Act I, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis

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Act I, Scene 2

The next morning, the new king of Denmark, Claudius, addresses his Council, accompanied by his new wife, Gertrude. Claudius—who is Prince Hamlet’s uncle—announces that even though the grief over his brother’s recent death is still fresh, he decided to marry his dead brother’s wife and make her his queen. He describes this as a time of mixed emotions (“In equal scale weighing delight and dole”) and thanks the Council for their advice.

Now switching topics, Claudius reveals that young Fortinbras has been calling for Denmark to surrender the lands lost by his father. Claudius explains that he will be entrusting Voltemand and Cornelius, his ambassadors to Norway, with a letter for Norway’s current king (Fortinbras’s uncle). In the letter, Claudius will inform the old and bedridden king of Fortinbras’s recent aggression and ask him to rein in his nephew.

After Voltemand and Cornelius leave, Laertes, the son of one of Claudius’s top advisors, asks for permission to return to France, having come to Denmark for Claudius’s coronation. After granting permission to Laertes, Claudius turns to his nephew, Prince Hamlet, and asks why Hamlet is still so obviously mourning his father. Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, urges Hamlet to “cast off” his sorrow, reminding him that everyone eventually dies. Hamlet replies that his grief runs so deep that his mournful appearance is but a poor reflection of his true sadness. Claudius steps in and tells Hamlet that while a son is expected to mourn his father to some extent, to mourn too much is stubborn, unreasonable, and unmanly. Claudius says he hopes Hamlet will shake off his grief and start to think of Claudius as a father, especially since Hamlet is next in line to take the throne. With this in mind, Claudius asks Hamlet not to return to school in Wittenburg, Germany. When Gertrude echoes her husband’s request for Hamlet to stay, he reluctantly agrees, and everyone exits except Hamlet.

Alone, Hamlet laments the fact that God has made suicide a sin, complaining that life feels cursed and pointless. He bemoans his mother’s decision to marry his uncle—a man Hamlet believes cannot compare to his father—so soon after King Hamlet’s death. Hamlet knows he mustn't voice his disapproval, even though keeping quiet is breaking his heart. He is interrupted by the arrival of Horatio, Marcellus, and Barnardo, who have come to tell him about King Hamlet’s ghost. Surprised, Hamlet agrees to try to meet the ghost later that night. After they leave, Hamlet declares that the presence of his father’s ghost makes him suspect “foul play.”

Analysis

King Claudius and his new bride worry over Hamlet’s odd behavior; Gertrude correctly guesses that he is upset over his father’s death and their “o’erhasty marriage” (II.ii.57), a surmise which suggests that the queen feels some twinge of guilt over her recent actions. The royal couple press Hamlet to stay in Denmark at court, and not return to his studies in Wittenberg.

Claudius’s motives are, of course, ulterior: to spy on Hamlet in order to learn the true cause of his madness, again suggesting that Claudius has some cause to fear retribution from his nephew/son. Perhaps incredibly, Hamlet agrees to their request to remain, even before he vows to avenge his father’s death.

Why he would stay in an environment he finds uncomfortable and distasteful is a puzzle, unless we assume filial obedience as his overriding motive. More likely, however, this turn of events is another instance of the inexorable workings of fate, bringing together all the “actors” in some cosmic drama, as later scenes will bear witness.

Expert Q&A

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Act I, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis

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Act I, Scene 3 Summary and Analysis