Hamlet Act I

First Impressions  Questions and agitation on the battlement watch = disruption in kingdom’s order  Francisco: “I am sick at heart” (1.1.9) = sickness and disease, all of Denmark is ill  Questions and agitation on the battlement watch = disruption in kingdom’s order  Francisco: “I am sick at heart” (1.1.9) = sickness and disease, all of Denmark is ill

Great Chain of Being  Natural order and harmony in life  Everything from insect ot angel has a fixed place  One element out of place = chain is broken, harmony is destroyed  Omens are a sign of chaos (Caesar allusion)  Natural order and harmony in life  Everything from insect ot angel has a fixed place  One element out of place = chain is broken, harmony is destroyed  Omens are a sign of chaos (Caesar allusion)

Horatio  A trusting friend  A skeptic, a scholar, an anchor  Hamlet’s confidant  A trusting friend  A skeptic, a scholar, an anchor  Hamlet’s confidant

Revelations to Hamlet  Death of a great man = the father, the king  Murder of a noble soul by an inferior man  Mother’s human imperfection and weakness  Death of a great man = the father, the king  Murder of a noble soul by an inferior man  Mother’s human imperfection and weakness

Parent Parallels  Fatherless Hamlet dutifully obeys his mother’s wish for him to remain at Elsinore  Motherless Ophelia dutifully obeys her father’s edict to repel Hamlet’s advances  Fatherless Hamlet dutifully obeys his mother’s wish for him to remain at Elsinore  Motherless Ophelia dutifully obeys her father’s edict to repel Hamlet’s advances

Tragic Flaw  The “stamp of one defect”  In the stars or in ourselves?  Fate/the supernatural or a flaw of nature?  Hamlet loses sense of control over his own destiny  The “stamp of one defect”  In the stars or in ourselves?  Fate/the supernatural or a flaw of nature?  Hamlet loses sense of control over his own destiny

Madness  Hamlet’s confrontation with the ghost is the catalyst for disorder and madness  Is Hamlet’s “antic disposition” real or otherwise?  Is the ghost to be believed?  Can the ghost’s assertations be tested?  Hamlet’s confrontation with the ghost is the catalyst for disorder and madness  Is Hamlet’s “antic disposition” real or otherwise?  Is the ghost to be believed?  Can the ghost’s assertations be tested?

Questions  Why is Hamlet insistent upon secrecy?  Why does Hamlet plan to feign madness?  Why is Hamlet insistent upon secrecy?  Why does Hamlet plan to feign madness?