Act 1 scene 1 Flashcards
Act 1 scene 1 plot summary
Opens Elsinore castle Denmark
Guards Barbados and Francisco keeping watch
Marcellus and Horatio came to meet them - and see if their story about seeing ghost of Old Hamlet is true
Horatio is sceptical but they assure him is real
Ask Horatio as he’s friends w young Hamlet and as he’s a scholar and belief was only educated could speak to dead
Horatio and Marcellus discuss whether ghost is holy or not and resolve to tell his son Hamlet of its presence
Themes in Act 1 scene 1
Religion
Sight
Honour and masculinity
Supernatural
How is religion seen in Act 1 scene 1
Afterlife and what happens to us
Is old Hamlet doomed to haunt castle?
Why is he not in heaven?
Did he come from heaven or hell? Unclear
Reference Marcellus makes to labourers who ‘Do not divide the Sunday from the week’ implies Claudius has men working on Sabbath - against commands of religion. First hint- something wrong in Denmark now
Ghost disappears when cock crows- biblical allusion to death of Christ (being betrayed before cock crew) suggesting ghost is not heavenly
How is sight seen in Act 1 scene 1
Marcellus says Horatio
“May approve our eyes”
Seeing is believing after all
After seeing the ghost, Horatio says
“I might not this believe/ Without the sensible and true avouch/ Of mine own eyes.”
It’s only seeing the ghost for himself that Horatio can believe their stories
How is honour and masculinity shown in Act 1 scene 1
The old King is deceived as honourable
“Fair” “warlike”
It’s clear what they prize in masculinity here!
Fortinbras is young, untried and foolish in comparison- not a real man at all
How is the supernatural shown in Act 1 scene 1
The ghost of old king is a herald of trouble
The supernatural is by definition ‘unnatural’, and therefore there is something wrong both with his presence and, by extension, with the kingdom
How is form, structure and language shown in Act 1 scene 1
Opening-
the scene starts at night, on the ramparts of Elsinore castle in Denmark
This creates the sense of suspense and intrigue, as well as giving he suitable location for the ghost
We learn about honour and old king, and his young son, in comparison w difficulties hinted at in Denmark with the ignoring of the commandment not to work on Sabbath
Form
The revenge tragedy often starts with a ghost, who tells the rest of the characters something that starts the story - Shakespeare uses a classic revenge tragedy structure
Context in Act 1 scene 1
Renaissance belief in the importance of scholars- Horatio May be able to speak to the ghost because he’s educated
Religious beliefs, particularly regarding ghost and conflict between Claudius and other religious attitudes
Name 3 key quotes in Act 1 scene 1
‘That fair and warlike form’
‘Young Fortinbras,/ Of unimproved mettle hot and full’
‘no spirit dared stir abroad;
So hallow’d and so gracious is the time’
Explain the quotation
‘That fair and warlike hero’
And who says it
Horatio
Describing the old king Horatio uses ‘warlike’ to impress on the audience the masculinity and nobility of Hamlet -
to Prime is to believe he was a good skin and prepare us for the contrasting approach of Claudius
Explain the quotation
‘Young Fortinbras/ Of unimproved mettle hot and full’
Horatio
In contrast to Hamlet
‘Hot and full’, tempestuous and young, contrastingly unimpressive impetuous and potentially dangerous
However this contrasts with the description of him at the end, when he is the last men standing, and appears to be highly regal, moral and noble -
The right successor to the Danish throne
Explain the quote
‘No spirit dares stir abroad
So hallow’d and so gracious is the time’
Who says it
The approaching season is Christmas
Statement implies that the ghost is more holy despite disappearing when the cock crew, because how else would it be able to walk the Earth at such a religious time
Atmosphere created in beginning
Begins in castle of battlements - violent - anticipation and tension
En media’s res
Midnight - unknown, evil and bad things happens
‘For the relief much thanks’ ‘tis bitter cold/And I am sick at heart’
Foreshadow following events
‘Bitter’ ‘cold’ lexical field of negativity
Scene is first colloquial leading audience into a false sense of security
Lexical field foreshadow ghost appearing
Breaks security- audience more alert
‘O, farewell, honest solider/ Who hath relieved you?’
Exposition establishing
marcellus leaving
Exposition establishing - fewer men guarding the caste
Provides sense of vulnerability and weakness in characters foreshadowing something bad will happen
Exposition further established ‘Bernardo!’ ‘Is Horatio there?’- question marks and exclamatives - uncertainty and fear - weakness in characters
