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What happens in Act 1, Scene 2 of Hamlet?
Gertrude and King Claudius, who have recently married, ask Hamlet to stay in Denmark a while longer. Hamlet rebukes his mother when she suggests that he is mourning his father too heavily. After Hamlet reveals his innate unhappiness in a soliloquy, Horatio tells him about the Ghost.
Looking for our Summary & Analysis of Act 1, Scene 2? Click here! (2-minute read)
Read 1-2 sentence summaries of all 20 scenes in the play. (4-minute read)
How many of the key characters in Hamlet are introduced in Act 1, Scene 2?
Most of the key characters of the play are introduced in Scene 2. These include the title character, Hamlet; his uncle, Claudius; and his mother, Gertrude.
King Claudius’s chief administrator (Lord Chamberlain), Polonius, but is more fully introduced in the next scene, Act 1, Scene 3. The bellicose Prince Fortinbras of the neighboring Kingdom of Norway is also referenced in Scene 2 but will be of greater focus later in the play.
How does King Claudius come to symbolize corruption of the Danish state?
We are introduced to Claudius at the start of Act 1, Scene 2 when he makes an incredibly awkward speech to his court announcing that he has married Gertrude and which includes the absurd claim that he is devoting the proper amounts of attention both to mourning his recent deceased brother and celebrating his marriage to his brother’s widow. His bizarre speech instantly casts Claudius as a corrupt character who is not to be trusted, which is significant because as King, he is also the embodiment of the State of Denmark. In essence, Claudius’s selfish actions and those of Queen Gertrude have tarnished and cast a fatal stench upon the nation, which helps to explain the appearance of the Ghost of the dead king outside the castle in the prior scene.
Read an in-depth character analysis of King Claudius. (2-minute read)
Read about the play’s (seventh) theme of The Ill Health of the State. (1-minute read)
How bad is the relationship between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude?
Hamlet and Gertrude’s son-mother relationship is among the most troubling and problematic in all literature, as we see from their intense exchange shortly after their characters are first introduced in Act 1, Scene 2. Keep in mind this flare up occurs before Hamlet’s father’s Ghost implicates Gertrude in his murder and their relationship will only worsen as the play progresses. It is strongly implied that the two were once very close (in Act 4, Scene 7, Claudius tells Laertes that “The queen his mother/Lives almost by his [Hamlet’s] looks”), but that has been shattered by Gertrude and Claudius’s decision to marry so quickly after King Hamlet’s death.
Read an in-depth character analysis of Gertrude. (2-minute read)
What is the significance of Hamlet’s numerous soliloquies in the play?
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play, and the character of Hamlet speaks more lines than any of the playwright’s other characters. Shakespeare’s deepest creation has a lot to say, and many of Hamlet’s speeches convey his innermost thoughts that aren’t meant to be heard by the play’s other characters, only by us in the audience. Act 1, Scene 2 contains the first of Hamlet’s numerous soliloquies. A soliloquy as a special type of monologue in which a character is alone on the stage offering personal insights that help more directly connect the character to the audience. This important soliloquy, in which he voices his disgust at his family and the state of affairs in Denmark in general, and which also reveals Hamlet’s seemingly innate misogyny, is further discuss in Quotes by Scene, Act 1, Scene 2 (the last quote).
Read an in-depth character analysis of Hamlet. (2-minute read)
Read explanations of two key speeches by Hamlet in Act 1, Scene 2. (2-minute read)
