubt some foul play. Would the night were come! Til then, sit still, my soul. {Foul} deeds will rise, Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes. § Hamlet has a feeling that the ghost indicates some sort of foul play, which adds to Hamlet’s state of disturbance

§ In this scene Hamlet meets the ghost. Starting on line 42 (pg 51). Hamlet is mystified and amazed by it. § Lines 48 – 50: Thou com’st in such a questionable shape That I will speak to thee. I’ll call thee “Hamlet, ” “King, ” “Father, ” “Royal Dane. ” O, answer me! § The ghost will not speak to Hamlet with anyone around § Hamlet tells Horatio that if the ghost continues not to speak, he will follow it. Horatio instructs him not to. § Lines 80 – 82: (Horatio) And there assume some other horrible form Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason And draw you into madness? Think of it. Horatio is warning Hamlet of madness.