Hamlet Notes
...who had recently died. So the next night they asked Horatio, and intellectual and a friend of Prince Hamlet's to accompany them for his opinion on it. Horatio tried to speak to the ghost but it did not respond so he suggested to get Prince Hamlet to speak to the ghost. There is a party thrown by the new King (Hamlet's uncle), and this is where the reader learns how Hamlet feels about his mother marrying his uncle a month after his father's death.
4. Quote lines from the scene(s) that you enjoyed and comment on them.
Horatio: What art thou that usurp'st this time of night,
Together with that fair and warlike form
In which the majesty of buried Denmark
Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge thee, speak!
I chose this quote because it the reader a sense a bit of aggravation that Horatio felt because the ghost of King Hamlet would not speak to him. This quote shows that there is a problem that has to be solved. It is also a good example of Shakespeare style of writing and how his character spoke so poetically, when he was basically just saying talk to me King. It also shows that even though Horatio also seemed to be scared of the ghost, he had the courage to speak to it, unlike the guards.
3. Ask questions about the scene(s).
What does this ghost of the King want?
I think that the King's ghost is trying to warn the guards and the people of Denmark that something terrible is going to happen, like a war or maybe a scandal inside the castle. Since the King is dead, he can see what goes on in everybody's lives from above, he knows something important. I don't understand why he won't speak, maybe he can't physically speak, or maybe he doesn't want to tell just anyone his information, he wants to tell someone who will know what to do, like the Queen, his brother, or his son Hamlet.
Feb 10th, 2005
I, ii, 160 I, iv
Horatio and...
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