Hamlet: Act I
Episode 53
Professor Pipes is back with unfinished business. Unlike the ghost, this isn't a need for sweet revenge. Instead, join Professor Pipes on an exploration of Shakespeare's classic Hamlet. Meet all of the major characters in Act 1 and explore many of the major themes and motifs while analyzing the story with Professor Pipes. Stick around until the end for some study questions to help better understand Hamlet in Act I and throughout the rest of the play
TRIGGER WARNING: Death, Murder
Transcript
Introduction:
Do you smell that? I think something’s rotten… in the state of Denmark! Welcome to Piper’s Paraphrases. I’m Professor Pipes, and in case you couldn’t tell, I’m here to talk about Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Hamlet! Specifically, Act 1. So get ready for a ghost story!
Characters:
Let’s start by talking about the playas!
First, we have the titular Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. He is the son of King Hamlet, who is now dead and a ghost! Hamlet is extremely thoughtful. Not so much in the buys-you-flowers-just-because kind of way, and more so in the should-I-avenge-my-father’s-death and should-I-even-exist kind of way. He took that “think before you act” advice maybe a bit too seriously.
Hamlet’s mom is Gertrude, Queen of Denmark. Though she seems nice and protective, to be honest, she’s mostly a plot point, existing to provide motive.
Speaking of motive, Claudius is the motivated. He’s Ghost Hamlet’s brother, and murderer, which makes him main character Hamlet’s uncle… and step-dad! That’s right, Claudius moved in on Gertrude quickly after her husband’s death, so he’s now King of Denmark.
Claudius’ main advisor is Polonius. He’s basically one part pompous and one part conniving. He’s the kind of old man to say things like, “back in my day” without a shred of irony, and then to give some unsolicited “advice” that he himself wouldn’t follow.
Polonius’ son is Laertes, who eventually serves as a bit of a foil to Hamlet, and his daughter is Ophelia, who happens to be Hamlet’s sweet and innocent love interest.
Horatio is Hamlet’s wise and loyal friend. Kind of boring, but nice.
Hamlet also has a couple of old school friends named Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but we’ll learn about them later.
Lastly, Fortinbras is the prince of Norway, and, like Hamlet, he also has a dead dad who shares his name. So we’ve got two Hamlets and two Fortinbras. What, did you run out of names, Shakespeare?
Plot:
Scene 1 begins at midnight with a changing of the guard. Horatio and some guards talk about a “thing” that has been seen twice already, but Horatio is skeptical. Just as one of the guards tries to convince him of what he saw, it arrives: the Ghost of King Hamlet, dressed in armor. The other guards encourage Horatio to talk to the ghost, but as soon as he asks, “What are you?” the ghost disappears! Spoooooky! The guards start wondering what the apparition could mean, and also why the castle seems to be preparing for war. Luckily, Horatio has answers for both. He states that King Hamlet was wearing that armor when he killed King Fortinbras, the king of Norway, thus obtaining his lands. Unfortunately, Fortinbras’ son, the new Fortinbras, has gathered his own army and plans to attack Denmark in order to avenge his father’s death and win back the land. Horatio wonders if the ghost’s appearance is a warning about upcoming war, much like all the omens before Julius Caesar’s death. Easter egg of another Shakespearean play! Just then, the ghost reappears, and Horatio asks why it has come. Before it can answer, a rooster crows, and the ghost disappears again. Clearly, not a fan of chickens. The scene ends at dawn as Horatio plans to tell the alive Hamlet what they saw.
In Scene 2 we’re introduced to most of the cast, as Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet, Polonius, Ophelia, and Laertes enter. Claudius is explaining why he and Gertrude got married so quickly after King Hamlet’s death: the country needed to seem strong, not sad, since Fortinbras is planning to attack. So romantic. He then sends a couple of ambassadors to Norway with a note to Fortinbras’ uncle, encouraging him to stop his nephew. Laertes asks Claudius for permission to return to France, and he consents. Claudius then points out that Hamlet’s appearance seems sad and “cloudy,” to which Hamlet replies that he’s actually too much in the sun. Get it, ‘cause he’s now Hamlet’s and Claudius’ son. Anyway, Claudius and Gertrude tell Hamlet that he should stop looking so sad. After all, “All that lives must die.” *EYE ROLL* Claudius even tells Hamlet that his grief makes him seem weak and stupid. Hmm… That’s a weird way to say, “I’m sorry for your loss.” Gertrude asks Hamlet not to return to school, and he agrees, so everybody heads off except Hamlet. And in case you were wondering just how sad Hamlet is, he gives a speech saying that his father’s death and his mother’s marriage have made him wish he could kill himself, but it goes against his religion. Horatio and crew arrive and Hamlet mentions that he’ll never see a man as good as his father again, which is a perfect segue for Horatio to tell him that maybe he will, since Horatio saw his ghost last night. Hamlet vows to meet Horatio tonight so he can speak with the ghost.
Scene 3 gives us some sibling time with Laertes and Ophelia saying goodbye before Laertes heads back to Paris. Laertes offers his sister some advice about Hamlet, saying that the prince is immature and his affection for her won’t last long. Good advice, but still – rude! Laertes reminds her that, as a prince, Hamlet will have to marry someone who will be good for the kingdom. Therefore she’d better be afraid – be very afraid – and reject his advances to protect her… honor. Polonius comes in and gives Laertes a bunch of advice about how precisely and carefully he should behave in every possible situation, what to do, what not to do, how he should spend his time and money, before concluding with a reminder to just be himself. As long as “himself” is exactly who his father wants him to be. When Laertes leaves, Polonius gives his daughter a long lecture about how stupid she is for believing Hamlet’s words of love. Aww father of the year. Like lots of parents, Polonius warns Ophelia that Hamlet only wants one thing, so she’d better stay away from him. And like the good daughter that she is, Ophelia agrees… but likely doesn’t want to.
For Scene 4, we fast forward to just after midnight, and Hamlet has joined Horatio and the guard Marcellus in hopes of seeing the ghost. When some trumpets sound, Hamlet comments that King Claudius must be drinking again and is clearly annoyed by such partying – whoops – since it gives the country a bad reputation as a bunch of drunks. Just then, the ghost arrives! Hamlet immediately recognizes it as his father and asks why it has come. Instead of answering, the ghost beckons him to follow… and despite his friends’ warnings and literal attempts to hold him back, Hamlet follows. Marcellus and Horatio decide to go after him. Yeah, let’s all follow a ghost into the dark in the middle of the night. What could go wrong?
In Scene 5, once they’re alone, the ghost tells Hamlet to Avenge Me! And Hamlet agrees before he even hears the story. Here it is anyway: The whole country has heard that a snake bit Old King Hamlet, and that’s what killed him. Revenge on a snake? …Oh! Actually, the snake is Claudius! He seduced Gertrude and, when King Hamlet was sleeping in an orchard - as one does - Claudius poured poison in his ear, killing him and sending him to purgatory, where he now lives. Well, un-lives? He again tells Hamlet to seek revenge, but also to leave his mom out of it. The ghost disappears and Hamlet is BIG MAD at both his mom and Claudius, and he vows to get revenge. Horatio and Marcellus catch up to Hamlet, who makes them swear a BUNCH of times that they won’t say anything about what they saw tonight. And then he makes them swear it some more for good measure because he keeps hearing the ghost of his father call out to “Swear!” He eventually tells them that, no matter how strangely he acts in the future – since he might need to act a bit crazy – they must not give any sort of clue to anyone that they know what happened tonight. And let’s be real here, they really don’t. As Hamlet curses the fact that he now has to fix everything, Act 1 ends.
Analysis:
Many of the themes and motifs revolve around the idea of Appearance vs Reality. In fact, the idea of questioning our own reality comes up in the very first scene, when Horatio says of the ghost, “I might not this believe / Without the sensible and true avouch / Of mine own eyes.” This suggests that seeing is believing, but we all know that this isn’t always the case. After all, both Laertes and Polonius warn Ophelia that she can’t believe everything she sees and hears from Hamlet, since his affections are “Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting.” And even though Ophelia says that Hamlet has always been honorable, Polonius says, “Do not believe his vows” since he might act all honorable and perfect “the better to beguile,” and trick her into sleeping with him. Which is interesting, since Polonius’ advice to Laertes is pretty much to do exactly what he faults Hamlet for doing. He tells Laertes to “Give every man thy ear but few thy voice,” meaning that he should listen to other people, but not reveal his own opinions, thus making his appearance untrustworthy. He even tells Laertes how to dress, since “the apparel oft proclaims the man.” Polonius knows that people tend to believe what they see, so he wants Laertes to use this to his advantage. Ironically, he finishes up this advice with the oft-quoted “to thine own self be true.” Great advice, but from a rather untrue source.
Along the lines of appearance versus reality, we’ve already started to see one of the main motifs of the play: Performance. Not like the performance of the play, but rather the ways in which people are performative, acting, in their normal lives. For instance, when talking about Hamlet’s grief, Gertrude asks, “Why seems it so particular with thee?” to which Hamlet replies, “‘Seems,’ madam? Nay, it is.” He continues, saying that anyone can put on the appearance of grief, wear the clothing, act sad, since “These indeed ‘seem,’/ For they are actions that a man might play.” Hamlet, on the other hand, has “that within which passeth show, / These but the trappings and the suits of woe” meaning that his outward appearance is a true reflection of his grief, not an act. Ironically, in scene 5, Hamlet talks about his own performance, saying that he might have to “put an antic disposition on” or act “mad” in order to avenge his father. And that in itself should make the audience question Hamlet in the future. If he won’t reveal when he’s “acting” mad, how are we to know whether it’s appearance or reality? In fact, while some interpretations of the play suggest he is mentally sound and he wears “madness” like a costume, others suggest that his desire for revenge actually drives him to madness. In other words, we as the audience might not be able to trust his appearance. And to bring it full circle, how we view his mental state ultimately comes down to the actor’s performance.
Speaking of appearances, let’s discuss the Ghost. Obviously we know that others can see it, so it is there. We also know that it looks like Old King Hamlet, but the characters question what exactly it is, even calling it a “thing” in scene 1, rather than a ghost. They also question why it is there and where it comes from, with Hamlet wondering, “Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned, / Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, / Be thy intents wicked or charitable.” However, Hamlet immediately decides to believe everything it says, perhaps because it says exactly what he wants to hear: that Gertrude’s relationship is incestuous and wrong and that Claudius is evil. But we should keep in mind that Hamlet’s the only one the ghost tells this to, since it disappears when Horatio and Marcellus arrive, and he’s also the only one to see or interact with the ghost in all of scene 5. In fact, when the ghost keeps saying “Swear,” Hamlet is the only one to reference this, and when Hamlet continues to speak to the absent ghost, Horatio points out, “O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!” Is he talking about hearing the ghost, or Hamlet’s weird behavior? Ultimately, it’s up to the performers. And while they could choose to physically react to the ominous “Swear,” they could also choose to ignore it, making the audience further wonder what we should believe.
Another important theme is the Complexity of Morality. Throughout the play, Hamlet questions what is right, often struggling against the morals he’s been taught. In fact, in his first appearance, Hamlet is so overwhelmed by the death of his father and the “incestuous” behavior of his mother that he is contemplating suicide. He wishes that he could just disappear or that “the Everlasting had not fixed / His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!” In other words, Hamlet says that the only thing stopping him is his religious belief that suicide is a mortal sin. He continues to discuss religion when he talks to the ghost, and so does the ghost. He says that the most horrible part of his murder is that he was “Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin… No reckoning made, but sent to my account / With all my imperfections on my head.” In other words, he wasn’t able to repent for his sins or receive last rites, which landed him in Purgatory. Despite this, the ghost urges Hamlet to sin by killing Claudius. Do two wrongs make a right? Hamlet has to decide which is the lesser of two evils: murder or failing to honor his father and avenge his death. Clearly Fortinbras picked a side. He’s basically in the same boat as Hamlet, and he immediately takes action to try to win back the lands his father lost when he was killed. And Claudius uses Fortinbras and morality to justify his behavior, saying that marrying Gertrude so quickly was the right thing to do, since Fortinbras is “Holding a weak supposal of our worth / Or thinking by our late dear brother’s death / Our state to be disjoint and out of frame.” We can’t have him thinking our country is weak or missing a ruler, so he had to marry Gertrude. Sure. As Marcellus says, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” and apparently Hamlet “was born to set it right!” Good luck with that.
Finally, I can’t leave without pointing out the pretty messed up beliefs related to Gender. Of course, we have the classic line from Claudius that Hamlet’s grief is “unmanly.” Apparently men shouldn’t care that their dad died. Right. And then with women, their honor is clearly tied to, well, their sex lives. Hamlet and Ghost Hamlet both refer to Gertrude’s relationship with Claudius as “incestuous” and, to be honest, Hamlet kind of seems more mad at his mom than, you know, the killer, saying, “O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain!” Meanwhile, Polonius and Laertes keep awkwardly talking about Ophelia’s virginity. Laertes warns her not to listen to Hamlet, or else “lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open / To his unmastered importunity.” Polonius takes it further, saying that her behavior with Hamlet will “tender me a fool.” In other words, Ophelia’s behavior would dishonor not only herself but also her family. Oh how times have… not really changed.
Food for Thought:
Before we finish Act I, it’s time for me to leave you with some food for thought.
First, what is the significance of the ghost appearing in the very first scene? How does its appearance set the tone for the rest of the play?
Second, both Hamlet and Claudius talk a lot about how Denmark is perceived by other countries. In what ways does this add to the conflict in the play and how does it relate to the idea of appearance versus reality?
Third, look back at Polonius’ advice to his kids. How does this advice reflect Polonius’s character and his views on honor, duty, and family?
Fourth, what do you think is the purpose of Fortinbras? Why might Shakespeare have established this political turmoil and/or why does he give Fortinbras such a similar backstory to Hamlet’s?
Finally, where do you currently stand in terms of Hamlet’s mental state? So far, what evidence suggests a mental break, and what evidence opposes it?
Thanks for watching this episode of Piper’s Paraphrases. Now go forth, read a bunch, and be good people who don’t kill their brothers.
