Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1 Questions

Big Questions:

One of the reasons Shakespeare’s plays are still being performed and read is that they
deal with timeless questions that everyone asks at some point in their lives, no matter
when or where they live. In Hamlet, you’ll be exploring questions such as:
1. How do we know who or what to trust?
2. What stops us from doing what we think is right?
3. Are we defined by our actions or our intentions?
4. What does it mean to be “true to yourself”?
5. How does revenge differ from justice?
Take a moment to jot down some thoughts on how you might respond to these
questions right now. You can add to these thoughts as you explore the play. You can
also return to them after you finish your study of the play to record new insights or see
how your initial thoughts might have changed.

Imagery:

Shakespeare develops his themes by the repetition of certain images throughout the
play. Some of these recurring images relate to:
1. poison and corruption
2. sickness
3. gardens and flowers
4. acting and actors
Watch for these images and notice how they help to develop the big questions of the
play.
Answer the following questions directly on this document.

1. While you watch the small film clip of part of the first scene record all the ways
you can find that prove that something is wrong in Denmark.

2. Describe the prevailing atmosphere in this scene and explain how this
atmosphere is created.

Ominous, moody, suspenseful:

- Dark, at night
- Sudden movements
- Music is building up
- The appearance of the ghost
- The fact that the army is coming
- Flashing images and lights

3. What reasons does Horatio suggest for the appearance of the late King’s ghost?

an omen foretelling violence and turmoil in Denmark, similar to the omens from Julies
Caesar.

4. The first scene of the play should arouse the audience’s interest, provide the
necessary information, and create an appropriate mood or atmosphere for the
beginning of the action. To what extent is Shakespeare successful in meeting
these requirements? Explain.

He lets the audience know that the king is dead without directly stating it by showing the
ghost of the king. He also mentions hamlet, the prince. Furthermore, he develops a
main conflict by mention Denmark and Norway’s feud. The sudden appearance of the
ghost also sets the ,ood as full of tension and suspension,
 Act 1 Scene 2

WATCH FOR IT! After the dark and misty setting of the first scene, Shakespeare here
juxtaposes a bright, sumptuous scene at court. But if you pay close attention, the signs
that something is not quite right are apparent. As you read or listen, notice the
contradictions and jarring images that hint at the darkness beneath all the surface
glamour.

Answer the following questions.

1. Claudius’s Contradictions (lines 1–39) Claudius’s speech to the court tries to

reconcile the recent death of his brother with his even more recent marriage to
his brother’s widow. The strain of the situation comes out in the language. Take
note of as many contradictory statements in Claudius’s speech as you can,
including oxymorons and paradoxes. What effect do these literary devices have
on the listener? Do you find Claudius’s speech convincing?

- Dear brothers death > memeory be green

- Th imperial jointress to this warlike statr have we as twere with defeated joy
- With murht in funeral and dirge in marriage

2. Hamlet’s Word Games (lines 65–86) Hamlet, dressed in jarring black, is not
buying the image of “business as usual” that Claudius is constructing. He is doing
his best to cut through the smoke and mirrors and force everyone to remember
that his father has just died, his mother has hastily remarried, and her marriage is
incestuous. Do you admire him for acting this way, or is he just a whining pain in
the neck?

I admire him for being resilient and having more human emotions rather than rushing
quickly to complete tasks. It gives him a better sense of the people around him, and
also gives his father the recognition he deserves,

3. Hamlet's weapon of choice is words, and more particularly, puns. See if you can
spot the word play in his responses. What function do these games serve for
 Hamlet? In what way is a pun an appropriate figure of speech when it comes to
exposing the reality behind appearances?

How is that clouds still hang on you?

Not so my lord i am too much in sun > sun/son pun

A pun can show Hamelt’s wit and intelligence, and his ability to manipulate events or
delve into deeper meaning with them. It is a good figure of speech to use when talking
about someone's inner thoughts or true feelings on an event, as it could have a double
meaning that is not seen by others.

4. What contrasts are brought out between the characters of Hamlet and
Fortinbras?

Fortinbras is very open and outwardly vocal about the plans to kill king Hamelt and also
Norway, while Hamlet is very quiet and secretive of his plans or intentions. Fortinbras is
also more direct in the approach, while Hamlet is still dancing around the topic.

5. “Frailty, thy name is woman” (line 146) Theme of Misogyny

Hamlet does not just blame his mother for marrying too quickly, he blames
women in general! We will see this attitude come out again later in the play. For
now, make a note of it and think about what it might indicate about Hamlet’s
character.

6. The Melancholy Dane The Elizabethans believed that four humours, or fluids,
needed to be in balance for an individual to be psychologically healthy. For
example, too much black bile was believed to contribute to a condition called
“melancholy”—what we would call depression. Does Hamlet seem depressed to
you? What signs or symptoms of depression do you see in what he says and
how he acts? How are these symptoms portrayed in the play?

He talks about suicide and how the world around him is horrible, describing it as if it was
a garden overrun with weeds. He has a very negative point of view, as he’s clouded by
hi father's death and his mother's quick remarriage. He also speaks to himself alone
instead of seeking help from other people as he bottles up his emotions further.
 Act 1 Scene 3

WATCH FOR IT! We’ve just seen how very dysfunctional and fractured Hamlet’s family
is. Now we meet another family, that of Polonius and his children. This group looks and
sounds much less dysfunctional than the one we’ve just seen—but we soon discover
lots of tensions are bubbling under the surface. Enjoy the humour in this scene and
observe the interactions among the characters for evidence of stress in their
relationships.

1. What attitudes toward Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet do Laertes and

Polonius share? What do they want Ophelia to do? Why?

They believe that the relationship is not worth it and that Hamlet will leave or not give
her as much love due to his other duties. They also think that her sleeping with Hamlet
will ruin both her and their reputation.

2. Ophelia Relationships between parents and children were different in the

Renaissance. Wives, children, and servants were considered to be a man’s
property. (If you’ve read Romeo and Juliet, you’ll remember that Lord Capulet
threatened to throw Juliet out on the street for going against his wishes.) Given
this historical context, what do you think of Ophelia? How would you describe her
relationship with Laertes? With her father? Can you imagine this conversation
going on in a modern family? What would be the same or different, in your
experience?

Ophelia is seen as property and an object to her father. Her father only cares about his
own reputation, and how he can make money and profit from giving her away. Laertes
has more brotherly love toward Ophelia, and lets her make her own decisions. This
conversation can happen in a modern family, however, there would be less emphasis on
the reputation that one could get from marriage. The fathers do generally influecne
daughters' decisions.
 Act 1 Scene 4
WATCH FOR IT!
What does it mean to be "true to yourself?" How can we balance our responsibilities or
obligations to our friends, family, ourselves, and even our country or nation? Watch for
how these questions play out in this scene and the scene that follows.

Answer the following questions:

1. Juxtaposing Hamlet and Claudius Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus are outside
the castle, in the cold and dark, waiting to meet the Ghost. Inside, Claudius is
drinking and carousing with his friends. Shakespeare juxtaposes these two
events for a reason. What do you think he is trying to tell us?

He is trying to show that Claudius is suspicious and parties shortly after the
death, while Hamlet still mourns.

2. The Ghost Beckons When the Ghost beckons, Hamlet decides to follow it,
despite the warnings of Horatio and Marcellus. What do you think convinces him
to do so? What does his decision tell us about his state of mind?

TIP! To Elizabethans, anything supernatural (such as ghosts) was a sign of some

deep disorder in the universe. They liked everything to stay in its right
place—and in the case of dead people, that meant in their graves!

He lost all hope in living as seen in Scene 2, and does not care to die. He only
cares about his father and avenging him , so anything that could help him will be
worth it, even if it costs him his life.

3. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” (line 90) This quotation has
become famous. It’s used to describe the feeling that a situation is just not
right—that there is corruption at the heart of things. When Marcellus speaks
these words, he is expressing the same sentiment that Hamlet did back in Act 1,
 Scene 2, when he described the world as “an unweeded garden / That grows to
seed; things rank and gross in nature / Possess it merely” (lines 135–137). Watch
for other images of corruption, disease, and decay throughout the play.
What examples have we seen so far of corrupt behaviour in the play? How might
Hamlet apply this label to Gertrude? Claudius? The Danish court? From other
characters’ perspectives, how might it apply to Hamlet himself?

Gertrude and Caudius have these corrupt traits. Claudius kills his own brother and
parties, and Gertrude doesn't mourn or love her dead husband and marries his killer.
The Danish court does not seem to care either about the king's death, and goes along
with Claudius’ parties. Hamlet does also have some corruption as he is losing his will to
live and be happy, and refuses to let go of the past.

Act 1 Scene 5
WATCH FOR IT! This part of Scene 5 sets the stage for the rest of the play. Watch for
the Ghost to reveal why he has been appearing—and take a moment to appreciate the
elegance of the language in the Ghost’s narrative.

Answer the following questions:

TIP! To an Elizabethan audience, the play so far would be following the familiar pattern
of a revenge tragedy—a very popular form of drama at the time. Here is how Canadian
literary critic Northrop Frye described the key elements of the form: ”In all revenge
tragedies we need three characters (sometimes doubled or in groups): a character to be
killed, a character to kill him, and an avenger to kill the killer. The revenge is usually
regarded by an audience as a positive act of retribution that brings the moral norms of
society into balance again, and it usually sympathizes with the avenger accordingly.”
(Northrop Frye on Shakespeare, Fitzhenry &Whiteside, 1986, p. 89).

Notice the similarities between this description and the basic plot of most action hero
movies today! Keep this definition in mind as the play progresses, because
Shakespeare doesn’t exactly follow the pattern with Hamlet.

1. “’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, / A serpent stung me…” (lines
35–36) In Shakespeare’s day, it was legislated that English citizens attend the
 Anglican church twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.
Therefore, an Elizabethan audience would easily recognize the Biblical allusion
here to the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Before the temptation, Adam and Eve
live in a perfect world, where all their needs are met. They are thrown out of their
earthly paradise after Satan, in the guise of a serpent, convinces Eve to give
Adam forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge.
What do you think the Ghost is implying with this allusion? Why does he choose
to compare the tale of his murder to the story of the Garden of Eden?

He is basically saying that his brother tricked him and married his wife. He
backstabs him like a snake. The snake would ruin the garden. This is also
alluded to the Garden of Eden, which was seen as a beautiful place which is then
ruined by the snake.

2. Mixed Messages from the Ghost (lines 42–91) Notice the words the Ghost
uses to describe the marriage of Gertrude and Claudius. He seems at least as
upset about that as he is about his own murder! And yet, he urges Hamlet not to
harm Gertrude, but to “leave her to heaven.” How do Hamlet's father's words
help to explain Prince Hamlet’s earlier “Frailty thy name is woman” outburst
(1.2.146)? What does that imply about the prince’s relationship with his father?

He sees his wife as a tool and not important, while his brother is the real issue
and threat. This is also matching with Hamelt’s misogynistic views and it shows
that his values have imprinted on Hamlet.

3. Mixed Messages from…Everybody! At the end of the last scene, Horatio was
afraid that the Ghost might turn out to be a demon in disguise, who would lure
Hamlet to his death. Instead, the Ghost reveals that two other characters are not
what they seem. Gertrude is a “seeming-virtuous queen” (line 45) and Claudius
is, as Hamlet calls him, a “smiling damned villain” (line 46).
What other examples have we seen so far of characters appearing one way, then
being revealed to be something else? How is this true for Polonius? Laertes?
Fortinbras? Is there anybody Hamlet can trust? What effect might these mixed
messages have on young Hamlet? What do you think he might be feeling toward
his mother once he hears his dead father’s description of her?

This is true for Polonius, and he seems to be very caring and loving, but he treats his
daughter poorly. Hamlet is very paranoid, and is unable to trust anyone which will push
him to isolation and loneliness. He feels hatred for his mother becuase of his fathers
words.

4. Hamlet’s Soliloquy (lines 92–112) All Hamlet’s highly emotional language in

this soliloquy is about books and brains, ideas, and memory. He has just heard
that his father was murdered by the uncle he hates, but instead of grabbing his
sword, he starts writing notes to himself! Does that sound like someone who is
about to spring into action? Is that what Fortinbras would do? Clearly, Hamlet is
not your typical avenging action hero. But is that a bad thing? Who do you have
more respect for: Fortinbras, who sets out to avenge his father’s death without
questioning the justice of the act, or Hamlet, who reacts with questions and
philosophical musings?

He seems like someone to overthink situations and contemplates before acting.

Fortinbras would jump to action and perhaps do something dangerous or rash. This
doesnt make Hamlet an avenging hero yet, but that is a good thing because it will
ensure that his plan will work out in the end. I have more respect for Hamely as he
thinks and demonstrates his wit throughout the play.