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How Does Shakespeare Create Tension In Act 1 Of Hamlet

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In act 1 of Hamlet, prince Hamlet faces a lot of tragedy. The trauma of his father dying, his uncle marrying his mom, a ghost that looks familiarly like his dad, and a forbidden love, Hamlet has no way to cope. Act 1 is centered around his coping mechanism, which I believe to be his father, for the events that are taking a hold of his happiness. Scene 1 sets the stage for the events that are about to follow. Shakespeare opens the play with Marcellus and Horatio guarding the castle late at night. The two men are having their usual chatter about the kingdom drama when they notice a ghost. Thinking rationally, they decide it is the recently deceased King Hamlet. They debate on whether to tell Prince Hamlet about the ghost and decide to hold off momentarily. This gives the audience some foreshadowing of what is to come next. …show more content…

A few close friends are in the castle because Claudius, a former king and King Hamlet's brother, has some news to tell. He spills that he and Gertrude, queen of Denmark and King Hamlet's widower are now married. This brings a lot of mixed emotions to the mourning Prince Hamlet. Prince Hamlet was supposed to be the heir to the throne but now cannot take the role as king because of his uncle. Hamlet lets Claudius know that he wears all black because he is still mourning the death of his father and Claudius spits it out at him and tells him to man up and get over it. With no support system, Hamlet becomes depressed and suicidal. I believe he is suicidal because he wants to be closer to his father. This further proves my point that the ghost of King Hamlet is an illusion created by Prince Hamlet's damaged

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Act 1, Scene 1: “Let us impart what we have seen tonight Unto young Hamlet, for, upon my life, This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him” (Crowther 16). I think this quote really sets up things for the next act, and the rest of the play. The ghost would not talk to them, so they decided to tell Hamlet about the ghost because they felt it would talk to him. This sets up Hamlet to discover the ghost who is his late father, and learn about his murder. Act 1, Scene 2: “Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly” (Crowther 24).

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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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A few soldiers on guard report to him that his father’s ghost has been seen, and he sees the ghost when he goes with them the next night. The ghost tells him that his uncle killed him to get his crown and his wife, and makes Hamlet swear to avenge his death. Hamlet decides to pretend to be

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1071 Words | 5 Pages

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet struggles to cope with his late father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage. In Act 1, Scene 2, King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, and Hamlet are all introduced. Hamlet has just finished publicly speaking with his mom and the new king, and after he is interrupted by his good friend Horatio, who reveal the secret about King Hamlet’s ghost. Hamlet’s soliloquy is particularly crucial because it serves as his initial characterization, revealing the causes of his anguish. Hamlet’s grief is apparent to the audience, as he begins lamenting about the uselessness of life.

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When the actors come to town Hamlet asks them to put on a special play that he has written, one that will reveal if the King is truly guilt. The play is reenacting the death of King Hamlet as the ghost describes it; as murder. His plan is to get a reaction from the King to assure the ghosts is telling the truth about King Hamlet’s death. When the actors get to the scene of the murder, King Claudius exits the theater. Hamlet now knows that the ghost was being truthful.

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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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1153 Words | 5 Pages

He is depressed and suicidal as indicated in his infamous quote, “To be, or not to be: that is the question.” (3.1.57). However, while many may choose to carry on after the death of a loved one, Hamlet chose to hold on to his sorrow and pretended to be mad so he can know the truth behind his father’s death. Hamlet’s tragic life is not the cause for his madness. Hamlet drives himself to the brink of insanity

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For the people who have read Hamlet, they are aware that Hamlet’s father is dead. Not only is he dead, he was murdered by his brother, who turned around and married Hamlet’s mother. If that isn’t an obstacle to deal, then let’s add the fact that Hamlet is suicidal.

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Firstly, Hamlet is a play of a man by the name of Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle. Claudius murdered the king by pouring poison in his ear to claim the throne for himself. Hamlet is then told by a ghost to murder Claudius for revenge, and he struggles within himself for the length of play whether to do it or not. When Hamlet begins to hesitate it does more damage than good and causes a chain reaction of tragic events, and makes the readers question whether Hamlet is truly sane or not. Claudius’s corruptness begins to show when he uses his authority to order those around him to rid of Hamlet.

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Hamlet: Act 1 The first act of Hamlet sets the stage for the play. In this act, we learn of Claudius’ act of poisoning his brother to marry the queen and to gain the powers acquired with being king, Hamlet’s feelings for Queen Gertrude, his mother, and King Claudius, his uncle and we see the likeness of the royal family and the family of Polonius, Laertes and Ophelia. Revealing himself as a ghost, King Hamlet divulges the information of his murder to the younger Hamlet and urges the younger Hamlet to seek revenge on Claudius. In Hamlet, Act 1, scene 2, Hamlet reveals his feelings about Gertrude and Claudius.

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King Hamlet’s ghost in Hamlet plays a very significant role in Shakespeare’s play even though he only appears briefly in the very beginning. King Hamlet’s ghost furthers the play in many ways. He affects action by setting the play in motion, he affects the theme of revenge, and he helps develop other characters, specifically his son, Hamlet. He sets the play in motion by causing the wheels to spin inside of Prince Hamlet’s head, the ghost is the whole reason for Hamlet trying to extract revenge upon his murderous Uncle Claudius who is now the King of Denmark. The ghost affects the theme of revenge by causing Young Hamlet to be seized by vengeance, the whole play turns into a story of Prince Hamlet trying to avenge his father’s wrongful death.

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The ghost of King Hamlet helps to develop his son’s character by setting him on a path, he doesn’t tell Hamlet exactly what to do, but he tells him enough of the story to make Young Hamlet rageful and hate filled. First, King Hamlet’s ghost affects action when he first appears in the play. When he first appears, he doesn’t even speak. When he

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The ghost of Old Hamlet fuels “Hamlet” as gasoline fuels a car. The importance of the death of Old Hamlet appears evident, for it receives recognition in the first scene of “Hamlet.” The Ghost also appears in the first scene, but his actions remain limited throughout the play. Even though he owns a limited role, the Ghost makes a major impact on “Hamlet” through several ways. Furthermore, without the Ghost, no action would take place in the play.

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1313 Words | 6 Pages

However, Hamlet soon discovers that Claudius has been lying to him, and Claudius’ real motive is to kill Hamlet in order to exterminate all possible threats to his reign. Claudius’ role play affects the entire country of Denmark, and he convinces the people that he is the rightful king, when he is not, and has murdered his brother for the throne. Gertrude, too, takes on a role; throughout the play, she seems oblivious to her wrongdoings. She claims that she loves Claudius, and did not just marry him for political reasons.

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713 Words | 3 Pages

Or it can be seen as the ghost being some type of evil spirit trying to destroy hamlet through bad advice. The ghost is simply trying to free its spirit from purgatory and not trying to destroy hamlet, this is evident due to the fact that we know that Claudius killed Hamlet’s father in cold blood before he could pray for his sins. The ghosts role in the play is to tell Hamlet how he truly died. The nature in which the ghost appears in the play changes from appearance to appearance.

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