What this line reveals about Claudius is that he manipulative and petty, this also shows how he is full of himself because he is now king. This shows how Claudius thinks that just because of his new title he can get Hamlet to do whatever he wants, but make it seem like he has an option to decline when he doesn't. This also shows how Claudius is trying to use the queen's power over Hamlet because he makes it known that it is both of their wishes, and he knows Hamlet is loyal to his mother.

What this line reveals about Hamlet is that he does not answer kindly to the king. What that means is that each time he speaks after his mother, it is always a bland and respectful comment. What this shows is that he still has some respect for his mother. But when Hamlet speaks after his uncle/stepfather, it is a remark with a deeper meaning to show how he really feels about the situation, but not in an ill-mannered way. This also reveals how Hamlet does not really like the new king, but he will show some respect, because he is the king.

The Queen is annoyed that Hamlet is still grieving his dead father. She suspects his mourning is a ploy for attention. Hamlet concedes that sorrow can be fabricated, but he has "that within which passeth show:" genuine feelings, which cannot be seen.

Horatio's description of Hamlet's father's ghost here clashes with the ghost that Hamlet meets later in the play. Hamlet's father's ghost is enraged when he speaks to Hamlet about his murder. That Hamlet assumes his father's ghost is angry tells us something about the man's countenance when he was living.

The "mind's eye" is a human's ability to visualize or otherwise experience things within their mind. While Horatio actually did see Hamlet's father's ghost in the previous scene, Hamlet is only imagining his father here. The play can be seen as occurring mostly in Hamlet's "mind's eye" as it explores his internal landscape as he attempts to understand the external world. Shakespeare did not coin this term but he did make it a popular expression.

Hamlet says that he wants the men to witness and understand this event with him, but he doesn't want them to tell anyone about it. If there's a Ghost that wants to speak to him then there's likely to be something wrong, and Hamlet might well be in danger. To keep his enemies and the King from learning what that is and taking measures against him, he would need to keep this information quiet. He trusts that these men will be loyal to him.

A sable is a species of animal that lives primarily in Russia and Siberia and has become popular for its soft fur, which is made into coats or "sables" for royalty. Today, women typically wear sables to parties and gatherings, and few men, if any, are seen with sable coats outside of cold climates. A silvered sable, then, looks very much like a fine piece of gray fur, though it is, in this case, just King Hamlet's beard.

Hamlet's eagerness to have seen his father's Ghost speaks both to his love of his father and to his generally morbid and brooding character. He hears the description of the Ghost dressed all in armor, walking up and down the ramparts, speaking to no one, and looking fierce, and he longs to have seen it himself. What he intends to do when he meets this Ghost is unclear, but he certainly intends to take every precaution should the meeting turn sour.

A truncheon is a heavy club that is used by warriors in hand-to-hand battle, and to come within truncheon's length is to come into combat range with the Ghost (just a few feet away). The fact that the Ghost carries a truncheon suggests to Horatio that he has come back to discuss the impending war.

To be "armed to the point" means to be dressed in armor from head to toe. Shakespeare went to a great deal of trouble in the first scene to establish that this is, indeed, dead King Hamlet's Ghost, and in so doing makes it easier for the audience to understand what is happening. If he had waited to introduce the Ghost until it spoke with Hamlet, it would have lessened the dramatic tension since the audience would not anticipate their meeting or understand its potential significance.

"Truant," or truancy, refer to a student's absence from school. Horatio suggests that he's truant by nature, that it's in his disposition, but, as Hamlet knows, this isn't true. He says so merely in jest, and in this joke we come to understand that the two men are friends and know each other well enough to read between the lines of what the other is saying. Horatio may well be Hamlet's greatest friend in Elsinore, and the only one he thinks he can trust.

Shakespeare uses the long em-dash here to indicate that Hamlet either has been interrupted by or is surprised to see Marcellus, whom he hadn't noticed before. This, and Hamlet's greeting to Bernardo in the following lines, should indicate that Hamlet has been in a state of reverie or introspection and is a little startled to be thrust back into a social situation, unable to get the timing of his greetings quite right. Shakespeare uses this to build his character and set the tone for this conversation.

Hercules, also known as Heracles, was the son of the Greek god Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. He was endowed with enormous strength and is now famous for his Twelve Labors, which included slaying an invulnerable lion and defeating a nine-headed hydra. Hamlet states that Claudius, despite being King Hamlet's brother, is "no more like" Hamlet's father than Hamlet himself is like Hercules. Hamlet idolized his father and uses this comparison to imply that Claudius is not a good person. He also offers some insight into his perception of himself by comparing himself to Hercules as a way of emphasizing the difference in character between Claudius and King Hamlet. He does not perceive himself as heroic and strong, as Hercules was. Instead, he is as unlike the legendary hero as Claudius is unlike his father, foreshadowing Hamlet's struggles later in the play.

In Greek mythology, Hyperion was considered the "High One," Lord of the Light and the Titan of the East, one of the twelve titans that ruled the earth before Zeus and the Olympians fought them for control. Hamlet draws parallels between Hyperion and a satyr (a lustful, drunken god) and between King Hamlet and Claudius, forming an analogy that makes his father look like a saint and Claudius a depraved drunkard.

In Greek mythology, Niobe was a Queen of Thebes. She is said to have boasted about having fourteen children to the goddess Leto, who had only two, the twins Apollo and Artemis. In response, Apollo and Artemis killed all of Niobe's children, later turning her to stone on Mount Sipylus, where she continued to weep even in her petrified state. Niobe became the prototype for all grieving mothers in Greek tragedies and is here likened to Gertrude to emphasize the other's apparent lack of grief.

In Renaissance England, as in classical Greek and Roman tragedies, women were believed to be inexhaustible in matters of sex and the heart, which in turn led to much strife and a sharp divide between the sexes, both socially and in fiction. Hamlet's assertion here (that by their nature women are essentially frail and unfaithful) would have been common in Shakespeare's time, though it appears sexist and simplistic from a modern perspective. Henderson, Katherine Usher and Barbara F. McManus. Half Human Kind: Contexts and Texts of the Contoversy about Women in England 1540-1540. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 1985. p.56.

In gardening terminology, "rank" things are low-lying vegetation like untended grasses mixed with overgrown weeds. "Gross" things are then tall, individual weeds like milkweeds that grow up in the middle of lawns or walkways. This phenomenon occurs in any untended garden and functions as a metaphor for Hamlet's view of the world, in which the masses are "rank," while individuals like Claudius are "gross." Notice, too, how these lines deliberately break the patten of iambic pentameter and contain more than ten syllables, as if to suggest the tangled, disordered, and overgrown condition of a neglected nation or garden.

In Catholic belief, suicide is a mortal sin, or something that is such an egregious wrong that it cannot be forgiven by God. To commit suicide condemns a person to Hell and reflects poorly on one's surviving loved ones. This exclamation marks Hamlet's first reference to suicide and the beginning of a downward emotional spiral that some scholars have linked to modern conceptions of depression. For Hamlet even to be considering suicide suggests that something is desperately wrong.

Notice that Claudius has forty lines and Gertrude only has fourteen lines. This disparity speaks to the different gender roles in the play, emphasizing that though Claudius refers to Gertrude as the "imperial jointress," she holds precious little sway over the court. However, it is not Claudius that Hamlet addresses his response to but Gertrude. This emphasizes Hamlet's preoccupation with his mother, who he views as having betrayed both the deceased King and him by entering into an incestuous marriage with Claudius.

Martin Luther famously posted his "95 Theses" on the front door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on Oct. 31, 1517, an act that would lead to the Protestant Reformation. Although the time periods don't coincide (the play takes place in either the 14th or 15th Century), Hamlet will struggle with his traditional Catholic belief system throughout the play and wrestle with the new thinking that he's acquired at university.

As a young scholar, being called "simple and unschool'd" would've been a particular blow to Hamlet. He may be young and inexperienced, but he does seem to pride himself on being thoughtful and intelligent. Combined with Claudius' criticisms of his piety and masculinity, Hamlet's continued grief has been thoroughly admonished as ridiculous and unnatural. Keep in mind that this is not a private conversation either. Claudius has made all of these remarks in front of the attendant lords and ladies of the realm, undermining Hamlet on both a personal and social level.

In Hamlet's time, masculinity was a far narrower concept than it is today, and being "manly" primarily meant fighting, conquering, and remaining stoic in the face of grief or danger. Calling Hamlet's grief "unmanly" calls his masculinity into question and undermines his authority in this group of people. This is yet another tactic Claudius uses to sway Hamlet, though ultimately it does more harm than good.

"Impious" means unholy or profane and here suggests that grief and the various performances of grief are in themselves impious acts which run contrary to God's will that all men should die. Grief, then, becomes an indulgence in defiance of God's wishes and is considered impious or inappropriate. This is just one of many tactics Claudius uses to convince Hamlet to stop mourning his father.

"Obsequious" means to be obedient or attentive to an excessive degree. Claudius accuses Hamlet of being excessive in his mounting for his father and encourages him to move on, stating that everyone loses a parent eventually. He might also be engaging in some clever wordplay, as the noun "obsequies" is another word for funeral rites. Like Laertes, Hamlet appears at the castle mostly out of a sense of obligation. He'd rather be in Wittenberg, a fact Claudius knows all to well, as he uses this pointed, unpleasant word to refer to Hamlet's brooding presence.

Hamlet refers to his mourning clothes and his fruitful tears as actions that people can "play," acting out sorrow rather than truly experiencing it. Shakespeare plays on the reality that Hamlet was originally a tragedy performed in a theatre and emphasizes the difference between pretending to be something and actually being it. This question of performance versus reality will continue throughout the play and become one of Hamlet's primary concerns.

The "dejected havior of his visage" refers to the dejected behavior or the dejected expression on Hamlet's face. In this passage, Hamlet refers to his black clothes, his heavy sighs ("windy suspiration"), and his tears, their "fruitful river" flowing in the wake of his father's death. His use of the word "fruitful" suggests that the tears are both plentiful and productive, meaning that his grief has a purpose and a meaning. Like many people, he believes that sorrow can teach him something about the world.

"Vailed lids" recalls the black veils that people sometimes wear in mourning. It suggests that, while Hamlet's eyes are open, he doesn't see the truth of what's happening. This is another pun. "Vail" is in fact a separate word, meaning profit or worth, and refers to Hamlet's value, as the Prince of Denmark. This may be an attempt on Gertrude's part to remind Hamlet of who he is and of who he could be, as the next in line for the throne.

Here Gertrude makes a pun on the word "nighted," using it to suggest that Hamlet is wearing all black while also comparing him to a knight that has declared his loyalty to the deceased King. There's some anxiety in this, because Hamlet disapproves of his mother's marriage and doesn't appear willing to accept Claudius as the new ruler of Denmark. Gertrude takes on the role of an exasperated mother as she chides her son for his stubborn refusal to move past his father's death and encourages him to adopt a more cheerful, friendly bearing.

From this line we can assume that Laertes's request to leave France wasn't originally granted and that he had to ask multiple times before his father eventually relented. It's important to note that Laertes, though a college graduate in his early twenties, would still have been considered very young at that time and wouldn't have been given free reign to travel at will. He would've relied on Polonius for money and been forced to beg to leave the castle.

Laertes here reveals his reluctance to remain in the castle after the coronation and marriage have taken place. It's clear that, while loyal to the King, he begrudges having to leave France and would prefer to return immediately. This might be a backhanded critique of the atmosphere in the castle, which seems to promise war and must have been full of gossip about the King marrying his sister-in-law Gertrude.

In this situation, "dread" means to venerate or to regard with awe rather than fear. The word "dread" derives from the Old English adrædan, a contraction of ondrædan, to "counsel or advise against," with the prefix "on-" meaning "against" and the suffix "rædan" meaning "to advise." By examining the word's etymology, we find that Laertes is expressing his respect for the King and asking his advice.

In this speech, Claudius reminds Laertes that his father is a nobleman who has the King's ear and that there is nothing he could ask for that Claudius would not grant him. Though addressed to Laertes, the message seems to be more of a glorification of his father, Polonius. Polonius is a stereotypical example of the "new man," who worked his way up in social status and is very concerned with public appearance. Claudius' praise can be read as an appeasement of this side of Polonius.

In general, "gait" refers to someone's manner or stride while walking. In this case, it refers to Fortinbras' path or his course of action with regards to war. By Claudius' use of the word "further," we can assume that Fortinbras has already taken steps to fight with the Danes, and that Claudius has some sense of his next moves. From this, we can assume that Clausius is worried about a war with Norway, otherwise he wouldn't bother to send this message.

Though the audience's first impulse is to assume that Claudius has already written to Norway, the use of the word "here" indicates that Claudius is holding the letter in his hand (or that one of his servants is). In general, it would be unnecessary for him to announce that he's sending such a letter, which should suggest to the reader that he's making a point of telling people about it, using this performance to bolster his ego and his reputation.

This line perfectly encapsulates Claudius' feelings about young Fortinbras. In four words, he manages to be arrogant, unimpressed, and altogether dismissive, making it seem as though Fortinbras isn't worth his time and won't be a threat. In the next lines, he cements this sentiment by speaking not of Fortinbras himself but of his ailing uncle. This both diminishes Fortinbras and allows Claudius to portray himself as a wise and powerful king.

Claudius states that his brother's death left Denmark disorganized and "out of frame." In medieval Europe, a power vacuum was particularly dangerous and made countries far more vulnerable to attack. Claudius knows that without leadership in place, other countries would view the Danes as weak. He plays on this fact in order to appeal to his audience's sense of self-preservation, a very persuasive tactic.

This line indicates that Claudius and Gertrude's marriage took place shortly after King Hamlet's death. Claudius adjectives are backwards, as "mirth" is typically associated with marriages and "dirges" (funeral songs) are played after a death. This diction is very telling of Claudius' true feelings and suggests that he is, in fact, happy about his brother's death. It is unclear whether or not Gertrude also feels this way, which causes tension between her and her son Hamlet.

An "imperial jointress" is a woman who holds the right of inheritance. This jointure agreement in Denmark raises very real threats to King Hamlet's heirs. It also explains why Claudius is King despite Hamlet being old enough to take over. Though the use of the word "imperial" suggests that Gertrude has all the power over the estate, the reality is that her power is quite limited. The agreement simply ensures that her husband holds the throne.

In Hamlet's day, no distinctions were made between in-laws and siblings, and as King Hamlet's wife, Gertrude wouldn't have just been Claudius' sister-in-law, but his actual sister. In this line, "sometime" means "at one time" or "in the past" and "our" means that Gertrude is both Claudius' queen and the queen of the Danish people. By using "our," Claudius invokes the royal "we" in order to position himself as the voice of his people. It's a subtle way of getting his subjects to trust him.

Shakespeare used the word "green" to mean young, as he does in Act I Scene V of Antony and Cleopatra, when Cleopatra speaks the famous line about youthful "salad days" (salad being green). This word indicates to the reader that King Hamlet's death is very recent, and that King Claudius has only just ascended to the throne to fill the vacuum of power that the previous King's death left behind.

"Dear brother" refers to the dead King Hamlet. This scene is an explanation of the relationship between Claudius, Gertrude, and Hamlet, as they navigate life without King Hamlet, Claudius' brother and Prince Hamlet's father. Claudius is Hamlet's uncle by blood and stepfather by marriage, because he's now married to Queen Gertrude, Prince Hamlet's mother and King Hamlet's widow. It is a complex series of relationships that govern the drama of the rest of the play.

Laertes is a student, like Hamlet and Horatio. His father, Polonius, is the counselor to the King, an important political role. Laertes came back to Denmark from France to honor Claudius' coronation and is now hoping to be given permission to return to his studies. Hamlet and Laertes share similar backgrounds as they both grew up around the Danish court. Their stories offer some interesting parallels later in the play.

On the surface, this is Claudius' gentle rejection of Hamlet's intention to go back to Wittenberg, a contrast to the relative ease with which he allowed Laertes to depart. On a more subtextual level, this is Claudius' polite way of saying he wants to keep an eye on Hamlet, either because he's worried about him or because he's uncomfortable with their relationship. "Cheer and comfort" here refers both to the relative comfort Hamlet will experience as Prince in the castle and to the comfort Claudius will take in knowing where Hamlet is and what he's up to.

Hamlet is famous for its use of soliloquies, a dramatic device where a character speaks their thoughts out loud. Hamlet's soliloquies (performed in private, for the most part) rely on language that is full of allusions, innuendos, and double-meanings in order to allow an audience access to his inner thoughts. Unlike novels, where the interiority of a character can be explored at length, plays must rely on the actors and dialogue to drive the story. Hamlet's soliloquies provide a break from the action and allow him to express the thoughts he has to hold in around other characters. Interiority versus exteriority is one of the central conflicts of the play, with Hamlet's internal conflict manifesting in his inability to take decisive action.

Here the audience is primed for Hamlet to see the Ghost of his father, who was introduced in Act I, Scene I. That won't happen in this scene, but Hamlet will be stricken by the grief he feels about his father and speak as though he's "seen his father," either in his dreams or in his memories of the castle. Horatio, at first, thinks Hamlet has seen the Ghost, and this provides a comic situation for the audience that Hamlet isn't aware of and Horatio resolves quickly.

Hamlet's bitterness is apparent in this exchange with Horatio. First in his comment that Horatio will learn how to "drink deep" before he is able to leave and then in his bitter acknowledgment about how close together his father's funeral and his mother's wedding were. Hamlet fully expects Horatio to understand this bitterness and Horatio seems to have genuine sympathy for Hamlet, establishing them as close friends and confidants.

That the dead king comes back clothed in full armor bodes well for the future of his soul, because popular belief held that a ghost that appears fully clothed is imbued with some angelic virtue or power. Hamlet has no real reason to fear the Ghost, but needs to take precautions in case the Ghost turns out to be an enemy of the state in disguise.

When something is "sullied," it is soiled, tarnished, or defiled. Thus, Hamlet's flesh, once pure and innocent, has become defiled and impure because his mother has married her husband's brother and made his uncle into the King. In this, we also find a question of paternity, as it's possible (though never confirmed) that Claudius and Gertrude were having an affair even before King Hamlet's death, and that Prince Hamlet may well be Claudius' son instead.

There are only three theatres in the world in still existence that were constructed in Shakespeare's era:  

1.  Noh Theatre, Japan, 1581

2. Teatro Olympico, Italy, 1585

3. Teatro all'Antica, Italy, 1590

Source: Carr, David and Ben Crystal. *The Shakespeare Miscellany. *New York: The Overlook Press, 2005. Print. 

As is often the case with Hamlet, his words contain multiple meanings. Here, the word "kin" suggests that Claudius is related to Hamlet twice over as both his uncle and his stepfather, while the line "less than kind" refers to Claudius' audacity in marrying Gertrude so soon after King Hamlet's death. Hamlet sees this as an unnatural act, unbefitting of either a king or a member of the family, and is suspicious of this "o'er hasty marriage."

It's important to note here that it isn't Hamlet's decision whether or not he goes back to Wittenberg. It's Claudius'. Hamlet merely wants to return, and, by asking, requests the King's permission to go, along with the considerable sum required for travel, accommodations, tuition, servants, and food. Without this permission, Hamlet can't leave Elsinore, making him, in effect, a prisoner of his uncle, the King.

Shakespeare introduces Hamlet in a crowd in order to emphasize his introversion. However, rather than blending in, Hamlet is dressed entirely in black mourning attire, communicating the fact that he disapproves of the festivities and is continuing to mourn his father despite the wedding celebrations. Black was customarily worn for a period after the death of a loved one, but Hamlet is the only one in the court who has continued to dress that way. When Hamlet is performed on the stage, Hamlet's black attire makes him a clear focal point in the crowded court scene.

Hamlet stops himself from wondering why his mother has had this sudden change of heart. This suggests that something is wrong, but he can't figure out what. His tragic flaw is thinking too much, being unable to control his own brooding mind long enough to make a decision and act on it quickly. Instead, Hamlet indulges in long soliloquies, allowing his mind to wander as he considers the problem before him.

With Horatio's witness, the Ghost has been seen on three separate occasions, by which time the audience should be thoroughly convinced that this character really is a ghost and is probably the ghost of Hamlet's father. Hamlet himself will not need much additional verification when he finally confronts the Ghost later in the play, though he will become suspicious of other characters, further developing the theme of deceit and suspicion.

A subtle and bitter joke, Hamlet comments that the funeral and wedding were so close together that the baked meats from the funeral were served cold at the wedding. The bitterness becomes even more apparent in that thriftiness is the last thing Claudius is concerned about. He's a conspicuously extravagant man trying to arouse good cheer in his new role as king and has just recently thrown both a lavish wedding and a gigantic funeral for the departed King Hamlet. By saying "thrift, thrift," Hamlet remarks upon his stepfather's extravagance and reminds Horatio that they're supposed to still be in mourning for the king.

Hamlet cuts right back to talking to Horatio as soon as the pleasantries are over. His repeated question might just be inquisitive, but, in the light of his long speech about Claudius and his mother, it seems like Hamlet is suspicious of Horatio, as he will be of many characters in the play. This should indicate to the reader that Hamlet's mental health has begun to deteriorate.

Though Claudius doesn't have Hamlet's education, he is a very perceptive and intelligent man. He uses this speech to manipulate Hamlet and all his listeners into thinking of him as a wise, righteous king. Here, he deliberately ends on the word "son," echoing Hamlet's earlier "sun" pun and emphasizing his position while undercutting Hamlet's intelligence, masculinity, and piety. In this way, Claudius pays Hamlet back for his earlier insult and places further strain on their relationship.

This pun on the word "sun" has multiple meanings, revealing Hamlet's penchant for wordplay while at the same time suggesting that he doesn't like being in the spotlight ("i' the sun," under scrutiny from Claudius and his spies). His words also suggests that he dislikes even being thought of as Claudius' stepson, as this places him in a subordinate role with little power and few people he can turn to that he trusts.

The firing of the "great cannon" was a real event that often ocurred at the real-life Elisinore during the reign of King Erik. During banquets, whenever a glass was raised in a toast, trumpets would sound, while on the ramparts outside artillery men responded by firing cannons. It was a noisy and boisterous time, recreated by Shakespeare for Claudius's wedding fete.

In Hamlet's time, for his paternal uncle to wed his mother would've been considered incestuous, despite the lack of blood relation. This topic was hotly debated in England in the 16th Century as Anne Boleyn, wife of King Henry VIII, was framed for "incestuous" acts with her brother, acts which later led to her beheading. In Shakespeare's time, when England was predominantly a Catholic state, the Church would've frowned upon Gertrude and Claudius' marriage, but would've frowned even more on divorce.