Hamlet Act 1

I feel as though nothing significant happened in the first time two scenes. The first two scenes were to set the ground for the rest of the play. It introduced the background so that the readers were informed about what happened and how it happened. I really enjoyed how Shakespeare presented Old Hamlet's Ghost. It was necessary for Old Hamlet ghost to appear in the first scene of the play because that is what the entirety of the play was based on. If he were introduced any later in the play then the play would be lengthier. I noticed that in many of Shakespeare play's he portrays ghost as characters. These ghost are fundamental to the storyline of the plays. If Shakespeare did not include Old Hamlet's ghost I think the story would have taken a totally different toll. Also, the setting of the play seems very somber and suspenseful. " Thou are a scholar; speak to it, Horatio. Looks it not like the King? Mark it, Horatio. Most like. It harrows me with the fear and wonder." Line 42-44 Scene 1. When I first read this excerpt I really wanted to know what was going to happen next. The conversation got extremely interesting and encouraged me to keep reading the first scene. Upon reading scenes 1 and 2, I notice that there were no stage directions. Shakespeare did that because he wanted to give the stage directors some creative input. Not including stage directions was essential because many people have different ways to see things and view things. With that being said, many stage directors still present the play Hamlet in many of the same ways. The only thing they really change is the little thing, but they chose not to change anything major because it would make certain ideas ineffective. For example, they cannot change the way someone dies; however, they can chose a certain way that a character enters the stage or chose a different position in which they may die in. All in all, the first two scenes had nothing significant happen in them. It was just the setting stone for the rest of the play.