Essay/Term paper: Hamlet mood essay

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Hamlet

Hamlet Mood Essay



Act 1 of Shakespeare"s Hamlet is an important act of the play because it sets the reader up with the mood of the play through conversations and events that happen. These moods set up are mysterious, mournful, and revengeful. With these moods set in place they will most likely determine the actions of Hamlet and other events that unfold throughout this tragedy.

Right away in the first scene and a few others you can see that there is a going to be a mysterious mood with a few weird things happening in during the rest of the play. In the beginning of the first scene Marcellus says, "Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, / With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch"(1,1,76-77). Marcellus is telling Horatio about the ghost that he and Barnardo have seen on a two occasions. They don"t think that anyone will believe them so they bring Horatio along because if he sees it people will believe him because he is a scholar and he is respected. All three of the men tried to speak to the ghost but they are not successful, so a in Scene 4 they bring Hamlet along with them to see if he can talk to it because they said it looked like King Hamlet who had just been slain about two months ago. The ghost reveals that he is Hamlet"s father and that Claudius killed him by being poisoned. This ghost and the scenes being set at night show that there are most likely going to be some mysterious events happening as the storyline unfolds.

Hamlet did not know how his father died before he saw the ghost but nevertheless was upset that he died and what made him more upset is that his mother remarried Claudius, who was his uncle, no more that a month later. As shown in the second scene you can see that Hamlet is still very upset about his father"s death even though it has been two months since he died. In conversation between Hamlet, his mother and Claudius his mother says to Hamlet, "Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, / And let thine eye look like a friend of Denmark/ Do not forever with thy vailed lids/ Seek for thy noble father in the dust. / Thou know"st "tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity" (1,2,70-75). Hamlet is still mourning over his father"s death and is wearing dark colors like most people do when they are still mourning over a death. Hamlet"s mother does not understand why he is still mourning because it is natural for all people to die and he should not still be mourning. If Hamlet is still mourning over his father"s death two months after he is killed it seems apparent that he will be mourning for most of the play and this sets a mournful mood. But when Hamlet talks to the apparition another emotion is set in, and that is revenge.

After talking to the ghost in Scene 5 he learns that Claudius poisoned King Hamlet and the story of him being bitten by a snake is not true. When the ghost talks to Hamlet he says, "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder"(1,5,31). By the ghost telling Hamlet what actually happened to him and to take revenge on Claudius Hamlet seems as if he will not be the same until his father"s death is avenged for. This mood is probably one of the bigger of the moods set in the play because whatever Hamlet does is going to be to get back at Claudius and to avenge his father"s death.

By the moods that are set you can make a few predictions of what will happen as the play goes on. You can right away make the prediction that some more weird things will go on a little later on in the book and perhaps the ghost might come back and play a little role. It is also very obvious that Hamlet is going to dedicate the rest of the play to come up with ways to get back at Claudius for his father"s death. These moods set in first seen will definitely play a major role in what happens in the play and will probably play a role in how the play ends.