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Tragical  History  of  Hamlet  

Prince  of  Denmark  
 
William  Shakespeare    
 
 
List  of  characters:    
 
Hamlet:  Prince  of  Denmark  
Ghost:  the  late  king  of  Denmark,  Hamlet’s  father  
King  Claudius:  the  new  king  who  is  also  the  brother  of  the  late  king    
Queen  Gertrude:  now  married  to  King  Claudius,  Hamlet’s  mother  &  his  father’s  widow  
Polonius:  King  Claudius’  major  councillor  
Laertes:  Polonius’  son  
Ophelia:  Polonius’  daughter  
Horatio:  Hamlet’s  close  friend  and  fellow  student  
Barnardo,  Francisco,  Marcellus:  watchmen  
Rosencrantz  &  Guildenstern:  Hamlet’s  childhood  friends  and  fellow  students  
Reynaldo:  Polonius’  man  
Voltemand  &  Cornelius:  Danish  ambassadors  to  Norway  
Osric:  a  courtier    
Players  
Gravedigger  
Fortinbras:  Prince  of  Norway  
 
 
 
Act  1,  Scene  1:  “Who’s  there?”    
 
  The  play  opens  with  this  question,  which  not  only  demands  a  clarification  of  one’s  
identity,  but  also  the  “unfolding”  of  one’s  intentions  and  thoughts.  In  our  class  discussion,  
we  talked  about  the  possible  connotations  of  this  question  in  relation  to  the  issues  of  fear,  
anxiety,  uneasiness  and  political  turmoil  –seeing  the  Ghost  as  well  as  the  threat  of  battle.  
The  guards  Barnardo  and  Francisco  are  armed  on  duty  at  the  battlements  of  the  royal  
castle,  and  they  are  nervous.  It  is  midnight.  Barnardo  has  come  to  relieve  Francisco  of  his  
duty,  but  he  first  challenges  Francisco  by  approaching  with  this  question.  In  return,  
Francisco  demands  Barnardo  to  reveal  himself  as  well:  “Stop  and  identify  yourself”  (1.1.2).  
The  opening  conversation  between  the  two  guards  creates  an  atmosphere  of  unease  and  
fear,  and  it  indicates  that  there  is  a  continual  awareness  of  an  incipient  danger.  In  this  
scene,  the  nature  imagery  also  serves  to  underline  how  odd  and  anxious  this  situation  is  as  
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Francisco  states:  “It’s  bitterly  cold  out,  and  I’m  depressed”  (1.1.6).  This  mood  predominates  
most  of  the  characters  in  the  play.    
  As  Barnardo  asks  if  Horatio  is  there,  Horatio  answers  him  with  a  bitter  joke:  “A  piece  
of  him”  (1.1.17).  The  phrase  “a  piece  of  him”  might  indicate  that  Horatio  is  offering  his  hand  
to  greet  the  guard  and  that  the  cold  has  reduced  him  to  a  fragment,  which  is  his  hand.  Yet,  
the  phrase  also  implies  that  this  is  just  a  piece  of  him,  a  shrunken  version  of  his  self  because  
he  unintentionally  expresses  the  fragmented  state  of  this  society,  which  is  ruled  by  
Claudius,  the  deceitful  brother  of  the  late  king.    
  The  odd  thing  is  that  the  guards  are  armed  and  nervous  as  they  do  not  know  the  
reason  why  they  keep  the  watch.  Later,  Marcellus  wants  to  know  the  reason  why  Denmark  
is  in  a  state  of  military  alert.  The  fact  that  the  guards  are  supposed  to  protect  the  castle  
against  an  unknown  danger  makes  the  audience  question  the  validity  of  Claudius’  kingship  
as  the  guards  are  left  in  an  ambiguous  state  at  this  moment.  They  learn  from  Horatio  that  
young  Fortinbras  is  planning  to  attack  Elsinore  to  avenge  his  father,  the  late  king  of  
Norway.  Act  I,  Scene  I  provides  us  with  an  unfolding  of  Denmark’s  recent  political  history.  
Along  with  the  war  preparations,  we  learn  about  the  previous  war  between  Hamlet  senior  
and  Fortinbras  senior.  The  dead  king  Hamlet  defeated  and  killed  Fortinbras,  the  late  king  of  
Norway,  and  won  parts  of  Norway.  Young  Fortinbras  intends  to  avenge  his  father  and  gain  
the  lost  territories  by  force  (1.1.79-­‐106).  Looking  at  Horatio’s  account,  we  should  also  
question  the  validity  of  Hamlet  senior  in  his  political  decisions  because  he  threw  his  people  
to  the  wolves  waging  a  war  with  Fortinbras  senior  who  dared  the  late  king  to  combat  
(1.1.80-­‐89).  We  might  consider  Hamlet  senior  to  be  an  irresponsible  king  for  accepting  the  
late  king  of  Norway’s  challenge.  Even  though  Hamlet  senior  gained  victory,  he  
accomplished  this  at  the  cost  of  his  men’s  lives.    
   We  also  learn  that  the  guards  and  Horatio  want  to  question  the  Ghost  who  has  
appeared  at  the  battlements  twice  before.  The  Ghost  looks  like  the  former  king  Hamlet,  but  
they  are  not  sure  whether  it  is  the  former  king’s  ghost  or  an  evil  spirit  who  has  come  to  
deceive  them  in  the  late  king’s  disguise.  In  any  case,  they  recognize  his  kingship  because  
the  Ghost  appears  in  full  armour  as  Horatio  states:  “The  king  was  wearing  exactly  this  
armour  when  he  fought  the  king  of  Norway.  And  the  ghost  frowned  just  like  the  king  did  
once”  (1.1.60-­‐61).  The  unidentified  state  of  the  Ghost’s  presence  will  be  unfolded  by  young  
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Hamlet,  as  the  Ghost  will  later  inform  him  about  his  uncle’s  betrayal  and  usurpation  of  the  
throne.  In  the  play,  the  issue  of  unfolding  is  not  only  about  disclosing  one’s  identity,  but  
also  telling  one’s  story.      
 
Act  1,  Scene  2:  from  state  politics  into  family  dynamics  
 
We  see  in  the  second  scene  that  the  parents  endeavour  to  contain  and  control  the  
behaviour  and  decision  of  their  children.  Following  this  scene,  personal  and  familial  issues  
are  always  connected  to  power  and  politics  in  he  play.    
 
  Claudius,  the  new  king  of  Denmark,  gathers  his  subjects  and  acknowledges  their  
recent  support  of  his  succession  to  the  throne.  We  gradually  get  to  know  the  characters  and  
learn  about  their  intentions  through  their  dialogues  and  the  way  they  present  themselves.  
Remember  that  language  defines  so  many  things  in  this  play.  Looking  at  Claudius’  first  
speech,  we  immediately  suspect  his  public  face.  In  showing  them  his  gratitude,  the  king  
reminds  his  councillors  that  they  have  approved  of  his  marriage  to  the  widow  Queen  and  
his  kingship.  In  this  way,  he  demonstrates  his  political  skill  to  persuade  his  subjects  and  
gives  a  positive  spin  to  his  delicate  position.  For  instance,  we  see  his  rhetorical  skill  in  the  
way  he  defines  their  war-­‐like  condition.  He  points  out  that  he  joins  forces  with  Gertrude,  
‘the  imperial  jointress’,  because  it  is  a  wise  thing  to  do  in  these  times  of  conflict  between  
Denmark  and  Norway.  He  makes  the  marriage  seem  like  a  political  decision  that  has  been  
taken  for  the  sake  of  bringing  stability  and  order  to  Denmark  as  they  are  on  the  verge  of  
battle  with  young  Fortinbras.  Using  royal  ‘we’  in  his  speech,  Claudius  calls  attention  to  his  
present  state  of  royalty  and  eliminates  the  possibility  that  his  actions  and  decisions  derive  
from  personal  ambition.  He  defines  his  succession  to  the  throne  as  an  occurrence  “with  
mirth  in  funeral  and  with  dirge  in  marriage”  (1.2.12).  At  this  point  remember  that  usually  
marriage  is  associated  with  mirth  and  funeral  with  dirge,  not  the  other  way  around.  Thus,  
Claudius  presents  himself  as  a  sincere  and  mindful  king  to  his  subjects  and  influences  their  
thought  and  emotions  skilfully  to  avoid  any  questioning  of  his  hasty  marriage  and  kingship.  
He  always  uses  such  antithetical  statements  and  tries  to  soften  the  situation.    
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  After  Claudius  sends  ambassadors  to  Norway  to  stop  young  Fortinbras’  attack,  he  
gives  permission  to  Laertes  to  return  to  France.  Here,  we  learn  that  Laertes  follows  the  
authority  of  the  new  king  and  avoids  any  conversation  about  the  death  of  the  late  king:  
“France,  which  I  left  to  come  to  Denmark  for  your  coronation”  (1.2.52-­‐3).  He  neither  
mentions  the  funeral  nor  offers  his  condolences  even  though  the  late  king  was  Claudius’  
brother.  As  such,  Laertes  appears  to  be  a  character  that  adheres  to  the  authority  of  the  new  
king  and  he  immediately  demonstrates  his  loyalty  by  only  focusing  on  the  coronation  of  the  
new  king.