Hamlet by William Shakespeare Read Free Book Online

is “within” and external appearances, which are something a “man might play,” an expression that raises the theme of performance/theater. Claudius accuses Hamlet of “impious stubbornness,” and calls his grief “unmanly,” one of several reflections on gender. In a more conciliatory tone, he asks Hamlet to think ofhim as a father, and says that he would prefer him to remain in court rather than returning to university in Wittenberg. Gertrude adds her “prayers” that Hamlet will remain, and he agrees.
    Lines 129–271: Alone, Hamlet embarks on the first of the many soliloquies that reveal his introspective nature. He wishes that he could die and that his “too solid flesh would melt,” emphasizing the opposing elements of physical and spiritual as he also regrets that suicide is a sin against God. He contemplates the “stale” nature of the world, comparing it to an “unweeded garden” filled with “things rank and gross in nature,” establishing the recurring motif of decay/infection. He reveals his disgust at his mother’s remarriage and the “wicked speed” with which she moved between “incestuous sheets.” He recalls how much she appeared to love his father, blaming her behavior on the fickle nature of her sex: “frailty, thy name is woman!” Horatio, Barnardo and Marcellus arrive. Horatio tells Hamlet about seeing his father’s ghost. Hamlet resolves to watch that night and to try to speak to it. After they leave, he contemplates what the appearance of the “armed” ghost means, suspecting “some foul play.”
ACT 1 SCENE 3
    Laertes says goodbye to his sister, Ophelia. He warns her against “Hamlet and the trifling of his favours,” saying that, while Hamlet may love her now, their difference of rank is too great for him to marry Ophelia and so she must not open her “chaste treasure” to him. Ophelia says that she will do as he asks, but reminds him that he must not preach virtue to her and then behave immorally himself. Polonius arrives and urges his son to board the ship, which is ready to sail. He kindly, but pompously, gives Laertes a great deal of advice and bids him farewell. Laertes urges Ophelia to remember what he has said and leaves. Polonius asks Ophelia what Laertes meant and, hearing that it concerns Hamlet, repeats Laertes’ advice in harsher, more realistic terms. He forbids Ophelia to “give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet,” and Ophelia obeys with a readiness that demonstrates her father’s authority over her.
ACT 1 SCENE 4
    Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus wait for the ghost as sounds of revelry from the court are heard in the background. The Ghost appears and Hamlet declares his intention to speak to it, whether it is “a spirit of health or goblin damned,” raising the possibility that the Ghost is a malevolent force and reminding us that appearances are subjective. The Ghost beckons and Hamlet follows, despite Horatio and Marcellus’ attempts to stop him.
ACT 1 SCENE 5
    Lines 1–118: The Ghost tells Hamlet that he is his father’s spirit, “Doomed for a certain time to walk the night,” and asks Hamlet to revenge his murder. The ghostly request for revenge is a key element of the “revenge tragedy,” a genre that is acknowledged throughout the play, but also consciously explored and challenged. Hamlet begs to hear more, so that he may “sweep” to his revenge. The Ghost explains that Hamlet’s father was not, as everyone believes, killed by a snake’s bite. He tells Hamlet that Claudius first seduced the “seeming virtuous queen,” Gertrude, and then killed him by pouring poison in his ear as he slept (a literal representation of the rumor and plotting in the play). He urges Hamlet to kill Claudius, but says that he must spare Gertrude, who will be punished by her own guilt: “the thorns that in her bosom lodge.” Morning approaches and the ghost leaves, urging Hamlet to remember him. Alone, Hamlet swears that he will remember nothing