Questions+Ham

IlminHamlet is the prince of a nation and Horatio is just a guard, but how are they so close, referring to each other as friends? Its true that Horatio is a ‘higher’ guard, but it feels as though there should be some definite barriers. Is Gertrude marrying Claudius okay? They are brothers and sisters; even though it was long ago, even Hamlet says it is incest... I wonder if such action was scorned by the citizens.

Jung-Ah Hamlet has no love or affection for his uncle Claudius. I question the real reason behind his suicidal intentions. Is it the Oedipus complex..? Does he want to marry his widowed mother? Is he simply jealous of his uncle's reign? or is it really because of his father's death?

Ms. Porter: Why is Laertes's scene important?

Lauren -- example entry -- I wonder why the guards thought the ghost resembling King Hamlet meant bad omen. Horatio says, " In what particular thought to work I know not, But in the gross and scope of mine opinion This bodes some strange eruption to our state." (Hamlet 1.1.66-68) I just don't get why the ghost of a previous brave king would be a bad sign of danger to the country. Did they believe in the past that ghosts were evil? If I were the guards, I would be happy to see the great king at least once,even it may be a ghost. Maybe the ghost wearing the armor that the king wore while fighting Norway foreshadows another war with Norway?

Jessica The details are still fuzzy to me: how/where/when did King Hamlet die? If Claudius is King Hamlet's brother, then isn't Prince Hamlet his nephew, not "cousin" (Shakespeare 1.2.64)?