Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1 Summary

In the first scene many characters and concepts are introduced. The scene is set on a watch post overlooking the kingdom of Denmark. The king has recently been murdered and his ghost is roaming throughout the castle with unknown reason. The guards and Hamlet’s good friend Horatio are the only characters to have seen it. They are trying to decide what it’s intention of being here is and what it desires. They are unsure as how to approach the ghost and figure out what is doing in the castle. The scene begins with Barnardo and Francisco both of which are sentinels, or soldiers, responsible for looking over the castle and keeping all of its inhabitants safe. Over the last couple of nights the soldiers have had strange sightings of the king who …show more content…
By heaven, I charge thee speak.” (11) With those words Horatio confronts the ghost about what its purpose here is. Marcellus and Barnardo believe Horatio’s words to be too harsh and that he has offended the ghost. The men are traumatized by this experience. Horatio is deeply disturbed by his conversation. Barnardo sees his reaction and questions him, “How now, Horatio you tremble and look pale.” (11) Horatio truly believes the ghost to be the deceased king. “As thou art to thyself. Such was the very armor he had on...” (13) Horatio is sure that the figure he encountered was truly the …show more content…
Horatio tries his hardest to speak to the ghost and to receive a response but to no avail. He asks to ghost to tell him the fate of the country so that the situation may be taken care of and avoided, but Marcellus becomes caught up in the action and asks to strike the ghost in order for it to stay. This comment scares the figure and it leaves that room. Marcellus immediately regrets his decision but blames it on the rooster that crowed in the background, but the ghost left long after the rooster which shows that it did not take kindly to Marcellus’ actions and left for that