William Shakespeare's Hamlet

In 1.2, Shakespeare introduces three significant characters: Prince Hamlet, King Claudius and Queen Gertrude. The scene opens with King Claudius’ speech explaining his recent marriage to Gertrude, his brother’s widow and the mother of Hamlet. This speech attempts to balance the sorrow of his brother’s death with the happiness of having married “his sometime sister” (1.2.8) . “The clouds still hang” (1.2.66) upon Hamlet as he refuses to cast off his “nightly colour” (1.2. 68) and continues to mourn his father’s death. Claudius urges Hamlet to think of him “as of a father” (1.2.108), however Hamlet’s suspicions, resentment and disgust of his mother’s quick and incestuous re-marriage forbids this.

Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius irritates and unsettles Hamlet. He resents his mother for forgetting his father only a month after his death and marrying his uncle in “O’ most wicked speed” (1.2.156). The state of Denmark, his father’s death and his mother’s marriage cause Hamlet to wish that the “Everlasting had not fixed / His canon ‘gainst self slaughter!” (1.2.131-32), ushering in suici...