Act 1- Symbols and Allusions- Erika Kehrt

Symbols and allusions:

 

1. In Hamlet both the Garden of Eve and the snake were mentioned.
 

Act 1 scene 5: "Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,

A serpent stung me-so the whole ear of Denmark

Is by forged process of my death

Rankly abus'd-but know, thou

noble youth,

The serpent that did sting thy father's

life

Now wears his crown.'

By using the reference to the Garden of Eden, Old Hamlet is viewed as a good man, who is a victim of a horrible murder, committed by the act of his brother. When the ghost first tells Hamlet about his murder he uses images of the Garden of Eden. Old Hamlets kingdom is like unto the Garden of Eden because it was his paradise. Claudius was portrayed as the evil one for killing his brother; therefore, he was the equivalence to the devil because he stripped the paradise of the garden from old Hamlet and exposes the kingdom’s weaknesses.

 

2. Act 1 Scene 2 (139-140): "So excellent a king, that was to this

Hyperion to a satyr. So loving to my mother"

After Queen Gertrude remarries, Prince Hamlet makes his feelings for his mother very clear when he compares the late King Hamlet to Claudius. This simile shows Hamlet's high regard for his father as well as his extreme hatred for Claudius, his father's brother and murderer. Shakespeare compares his deceased father to Hyperion, the Greek sun god, and Claudius to a satyr, a Greek mythic combination of man and goat. This comparison shows Hamlet's true feelings for Claudius since satyrs are often associated with lust and promiscuity. Also comparing his father to Hyperion shows, Hamlet does not just relate his father to a titan, but also the source of light and with that brings hope and happiness.

 

3. Act 1 Scene 2 (105): "from the first course"

            Hamlet refers to the story of Cain and Able. This famous bible story of Cain and Able consists of a noble man turning on his brother and murdering him out of jealously. The relationship between Claudius and King Hamlet is an embodiment of the Old Testament's story of Cain and Able. Shakespeare uses the story of Cain and Able to portray similarities between the relationship of Hamlet’s uncle and blood father. The word "course" serves as a pun which is related to the word "corse", an outdated spelling representing the word "corpse" throughout the Old Testament.