... The poison with which Claudius kills King Hamlet spreads in a sense throughout the country, until "something is rotten in Denmark", as Marcellus notes (I.4.90). Shakespeare shades in words of sickness continually during the play, perhaps serving best to illustrate the ill condition of affairs plaguing not only ... in the opening scene. As the play opens in the cool, black night, Barnardo and Francisco are high atop the looming walls of Elsinore, keeping watch for the impending revenge of enemy Fortinbras (I.1). Midnight strikes and Barnardo notes, subtly referring to the sentiment of De...

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

... Marcellus asks the others "has this thing appear"d again tonight?" and Bernardo replies that he has seen nothing. Just as Bernardo starts to describe his visions the apparition appears. Bernardo notes that the ghost is "In the same figure, like the king that's dead" and then questions himself "Looks it not like the king". Horatio then questions the apparition "What are ... thou, that usurp'st this time of night/ Together with the fair and warlike form/ In which the majesty of buried Denmark/ Did sometimes march" the ghost then disappears and leaves the men astonished at what they have ....

• Word Count: 466
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... dreaded the thirteenth of Friday (May 35-38). They believed that all supernatural elements were at work. The Elizabethans had always been susceptible to belief in the supernatural. As May notes, these people more that other people questioned matters beyond their vision (39). Shakespeare was clearly influenced by his race. He had an inquiring mind that refused bondage by the limitations ... a young man so he was happy to enjoy the realities of life rather that ask about its meanings (Schiller 200). The form of supernatural used by Shakespeare in Mid-Summer Night's Dream is the harmless f...

• Word Count: 1725
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... dreaded the thirteenth of Friday (May 35-38). They believed that all supernatural elements were at work. The Elizabethans had always been susceptible to belief in the supernatural. As May notes, these people more that other people questioned matters beyond their vision (39). Shakespeare was clearly influenced by his race. He had an inquiring mind that refused bondage by the limitations ... a young man so he was happy to enjoy the realities of life rather that ask about its meanings (Schiller 200). The form of supernatural used by Shakespeare in Mid-Summer Night's Dream is the harmless f...

• Word Count: 1725
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

ACT 1 SCENE 1 Characters: Ghost, Heratio, Marcellus. Bernardo, Francisco Setting: Ramparts of kings castle in Elsinore (MIDNIGHT TO DAWN) Summary: One cold winter night, Bernardo, an officer comes to relieve the watchman Francisco. They both acknowledge that they are both watchmen, then Francisco thanks Bernardo for relieving him because he is cold and tired ... look at him as a father. Hamlet wants to die, and he wished that suicide was not a sin. Heratio and the guardsmen inform Hamlet of the ghost they had saw the night before and Hamlet agrees to watch with them tonight in hope of talkin...

• Word Count: 1180
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Chapter Summaries with Notes Act One Scene 1: The Coin Spin Summary Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two well-dressed Elizabethan men in the middle of a coin-spinning game. Their location is featureless. Whoever calls the ... inability to learn from the past. Rosencrantz responds by engaging Guildenstern in a game with a coin. Polonius, the players, and Hamlet come in. Hamlet asks the Player to perform a play tomorrow night, with some added lines Hamlet himself has written. Everyone leaves but the Player, who regards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern coldly. They tease and berate him, and he angr...

• Word Count: 4316
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: High School

... death had some amount of righteousness to it, he felt somehow he had failed, through the entire story. At the death of Hamlet, Horatio cries, "Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!" (V, II). Hamlet was, by all stretch of the imagination, a sensitive and honorable man. He was on a mission and that ... .upenn.edu/~tariq58/Hamlet/Cheat/Act%20I.htm Friedlander, Ed. "Enjoying 'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare." (1999): http://www.pathguy.com/hamlet.htm Moore, Peter R. "Hamlet and the two witness rule." Notes and Queries, (1997): v44 n4, ...

• Word Count: 1266
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the blows of fortune, his mission will be accomplished. The impending dark period Hamlet must endure is represented by the sympathetic fallacy of the state of nature in Denmark. Francisco notes, ''tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart' (I.i. 8-9). This readies the audience for the appearance of the ghost which will represent the perversion of the harmonious order that Hamlet must ... is justly served; / It is a poison temper'd by himself' (V.ii. 338-9). The now fully grown Hamlet attains salvation after he is poisoned, and this is hinted at by Horatio: "Good night, sweet prince; / And...

• Word Count: 1879
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... hypocritical is Claudius. He has established a very cheerful court of admirers and as Phyllis Rackin observes Hamlet's black clothing, no less than his bitter grief, associates him with the cold night of the opening scene in opposition to the spurious brightness and warmth of Claudius's court. Outwardly, he is friendly and praises Hamlet openly, but inside he is scheming of ways ... the sake of damaging their lives. In contrast, Claudius, who is also driven by a need for self-fulfillment, is not out to specifically harm anybody. As literary critic Morris White notes, His government work...

• Word Count: 1814
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... at her for her "betrayal" to his father. Hamlet really carpe diems his butt off here. It is the same thing as a student saying, "Well, if I am going to waste a night of perfectly good TV- watching to study for my History test, I might as well write my English paper too." As the duel continues, Laertes has poisoned the tip of his ... . Hamlet kills the Claudius, finally avenging his father's death! Next Hamlet reconciles with Laertes. Then Hamlet stops Horatio from committing suicide and requests that Horatio tell his story. (Two quick notes: 1.Sorry, I know this is a lot of summarizing, ...

• Word Count: 942
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School