Hamlet #1

As introductions are made in the first act, the interesting circumstances of Hamlet's family are revealed. Although Hamlet's father died just recently, his mother has already moved on and married Claudius, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet does not support his mother's marriage, especially because Claudius is his father's brother. In response to Claudius calling Hamlet his cousin and son, Hamlet says, "A little more kin and less than kind" (I.ii.65). Hamlet does not want Claudius as his father. Hamlet's real father has just recently died and he views his new family as a betrayal. Hamlet is loyal to his father after his death and still mourns his loss. Gertrude and Claudius do not understand why Hamlet is still upset about the king's death and urge him to move on. Gertrude says, "Do not forever with thy vailed lids/Seek thy noble father in the dust./Thou know'st 'tis common. All that lives must die" (I.ii.70-72). She does not believe that Hamlet should still be upset because all men are eventually going to die, and Hamlet needs to accept the tradition of death. She uses the circle of life as justification for why she moved on so quickly from her husband's death. Hamlet later reveals that his mother was infatuated with the dead king when he was alive: "Why, she would hang on him/As if increase of appetite had grown" (143-144). If Gertrude appeared to have loved the late king so dearly, Hamlet does not understand why she would marry so soon after his father's death. Hamlet views his mother as weak-willed for her inability to mourn appropriately, and resents her for her decision to marry Claudius.