Hamlet Summary Act 1

Act I: Horatio joins two guards and the three all undeniably see the ghost of King Hamlet in full battle armor at midnight, as if he was fighting Norway again. Horatio, even though he is a man of science, is forced to accept that his eyes are not lying to him. In the morning/afternoon, Claudius announces that he will marry Gertrude (King Hamlet’s widow), acknowledging King Hamlet’s death but having no qualms about plowing him over when Hamlet has been buried for merely 2 months. Prince Hamlet is discombobulated. He has just come back from his Protestant college/school at Wittenburg to find that his father is dead and his mother has married Claudius. He suspects that Claudius may have had a hand in these events. Later, when Laertes is leaving …show more content…
R&G and Claudius try to get Hamlet to tell where Polonius’ corpse, Hamlet just hints it may be at the stairway. Claudius decides to send missive with R&G (who are going with Hamlet to England) asking the King of England to kill Hamlet. As Hamlet is boarding the ship, he sees Fortinbras’ army pass by. He finds it odd in his soliloquy that Fortinbras’ army would risk so much for a petty little Poland, while Hamlet has so much to avenge but has still not done a thing. In Elsinore Castle, Ophelia has gone insane and sings symbolic songs speaking of betrayal while handing out very symbolic flowers [See Flowers in Symbolism]. Laertes bursts into the courtroom and demands vengeance for the death of his father. Claudius insinuates that it was Hamlet who caused Ophelia to go crazy and who also killed Polonius. Horatio gets a letter from Hamlet that Hamlet is coming back because the ship was attacked by some friendly pirates. Horatio goes and tells Claudius. Claudius and Laertes hatch their plan to kill Hamlet (fencing, poisoned sword, and poisoned wine/drink). Gertrude tells Laertes and Claudius that Ophelia has died by drowning/suicide in the