Play description

ACT I

Scene 1. The ghost of Old Hamlet, King of Denmark, has appeared to officers guarding the castle of

Elsinore. When the apparition is witnessed by Horatio, friend of the dead king's son, he fears that it

portends ill. He decides to tell young Hamlet, hoping that the ghost might reveal to him the cause of

its restlessness.

Scene 2. The dead king's brother, Claudius, has assumed the crown and married the widowed Queen

Gertrude. He dispatches emissaries to Norway where the king's nephew Fortinbras is threatening

Denmark with war. The King and Queen urge young Hamlet to cast off his dark mood. Once alone,

the prince vents his violent grief at his father's death and outrage at his mother's "incestuous"

remarriage. When Horatio tells Hamlet about the ghost he too suspects foul play.

Scene 3. Laertes warns his sister Ophelia not to take seriously Hamlet's attentions because, being a

prince, he is not free to make his own choices in matters of love.

Scene 4. Hamlet and Horatio meet on the battlements. The ghost appears and beckons to Hamlet to

follow him.

Scene 5. The ghost describes to Hamlet how it was murdered by Claudius. It urges him to revenge the

crime.