Hamlet: Act 1

Scene 1- Bernardo is guarding outside, and then Francisco comes to join them. Then Marcellus and Horatio take over for Francisco because he is very tired. As they are ready to leave, they see a ghost that look similar to their dead previous ruler. The ghost will not talk to them, but it just stares at them. As they are trying to get him to talk, the ghost leaves. They begin to talk again about what they saw, and then the ghost reappears again. Once again as they try to get him to talk, he disappears. They then finally leave and say they will talk about it in the morning.

Scene 2- It is the morning after the guards see the ghost. The new king, King Claudius, is giving a speech about his marriage to the ex king's wife. Prince Hamlet is very upset by this and still misses his father. He is still mourning the death of his father. Prince Hamlet wishes he was dead with him. He doesn't like what is happening. The guards catch up to Prince Hamlet and say they have seen the dead king.

Scene 3-The sister of Laertes, Ophelia, is not to fall in love with Hamlet. That is what her brother says Hamlet wants to be with Ophelia, but she can't be with him. Ophelia is confused and doesn't know what to do about Hamlet's love.

Scene 4- Hamlet, Marcellus, and Bernardo are on guard again. The ghost once again reappears, and Hamlet begs him to explain why he is here. The ghost motions to Hamlet that he wishes to speak to him alone.

Scene 5- The ghost and Hamlet speak to each other. The ghost explains how he is the spirit of his father. He wants to speak to Hamlet because he wants him to revenge the man who killed him. Hamlet is really mad that his father was murdered. He explains how Claudius is the one who killed him by putting poison in his ear. The ghost explains how Claudius also lusted his wife into liking him. He doesn't want him to hurt his wife though. In the morning, the ghost is gone, and Hamlet is some what shaken by this Marcellus and Bernardo ask him what has happened, but he does not say a word.

Analysis- This first act can be looked at from a psychological critism. Hamlet's ego is still mourning the death of his dad after all the years he has been dead. It is always going to be there in his mind which is his ego. The death of his dad is stuck in his memory.
Claudius is all about becoming ruler in his head. He needed to become ruler, so he had to figure out how he was going to do it. He had to skillfully plan out how to kill his brother without anyone knowing. He is all about the fame and fortune which can be look at from Marxism too.
I wonder if Hamlet would've ever figured out that Claudius killed his dad if the ghost never was part of the play. Now that Hamlet knows about his uncle, I wonder what will he do in order to get revenge for murdering his dad. Since this is a from Shakespeare, I believe it will end tragically. I am actually excited to read the rest of this story because I want to know how it will turn out.