Hamlet - Act 1 / Scene 2 SUMMARY (Part 2)

PART 2. Yep, that's right. We aren't done with Act 1 / Scene 2 yet. Just to recap:

6 Sentence Summary: Claudius, the new king of Denmark, thanks his subjects for their support, updates them about foreign affairs with Norway, and announces his marriage to Queen Gertrude. Laertes, the son of one of Claudius' advisers, gets permission to return to France. Gertrude and Claudius speak with Hamlet (he's finally here!) and they ask him to cease his continuous mourning of his father's death. After everyone leaves, Hamlet laments his mother's marriage and the speed at which it occurred. Horatio and the guards arrive and tell Hamlet of their sightings of the dead king's ghost. Hamlet decides he will watch for the ghost with them that night and try to speak to it.

If you'd like to read Part 1 of the summary, click here.

Where did we leave off? Hamlet was about to monologue.

So, Hamlet monologues. In this first soliloquy, Hamlet reveals his feelings about his mother's marriage. The most important points to remember are:

1. Hamlet is super angry at Gertrude because she married Claudius only a month after the death of Dead King Hamlet. He views the marriage as a betrayal to his father, and Lady G is the betrayer.
2. To Hamlet, this is incest. By marriage, Claudius and Gertrude were siblings, but now they are husband and wife. It's like being related to someone twice, and Hamlet finds it disgusting.
3. Hamlet, although he dislikes Claudius and refuses to see him as father, is more angry at Gertrude in this monologue. She only mourned his father/her husband for a month before remarrying to his brother, and Hamlet does not understand how she can move on so quickly. He cannot fathom the idea of her forgetting her love for her dead husband so soon after his death.
4. Finally, Hamlet finds Claudius inferior to Dead King Hamlet. A "Hyperion to a satyr," if you want to quote Shakespeare.

If you'd like to read my analysis of this monologue, click here.

So, to continue, Hamlet's BFF Horatio arrives.

Look at their adorable friendship hug

Hamlet has not seen Horatio in a while, nor did he know that Horatio had come from school in Wittenberg. Their reunion conversations goes a bit like:

Horatio: Yo, bro!
Hamlet: Hi- WHAT??? BRO, how you been, bro??? I can't believe you're here!
Horatio: I know me neither, bro.
Guard #Whatever: I'm here, too.
Hamlet: Yes, hello, I like you, too. Horatio, what has brought you here?
Horatio: Truant disposition.
Hamlet: Shut up, man. You're not truant and we both know it. Now, why are you in Elsinore?
Horatio: I came for your father's funeral.
Hamlet: Don't you mean my mother's wedding, since that's SOOOOO much more important?
Horatio: It followed quickly after the funeral, so yes, that too.
Hamlet: They used the leftovers food from the funeral for the wedding. You know, I think I see my father.
Horatio: Where, bro?
Hamlet: In my mind's eye, bro.

The two men go on to discuss the dead king. BFF Horatio comes in clutch and reveals that he believes he saw his ghost the night before. Hamlet freaks and begins asking a bunch of questions to confirm that the entity was, in fact, his father's ghost. Horatio answers his inquiries and tells him the entire story of their meeting with the ghost.

Hamlet decides that he will watch for his dad that night with them. He claims that he will speak to the ghost, no matter what powers may try to stop him. After Horatio and the guards leave, Hamlet states that "all is not well". He suspects that some treacherous action has occurred, and they will eventually be revealed.