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Hamlet Suspense Analysis

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How does Shakespeare begin the play with an immediate sense of suspense?
The play opens up with the guards talking about seeing the ghost. The ghost brings about this sense of mystery because they don’t know why he’s there and can 't figure out why he isn’t talking. Also, it happens in the middle of the night which adds to the suspense and mystery.

What important exposition (background information, setting, characters) is revealed in this scene?
We learned that land from Norway which gave information and gave context to the problems with Prince Fortinbras.the Old Hamlet had taken lands from the King of Norway which gave background for a later conflict.

Why has Horatio been asked to join the soldiers in the night watch? What has he decided …show more content…

Claudius has much more respect for Laertes then he does for Hamlet. He speaks very informally to Hamlet using thou to address him. Claudius had no problem allowing Laertes to go back to school while he made Hamlet stay in …show more content…

Claudius making Hamlet stay in Denmark is ultimately the reason he will be caught, if Hamlet had been allowed to return to school like Laertes then there would be no play. Because Hamlet stayed, he had more time to contemplate his father 's death and agonize over his uncle marrying his mother. If he had gone back to school then Hamlet would never have seen his father 's ghost or known that his uncle was his father’s murderer.

What aspect of Hamlet’s concept of death/desire for death is revealed in Hamlet’s first soliloquy? (lines 156 – 160)
Hamlet mentions that he wishes God didn’t make suicide a sin because if it were not against God’s word then he would want to be dead.

What metaphor is introduced in Hamlet’s soliloquy? (lines 138 – 141)
Hamlet compares Denmark to an unweeded garden because of the supposed serpent who bit his father and killed him ( in reality it was Claudius) the serpent, in this case, can be an allusion to the original serpent or Satan in the Bible.

Contrast Horatio’s and Laertes’ reasons for being in Denmark. (lines 52 – 58 and line183) What might this

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One similarity that makes Laertes such a good foil to Hamlet is that they both return to Denmark when they have lost a father. However, the sharp contrast in their reaction to these deaths reveals more about Hamlet’s character. Upon returning to

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He thinks that reclaiming the land lost in the conflict will bring Norway back to its dignified pre-conflict state. However, while Hamlet sits around waffling between life and death, Fortinbras makes a decisive and prompt decision to raise an army to retake

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This is explained by the Ghost when Hamlet learns of his father being murdered in Act 1 Scene 5, in lines 35 -39, “’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father’s life . Now wears his crown.” 2) The soliloquies that Hamlet provides over the sequence of the entire play allows us to distinguish what Hamlet was thinking about and display how he was losing his sanity.

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In his first soliloquy, he expresses his intense grief and inner conflict of wanting to commit suicide but not wanting to be punished by God. From this the audience can infer one of Hamlet’s fatal flaws; he is indecisive. He is constantly searching for certainty, since he is unable to make decisions without it. Although Hamlet is wary of the story given to the public to explain the King’s sudden death, it is not until the ghost confirms his suspicions and he uncovers the truth that he vows to “Remember thee!”. He suspects foul play was involved, yet he never acts on this uncertainty until certainty is provided for him.

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First, Hamlet is very intelligent and knows when someone is using him, but Laertes is not very intelligent and is easily tricked. Laertes is very gullible. Second, Hamlet is indecisive although, Laertes will not hesitate to do what he wants to do in order to get his revenge. Clearly, Hamlet and Laertes have similarities and differences. It is important that we recognize the the differences and similarities of these characters that I described.

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Hamlet no longer wanted to live in this life despair and pain. Another illustration of his indecisiveness is during the play when he had a clear chance to avenge his father by killing Claudius but choose not to do so, because he thought that Claudius was repenting for his

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When it was time for the changeover, he shouted, " Stand, ho!- Who 's there?"(1.1.15). Horatio responded, "Friends to this ground"(1.1.16.) Marcellus, then, called out "And liegemen to the Dane" (1.1.17.) Do too many ideas of who the king should be, it 's not clear to whom they are loyal.

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The ghost also tells him that he fell asleep in the garden and Claudius poured poison in his ear to kill him. Hamlets fear about his uncle was true after all. “O my prophetic soul!” he cries (1.5.40). After finding out all this information, Hamlet was in a dark spot that lead him to acting insane to investigate the accusations that his father had made.

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In contrast, Fortinbras has a positive interaction with Hamlet and motivates him to return to Denmark. When he sees Fortinbras and his army, he is inspired to take action and “from this time

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Although he wants to avenge his father’s death, he also does not see the act of killing as moral. As a result, his revenge no longer becomes a desire, but rather a burden that continues to stay with him until he is relieved of it at death. To relieve himself of his frustration. However, Hamlet is reminded several times to carry out his duty. For example, after seeing Prince Fortinbras’ army conquer land in Poland, he expresses, “When honour 's at the stake.

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“This strange eruptions to our state” as corruptions in Denmark comes within, where previously a predetermined agreement was made between King Hamlet and King Fortinbras of Norway, where the one who loses has to surrender (die) and give up the land the other wanted and King Hamlet won. Now young Fortinbras wants avenge and gain the lost land in which this is reason of all the weaponry and armour being

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Death is one of the most prominent themes in Hamlet, appearing in different forms. Shakespeare displays death through the suicide of Ophelia, Hamlet’s own thoughts and eventual suicide, and the murder of King Hamlet and Polonius. Hamlet displays suicidal tendencies throughout the play through his soliloquies. The first time that Hamlet contemplates committing suicide is when Gertrude and Claudius tell him that he has to stay in Denmark in Act one. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!

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In late Act II, Hamlet is beginning to approach the climax of the play as he makes realizations about the state of Denmark, and the state of his mind. He voices a few of those feelings when he says to his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, “Denmark is a prison” (II, ii). Hamlet calls Denmark a prison because he feels as if everyone is turning against him, and everyone is watching him, similar to how prisoners are watched in a prison, and he says that Denmark is the worst of the prisons, strictly because there is no one he can trust, not even his friends. In a previous conversation, this time with Polonius, he makes a reference to his mental state and informs Polonius that he could not take anything from Hamlet that he cares less about, except his life. This shows an advancement of his mental illness, where he is struggling to care whether he lives or dies.

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He starts to believe that the spirit may be the devil or some sort of demon that was sent to tempt young Hamlet into a destructive existence. The appearance of the ghost causes Hamlet to mistrust his own perceptions of things and doubt the validity of his father’s ghost and the malicious claim that he states. Hamlet decides to stage a play in which the plot very closely resembles the events that the ghost describes as his death. Hamlet feels that if King Claudius is indeed guilty, it will be written all over his face. “The play’s the thing/Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” (II, ii, 566-567).

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He has a doubt about what the ghost told him and instead of acting instantly to ravage his father’s murder, he starts to figure out about whether Claudius was guilty or not, as he says “I’ll have grounds more relative than this” (2.2.565) which shows that he is looking for enough evidence to kill Claudius. But Hamlet is a great

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