In Act I of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Denmark is portrayed as being in a state of political and social unrest. The character Horatio helps to convey this state of unrest and to foreshadow, ... are seeking to regain the land they lost to Denmark are direct evidence that Denmark is going to be attacked by Norway. After seeing the ghost, Horatio makes an allusion to Rome before the fall of Julius Caesar; A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets: As ... the state of Denmark at the beginning of the play...

• Word Count: 1520
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... , and adds how the appearance of the Ghost reminds him of what he has read about the portents of Rome, just before the assassination of Julius Caesar. As "the graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead did squeak [the moon] was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse" (I.1.120). Horatio ... . Still in the opening scenes of the play, even men outside of the country can sense the rotting inside. Scornfully, Claudius says Fortinbras thinks "by our late dear brother's death, our state to be disjoint and out of frame" (I.2.19-20), referring not only to the state's political confusion ... the...

• Word Count: 1339
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School