Homework from lesson 28/1- short essay question- How is Hamlet presented in Act One?

Hamlet’s character develops throughout Act One, so that by the end of the act each audience member has begun to form their own opinion on who he is. However, several aspects of his dialogue are fairly ambiguous. I am going to explore Hamlet’s religious beliefs, his relationships with both King and Queen, and his sorrow for his father’s death.

                There is no ambiguity in the fact that Hamlet deeply respected his father. One of his first lines suggests his deep, internal grief, and his accusations that Claudius is merely putting on an act of grief, ‘I know not ‘seems’… actions that a man might play… but I have that within’. Also, the audience begins to understand how much the dead King loved Gertrude, for ‘he might not beteem the winds of heaven visit her face too roughly’ and could not allow any discomfort to reach her. This also shows some affection on Hamlet’s part for Gertrude, as maybe he believes Claudius will not treat her as well Hamlet (senior) did. When Hamlet learns that his father’s spirit is in purgatory, he expresses sympathy, ‘Alas, poor ghost’. Hamlet’s father can only be in purgatory because he did not repent all of his sins before death- the audience learns of Hamlet's devotion to his father, but this could be learned with a feeling of unease, because Hamlet’s father committed sins that the audience does not know about, and Hamlet does not care about. This leads to the audience questioning Hamlet’s own morals, if his role model committed sins. Also, the audience learns the extent to which Hamlet looked up to his father, seeing him as ‘Hyperion to a satyr’ when compared with Claudius. This leads me to explore the feelings Hamlet has towards his uncle. 

                Hamlet’s first line of the play, ‘a little more than kin and less than kind’, interrupts his uncle to reject any connection or similarity between them, and he also does not like to think of his uncle as a father, ‘I am too much in the ‘son’’. When Claudius asks Hamlet not to go back to Wittenberg, ‘we beseech you… remain’, Hamlet makes a point of not allowing Claudius to tell him what to do, because he turns to his mother and says ‘I shall… obey you mother’ rather than obeying both of their wishes. When Hamlet is waiting for the appearance of the ghost, he complains to his friends about Claudius getting drunk, ‘the King… takes his rouse/Keeps wassail’ and after Horatio’s questioning, Hamlet states that although drinking heavily is a well-known Dutch custom during celebrations, Hamlet feels that breaching the custom is more honourable than succumbing to it. The audience learns that Hamlet does not idolize Claudius the way he idolized Hamlet senior, and he also finds Claudius dishonourable. When the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered Hamlet’s father, Hamlet cries ‘O my prophetic soul’, suggesting that Hamlet has always felt suspicious of his uncle, so their relationship have never been a close one. Hamlet’s feelings towards the King may also be as a result of his mother’s quick remarriage, so through Hamlet’s dialogue the audience can also learn his feelings about his mother.

                In Hamlet’s first soliloquy he says ‘Frailty, thy name is woman’, suggesting he believes his mother is weak to have been so easily seduced by Claudius. Hamlet feels upset, and most probably alone in his grieving, which is shown when he shows anger at his mother because ‘a beast… would have mourned longer’. The audience may interpret Hamlet’s feelings towards his mother as cold hatred, ‘O most wicked speed!’ because she remarried within a month. However, another interpretation could be that Hamlet is more upset than angry, because he doesn’t understand how a woman who used to ‘hang on him…’ (the dead King) ‘… As if an increase in appetite had grown by what it fed on’ can so suddenly love another. The audience would sympathise with this interpretation of Hamlet’s character as he is grieving the death of his father but feels like his mother doesn’t feel the same grief when she should.

                Another major presentation of Hamlet’s character is through his religion and beliefs. During his first soliloquy the audience learns that the only thing stopping Hamlet from killing himself is that God says it is a sin and has therefore ‘fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter’. Also it becomes apparent that one reason Hamlet is against the marriage is that he feels it is ‘incestuous’ and he agrees with the ghost that it is ‘adulterate’. This shows religion is a strong part of Hamlet’s character. It also could be interpreted by the audience that religion is even more important to Hamlet than his father was to him, because when the ghost tells Hamlet he must avenge the murder, Hamlet says he will, but ‘with wings as swift as meditation’, which could suggest slowness rather than swiftness. Hamlet feels he must think about it first because killing is a sin, even if it is to avenge his beloved father’s murder. He is at a loss at which to choose between his beliefs and his revenge- ‘shall I couple with hell? O fie!’

                I find Hamlet’s character develops in a very interesting way throughout this first act. My own interpretation is that Hamlet feels angry at Claudius for seducing his mother, and upset by his mother’s lack of grief, even though in my opinion her quick remarriage might have been a brave and self-sacrificial decision to help restore order in society. Hamlet feels completely alone and is very vulnerable, so is easily manipulated by the ghost to believe he has no choice but to avenge his father’s death, ‘duller should thou be that the fat weed… wouldst thou not stir in this’.