Read the lecture Hamlet before
commencing discussion.
The Ghost is the catalyst that sets in motion the
tragedy of Prince Hamlet. It is, first of all, part of the first phase of the
drama, the protasis—here an expository speech providing essential
background information: that Hamlet’s father did not perish of a serpent’s sting
(1.5.35-36), but was poisoned by his brother Claudius, now King of
Denmark.
Examine lines 59-73 and describe in detail the effects
of the poison on Old Hamlet’s body.
Adultery is mentioned once (42) and incest twice (42,
83). In what sense are these charges significant? Note that the question of
whether a brother marrying his widowed sister-in-law is incestuous was not
firmly decided in Shakespeare’s day. There was both religious and historical
precedent for allowing such marriages. Indeed, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I’s father,
had married Catherine of Aragon, his brother’s widow (though when he sought a
divorce to marry Anne Boleyn, one of his arguments was that the marriage had
never been lawful).
And what about the charge of adultery? Do we have any
other evidence that Gertrude and Claudius were in a relationship prior to Old
Hamlet’s death? The reason I mention this is that Gertrude’s marrying Claudius
may have a legitimate motive. According to the Danish rules of succession, it
was the brother, not the son, who inherited the throne of a deceased king. In
England, of course, it was (and is) the first-born son (or daughter if there is
no male issue). These differing customs collide in the play, for no one seems to
question Claudius’s right to the throne—with the exception of Hamlet himself,
who at one point calls Claudius “a cutpurse of the empire and the
rule” (3.4.100). So perhaps Gertrude wishes to ensure that the crown go to
her son when Claudius dies (provided, of course, that she bears him no children
of his own).
Other questions to consider (for you to answer and
discuss):
What is the Ghost’s/Old Hamlet’s status? Where is he,
and why?
Why does the Ghost differentiate between Claudius and
Gertrude in terms of their deserved punishment (85-90)? And what does the Ghost
mean by his command to Hamlet, “Taint not thy mind”
(85)?
Notice the two central commands emerging from Hamlet’s
first encounter with the Ghost: “Revenge my foul and most unnatural
murder” (25) and “Remember me” (91). This is a revenge
tragedy, and yet the Ghost’s final words to Hamlet here are “Remember
me” (91). How are the two commands connected?
And which of the commands is most on Hamlet’s mind
immediately following the Ghost’s exit? Examine and comment on lines 92-112,
paying attention to the order of his concerns.
Finally, what do you make of Hamlet’s very strange gesture in lines 107-108, where he reaches for his “tables” (a kind of notebook). He needs to write this down so he doesn’t forget? How could he possibly forget something so harrowing? What’s going on here? Any ideas? (Though I have my own answers to many of the questions put to you in this course, some—this one included—are a genuine bafflement at puzzling passages.)
Well, the simple answer is that he’s just seen his dead
father’s ghost who claims to have been murdered by his brother, Hamlet’s uncle
who has just married his mother!
But the notoriously melancholy Dane is out of sorts
prior to his first encounter with the ghost. How, then, do we explain Hamlet’s
behavior earlier in Act 1? T.S. Eliot once famously argued that the play Hamlet is an artistic failure because its hero
displays an emotion far in excess of his circumstances. Hamlet has no
“objective correlative,” no situation matching his extraordinary
grief and depression. Is this a fair appraisal of the play?
Examine Hamlet’s exchange with Claudius and Gertrude
when he first appears in the play (1.2.64-73). How would you describe this
exchange—the mood, motives, and intentions of all that is said? Is everyone
being straight with everyone else? Do we recognize this sort of discussion in
our own relationships?
Now examine Hamlet’s answer to Gertrude’s question,
“Why seems it so particular with thee?” (75-86). Two questions: (1)
What is Hamlet claiming here? (2) To what does he implicitly compare himself and
why does it matter?
Now examine Hamlet’s first of seven great soliloquies (1.2.129-59). What do you find most striking and why?
Please post any questions you have about Act 1, or point to particular passages from or aspects of the play you’d like to discuss.