These notes are a thorough and comprehensive dive into the play Hamlet. The end of the document also contains helpful notes regarding themes which may aid essay writing.
HAMLET NOTES
ACT 1
Scene 1:
Guards patrolling battlements of Elsinore
Barnardo, Francisco + Horatio
Starts on battlements of Elsinore castle – prone to supernatural appearances
Unusually long first scene
Tense environment – How is tension created– short sentences (staccato),
dashes, exclamation marks, incomplete sentences
“Long live the king” – Barnardo: Irony (previous king arises in supernatural form
following this + civilians most probably wouldn’t want the current king to live a
long life)
“I am sick at heart” – Francisco: Tension (sense of foreboding)
“A piece of him” – Horatio: so cold (witty + not as tense as others)
“What, has this thing appeared again tonight?” – Horatio: reflects his
scepticism (thing – lacks respect) / thing reflects the supernatural + unknown
nature of the ghost which provides a sense of fear
“Tush, tush” – Horatio: still unconvinced + sceptical
“Fortified” + “Assail”– Barnardo: military terminology – ties in with Horatio’s views
which are entrenched + unmoving; Need military force in order to sway Horatio
as he is so sure of his beliefs
“Same figure like the king” – Barnardo: looks like the old king
Horatio is a scholar – knows Latin therefore instructed to speak to ghost
“Most like. It harrows me with fear and wonder” – Horatio: scepticism fades
(sense of fascination + awe mixed with fear)
Ghost wants to speak
“By heaven” – Horatio: speak if you are from heaven (if you are here with good
intentions)
Ghost is offended by Horatio – “usurp'st” implies that the ghost shouldn’t be out
at this time of night
“Speak!” – Horatio desperate no longer sceptical (Shift in his character/ beliefs)
,“Of mine own eyes” – Horatio: wouldn’t have believed in ghosts without seeing
them
“As thou art to thyself” – Horatio: confirms it is the dead king
Horatio believes the presence of the ghost suggests that Denmark is in danger
(Norway combat)
“Eruption” – Horatio: suggests the emergence of a disease/ illness within the
state (thematic interest in illness + suffering); Horatio thinks that the threat to
Denmark is due to an extrinsic force when in actuality it is an internal threat
that the ghosts wishes to convey
“Impress of shipwrights etc.” – Marcellus: this terminology hints that the nation
is preparing for war; Marcellus lacks a political background therefore asks
Horatio to inform him of the political landscape which Horatio then supplies
Horatio Speech
Fortinbras was dared to combat – therefore implies that he began the war and
that the fault was not that of Hamlet’s father.
Valiant old Hamlet was dared in to combat and killed Fortinbras
Old Hamlet won land (this was agreed upon therefore Denmark has claimed
legitimate land)
Young Fortinbras “hot + full” is trying to come + take back the land his father
lost
Old Fortinbras’s brother is visited by two of Claudius’s men to inform him of
Young Fortinbras’s intentions
“Cross it through” – make sign of cross to protect oneself from a possibly evil
spirit
“Stay, illusion” - Horatio stepping forward in front of ghost
“Blast me” – Destroy me
“Womb of earth” – metaphor - feminine/ mother earth (if he has anything to
confess Horatio asks that he speaks to him)
“Strike at it” – Marcellus: aggressive approach
Ghost was majestic yet was met with unwarranted violence – guilt
Horatio describes the dawn – moment of relief from the eerie experience
,“Do you consent” – Horatio considers the opinion of others (is not arrogant or
authoritarian)
Scene 2:
Appearance vs reality
Claudius addressing crowd about recent marriage to Gertrude (Hamlet’s
mom)
Hamlet dressed in black - symbol of mourning + creates tension (Hamlet is
Claudius’s main threat)
Carefully constructed sentences directed to Hamlet - staccato + manipulation
of speaking well eases tension; High sounding rhetoric - not sure whether he is
sincere (prompts suspicion)
Scene adopts a worldly splendour - garish
“Dear brother’s death” - manipulative/ erases guilt - makes it seem as though
he has mourned his brother
“Whole kingdom” + “contracted in one brow of woe” - poetic language/
metaphor - united in grief + kingdom is given a face (personification)
“Remembrance of ourselves” - permission to return to normal (mourning can
now end)
“Defeated joy” + “one auspicious and one dropping eye” + “mirth in funeral”
+ “dirge in marriage” + “delight + dole” (alliteration) - oxymoron
“Your better wisdoms” - laws of king courts - approved on marriage/ validates
their incestuous union
“Now follows that you know” - new sub-plot - speaking of Fortinbras - wanting
to surrender land
“Out of his subject” - Uncle of young Fortinbras unaware of Fortinbras’ plans;
without his permission/ Claudius asks Valtemand + Cornelius to give this news
to Old Fortinbras
“The head is not more native to the heart [...] Than is the throne of Denmark to
thy father” - Speaking to Laertes + describing Polonius’s loyalty
“My dread lord” - sign of respect
Laertes - leaving for France + Claudius grants permission
“My cousin, Hamlet, and my son” - ingratiating/ word cousin used loosely
“A little more than kin, and less than kind” + “I am too much i’th’sun” - play on
words (pun/riddle) - rejecting any close relationship with Claudius (incestuous
marriage with Gertrude). “A little more [...]” - Hamlet is more closely related to
, Claudius than a cousin yet he lacks the affection + love a son should have for
their father/ He detests the close kinships that has been forged by his mother’s
new marriage/ Hamlet + Claudius are close in relation, yet different in nature.
“I am too much [...]” - Claudius is the sun (King) + Hamlet feels he has been in
his presence too much (conveys his distaste)
“Seek for thy noble father in dust”(Gertrude) - looking down on ground -
manipulative + guilty + cautious tone
“Thou know’st ‘tis common” (Gertrude) - Death is inevitable (reaffirms Hamlet’s
belief that his mother merely cast his father aside following his death)/ Lack of
understanding for her son (insulting) overly simplifies the process of mourning
“Ay, madam, it is common” - sarcastic tone - cold, mocking + emotionless -
tension building up
“Seems” - Hamlet stresses his use of this word in order to highlight the
authenticity of his grief (“Seems, madam? Nay, it is.”) Hamlet does not know
how to fake his mourning unlike Gertrude + Claudius. Explains the tell-tale sign
of grief “that a man might play” (pretend/ fake - Gertrude + Claudius). “These
but the trappings + the suits of woe” - fabricated external signs of grief
“Tis sweet + commendable” (Claudius) - Patronising. Describes Hamlet's
mourning as “obstinate condolement” (wilful defiance) + as “impious
stubbornness” + “most incorrect to heaven” (Childish/ unholy - going against
the will of God - Ironic for Claudius is ungodly). “Tis unmanly grief” - childish/
emasculates Hamlet - ultimatums + insults are woven in amongst compliments/
shaming Hamlet into stopping his process of mourning. Claudius’ long passage
suggests that he is not getting the response/ reaction from Hamlet that he
desires. “Think of us” - royal plural. “You are the most immediate to our throne”
- heir to throne (possible threat). Claudius asks Hamlet to not return to
Wittenberg (school). An attempt to win Hamlet over
Gertrude agrees that Hamlet should not go back to school
“I shall in all my best obey you, madam.” - Terse. Hamlet will oblige his mother
but not Claudius
“Denmark drinks today” (Claudius) - drink a toast (signs of Claudius’s
carousing/ drinking tendencies)
Claudius suppresses his guilt by being reasonable - wanting to be believed +
manipulative with Hamlet (decrease threat)
Theme of grief being handled childishly
Hamlet Soliloquy:
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