Act 1 Notes

Summary:
In act 1, Bernardo, Francisco, and Horatio are on guard. Bernardo and Francisco had previously seen a ghost, but Horatio did not believe them. He said he would have to see it with his own eyes. Then... HE DID!!~ They try to talk to the ghost, but he doesn't respond. The next night, they try to talk to it again and as the ghost is about to respond, a rooster crows and he disappears. The next night, he appears again and they try to attack it, but their attempts are worthless.

In scene 2, we meet King Claudius and Queen Gertrude and they are talking about how they need to have the Danish as allies, so they send Voltemond and Cornelius. The king then asks Hamlet if he is still mad about his father's death and not being able to go back to the university. Hamlet says, no I'm all sunshine. Then, the Queen asks why he looks so crappy if he is really that happy. He basically says that he just likes to dress in black. Then everyone leaves but Hamlet and he stays and talks about how he wants to say something about his mom and uncle's marriage, but can't. The three soldiers from scene 1 then enter and tell him about the ghost that looks strangely like his father. He says he will meet them that night to talk to the ghost.

In scene 3, Ophelia and Laertes are talking about how Hamlet was passing Ophelia some love tokens. Laertes warns Ophelia that she should be careful because Hamlet, being a government official, must do what the people say. Then Polonius, their father comes in and basically says that Laertes needs to catch is plane to France. Then, Laertes tells Ophelia to keep it secret until he gets back and Ophelia promises, but then as soon as he leaves, spills the beans to Polonius. Polonius says don't mess around with that bloke and so she says ok, I will obey.

In scene 4, Hamlet and his peeps are waiting for the ghost. Then the ghost wants Hamlet to go off with him and the soldiers tell him not to, but he goes anyway. They follow at a distance.

In scene 5, Hamlet talks to the ghost, who is the spirit of his father, the ghost basically says that he was murdered by poison in his ear that clotted his blood. He asks Hamlet to avenge his death. We also learn that he never was able to confess his sins due to the fact that he was murdered. When Hamlet goes back and sees that the solders followed him, he makes them swear on his sword that they will not tell anyone that they saw the ghost.

Soliloquy:
The soliloquy on pg 29 is basically Hamlet talking about how much he hates his life and about how screwed up his family is. Considerin he has an Uncle Father and a Mother Aunt.

Machiavellianism:
The type of government that is demonstrated in Machiavelli's novel The Prince. It basically says that honesty and morality does not matter, I take it as kind of an "every man for himself" type of thing. I think this fits in with Claudius, because in my eyes marrying the widow of your dead brother is not exactly an "honorable" thing to do.

Themes:
Family loyalty (king & queen marriage; brother & sister share secret; fater orders daughter; dead father & son)
Forbidden love (Hamlet & Ophelia)