An Analysis of Supernatural Elements in Hamlet's Act 1

1226 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Aspects of the supernatural in act one of hamlet

Act and Scenes Significant Characters Point Form Outline of Action in the Scene What is Most Significant about this Scene?
Act 1 Scene 1 Barnardo
Francisco
Horatio
Marcellus -Barnardo and Francisco are guarding the castle corridor late at night (midnight).
-Horatio and Marcellus join them shortly
-The four bicker about the presence of the ghost; Barnardo, Francisco, and Marcellus believe there is a ghost, however, Horatio brushes it off
-Ghost really appears and Horatio confronts it, but as Horatio speaks to it, the ghost disappears
-Based on the appearance of the ghost, the guards claim the ghost resembles the deceased King Hamlet
-Horatio believes this is a bad omen and tells the other guards about young Fortinbras who might be attacking …show more content…

Ophelia states Hamlet has been “affectionate”. Polonius warns her to be careful before she becomes looking like a fool that had been played around with. He tells her to talk to him less. The significance of this scene is to portray the characterization of the three characters. Laertes appears to be a realistic individual who is genuinely concerned about his sister; he reasonably explains that his sister must be wary of Prince Hamlet since he is a royalty. In this scene Laertes appears to be much wiser than his father, Polonius, whom is also realistic yet too blunt. Polonius also warns Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet but he says it in more direct matters (I.iii.115-135). Ophelia on the other hand remains passive and follows the two men in her family’s directions. At this point, we are unsure whether her abeyance at the end of the scene (“I shall obey, my lord” Act 1 scene 3, 136)is out of politeness or because she is actually serious, but regardless, this shows her inferior position to men. It is well known that women were considered to be properties of the head man of the family (eg. Father) and therefore Ophelia does not have a choice but to follow her father’s advices on whether she should truly believes Hamlet’s intentions or not. Overall this scene highlights the persona of the three characters in the

Show More
Related

  • Lets Foil: The Use of Foil Characters to Reveal Personality Depth in Hamlet by Shakespeare

    1472 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the story, Horatio is continuously shown as the voice of reason and clarity. He is the authority figure and it is through him that we see the truth behind the actions of Hamlet and the others. Horatio is the outside observer to the play and it is a result of his words and actions that we can ground the play in reality. Ever since the beginning of the play, Horatio is shown to be a voice of cautious reason and measured skepticism along with a voice of truth, for it was not until he saw the ghost that the ghost became a reality. This idea is clearly portrayed atop the battlements when Horatio says “Before my God, I might not this believe/ without the sensible and true avouch/ of mine own eyes.”(I.i.56-58). Here Horatio confirms that he is the “narrator” of the play and the most sensible observer. However no matter what, Horatio is still Hamlet’s friend and despite his calm mindedness, at the end...

    Read More

  • Interpreting Hamlet And The Ghost In Marcellus 'Hamlet'

    270 Words  | 1 Pages

    Spoken by Marcellus as he and Horatio discuss whether they should follow Hamlet and the ghost of his father in the night, Marcellus remarks on the circumstance by which they have stumbled upon. The appearance of the ghost, the supernatural, in the state of Denmark have thrown the prince and his comrades into a world they do not understand.

    Read More

  • Essay on the Manipulation of Polonius and Ophelia in Hamlet

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the first scene of Act II, Polonius and Ophelia discuss the meaning of Hamlet's odd behavior. Though the two characters agree his actions arise out of the torment of spurned love, they arrive at that point through very different means. At the beginning of the dialogue, Ophelia says that she has been "affrighted" by Hamlet in her bed chamber. (II,i 75) Her encounter with the Prince left her scared about his real intentions. She says that he looks like he has been,"loosed out of hell/To speak of horrors". (II,i 83-4) The very fact that Hamlet does not speak one word to Ophelia makes him look even more intimidating. By not speaking anything, Hamlet at once strengthens his image as a madman, as well as shrouding his real intentions towards those around him. Just following this passage comes a place in the text where we can see how the character of Ophelia has been manipulated by Polonius. After his "hint" that he might be doing this out of frustrated love, Ophelia says that that is what she truly does fear. (87) Her feelings of pity and concern are shaped by her father in order to fit his case of madness against Hamlet.

    Read More

  • Ophelia's Descent to Madness in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    During Hamlet, Polonius and Laertes use Ophelia for their own self-gain not taking her feelings in consideration. In the article “Jephthah's Daughter's Daughter: Ophelia,” Cameron Hunt reveals that Polonius disregards Ophelia’s wants for his ...

    Read More

  • Horatio

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    The audience meets Horatio in the opening scene of the play. Marcellus and Bernardo, the Danish officers on guard at the castle, ask Horatio to speak to the vision that came to visit the castle. He is asked by the officers to speak to the spirit because he is a most educated scholar and the only one among them qualified to speak in such an intimidatin...

    Read More

  • The Bloody Mary Legend Research Paper

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ghost existed to preserve the integrity of Denmark. Don Nardo, in Understanding “Hamlet,” from the series Understanding Great Literature, comments

    Read More

  • The Character Horatio in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    Horatio serves often as the voice of reason, for instance; he is skeptical of the watchman's testimony that a ghost appeared during their watch in the previous night. Marcellus says of the watchman's testimony, "Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy, / And will not let belief take hold of him" (1.1.23-4). Horatio believes the watchmen only when he witnesses the ghost and even then is still skeptical. He is also the voice of reason when he asks Hamlet to restrain himself from meeting the ghost. He is afraid that Hamlet will hurt himself or go mad (1.4.63-91), finally telling Hamlet, "Be ruled, you shall not go" (1.4.81). Hamlet often seeks verification of events from Horatio as well. Horatio agrees with Hamlet, in 1.4, that the night is cold (1.4.2), and verifies Hamlet's belief that the ghost is "wondrous strange" (1.4.164). Horatio does not exaggerate about the length of the stay of the ghost. In 1.2, Horatio tells Hamlet that the ghost stayed in his presence for possibly "a hundreth" (1.2.137), followed by Marcellus and Barnardo's utterance, "Longer, longer" (1.2...

    Read More

  • Hamlet - Ghost

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    makes the metaphysics of the play dark. The ghost says nothing despite the valiant efforts on the parts of Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo. Suspense is created when the audience is ignorant as to the purpose of the ghost. Later in the play the ghost is utilized to allow Hamlet and the audience knowledge of the vile murder of the king by Claudius, the kings own brother. When the ghost finally speaks, he tells Hamlet,

    Read More

  • The Virtues of Horatio in William Shakespeare's Play

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many characters in the play have confidence in Horatio because of his trustworthiness. Horatio is very trustworthy, and not only in the way that he can keep a secret if needed, but he is honorable and keeps his word, and is honest to himself, showing integrity. Here, Horatio shows this trait by revealing to Hamlet that Hamlet’s father’s ghost had appeared.

    Read More

  • The Structure in Hamlet

    2949 Words  | 6 Pages

    The story opens in the cold and dark of a winter night in Denmark, while the guard is being changed on the battlements of the royal castle of Elsinore. For two nights in succession, just as the bell strikes the hour of one, a ghost has appeared on the battlements, a figure dressed in complete armor and with a face like that of the dead king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Horatio: A True Friend

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the encounter with the ghost occurs at the beginning of the play, Horatio’s original skepticism introduces doubt. When Horatio agrees that the spirit exists, the readers are allowed to believe that the ghost was not a figment of Hamlet’s imagination. At the first sighting of the ghost, Horatio, urging Hamlet to stay away from the ghost, says, “What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord.../And there assume some other horrible form/Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason/ And draw you into madness? Think of it./The very place puts toys of desperation/Without more motive, into every brain” (III.ii.75). Horatio is foreshadowing Hamlet’s descent into madness. Here, Horatio is...

    Read More

  • The Meaning of the Ghost in Hamlet by Shakespeare

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the act 1, sense 1, the appearance of ghost implicated that something would be happening in Denmark and created interest and caution to audience and Horatio. Ghost always represents horror and fear nowadays, and people think that ghost maybe has unfinished hope before death or revenge for somebody. In the Shakespeare world, ghost shows up in somewhere, where it’s not supposed to be. That means that there is someone else, especially in western culture. Horatio said, “has the ghost appeared again tonight” (1.1 21), and “it will not appear” (1.1 29). Horatio was educated, so he didn’t believe that. On the other hand, Bernardo and Marcellus believed the ghost was real and tried to prove it. Through the conversion and background between Horatio and officers, the plot creates the suspense and question to audience. Does the ghost really exist? Meanwhile, the audiences feel curious about the ghost.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Statement 'Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark' in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    384 Words  | 1 Pages

    ghost. Marcellous and Horatio both feel that Hamlet should not be left alone with the

    Read More

  • Free Essays - The Supernatural in Hamlet

    507 Words  | 2 Pages

    A ghost appearing in the form of Hamlet's father makes several appearances during the play. It first appears to the watch men, Marcellus and Bernardo along with Heratio, at the guardsmen's post. The ghost does not speak to them. It is not until the appearance of hamlet that the ghost does speak.

    Read More

  • Free Hamlet Essays: Interpretation of Hamlet

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Keys to Interpretation of Hamlet & nbsp; William Shakespeare's Hamlet is, at heart, a play about suicide. Though it is surrounded by a fairly standard revenge plot, the play's core is an intense psychodrama about a prince gone mad from the pressures of his station and his unrequited love for Ophelia. He longs for the ultimate release of killing himself - but why? In this respect, Hamlet is equivocal - he gives several different motives depending on the situation. But we learn to trust his soliloquies - his thoughts - more than his actions.

    Read More

More about An Analysis of Supernatural Elements in Hamlet's Act 1

Open Document