What is the initial mood in the play Hamlet?
A mood of deep unease and foreboding permeates the opening of the play. Francisco, the sentinel being relieved of duty, sets the tone when he says:
'Tis bitter cold,
And I am sick at heart.
Horatio interprets the ghost as more than merely a personally frightening apparition. He perceives it as an ill-omen: "This bodes some strange eruption to our state," he says. Later, he will add to the tone of unease and foreboding by saying:
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
Marcellus will add to the sense of disquiet, noting the preparations for war:
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets
As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood,
Disasters in the sun, and the moist star
Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse.
And why such daily cast of brazen cannonThen the ghost makes a second appearance, lifting up his arms and disappearing as the cock crows to signal dawn. The opening—midnight outside a dark castle, with two visits from the ghost, fear in the air and intimations of trouble to come—is scary, establishing the dark, foreboding mood of the play.
And foreign mart for implements of war.
The mood is tense and suspenseful in Act I of the play. The ghost appearances leave everyone with a different interpretation for the ghost's arrival, yet none of them are of a positive nature. Hamlet is the only one privy to the ghost's need for vengeance.
Hamlet is also presenting tense and mysterious behavior. His mother speculates it is from his father's death and Claudius is suspicious of it, as well, but for different reasons. Hamlet is contemplating the actions he will take, yet he has not yet committed to act on the ghost's words.
This creates the suspenseful tension that sets us up for the coming events. Although the suspense of Hamlet's inaction will last most of the play.
How does the mood affect the play Hamlet?
The first scene of the play begins to establish the mood as one of menace, suspicion, and foreboding. Barnardo, a palace guard, comes at his appointed hour to relieve Francisco, another guard, who has been on duty until then. Barnardo should be expecting to see Francisco because he knows he is relieving someone, and Francisco should be expecting to see Barnardo because he knows that he is going to be relieved by the next shift. However, Barnardo demands to know who is there, which is Francisco's job, and then Francisco makes the same demand. They seem frightened and nervous, and their anxiety begins to poison the play's mood right away. They are right to be afraid because terrible things have happened and will continue to happen in Denmark.
Mood is the emotional landscape of a piece. It is just like the moods you have. What kind of mood do you get into when you read the play? The mood of Hamlet is at times dark and suspenseful; at others, humorous.
When the ghost arrives, the mood is both suspenseful and eerie. The reader is not sure what is going to happen. Ghosts do not just wander into most of our lives. Here is a ghost telling Hamlet that his uncle killed his father!
When the ghost appears, Horatio tries to speak to it. He has been elected because he is a scholar. The guards seem to think the ghost will chat with him. Just the same, Horatio is kind of spooked.
HORATIO
Re-enter Ghost
I'll cross it, though it blast me. Stay, illusion!
If thou hast any sound, or use of voice,
Speak to me:
If there be any good thing to be done,
That may to thee do ease and grace to me,
Speak to me (Act I, Scene 1).
Their repeated efforts to speak to the ghost, and its disappearances and reappearances leading up to Hamlet talking to it, create the spooky and ominous mood. The ghost’s insistence on revenge also creates a feeling of anticipation.
Hamlet’s crazy act is serious business, but it is also pretty funny at times. The moments of humor actually add to the play because they create comic relief and move the plot along. For example, when Hamlet refuses to tell where Polonius’s body is, it is both tragic and funny.
KING CLAUDIUS
Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius?
HAMLET
At supper.
KING CLAUDIUS
At supper! where?
HAMLET
Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain
convocation of politic worms are e'en at him (Act IV, Scene 3).
There are additional scenes of humor when Hamlet is in the graveyard, where Shakespeare makes interesting social commentary that is also funny. The message is that we all die, and everyone goes into the ground equal. If you are important, however, you get special privileges. If you're not, once you are buried it does not necessarily mean you will stay there!
The ending of the play is very dramatic. By the time the last scene has ended, almost everyone is dead. The audience here will be highly involved, and the mood is frenzied and sad. Hamlet gets his revenge on Claudius, Gertrude dies, Hamlet is poisoned with the sword, and Laertes follows his father and sister into death.
The shifts in mood throughout the play always accompany the action. Nothing is unintentional. Even the comic relief serves a purpose. Therefore, the play is an emotional roller coaster ride, and great entertainment.
References