Act 1

Scene 1

Location: Elsinore in Denmark, a terrace in front of the royal castle

Time: Just after midnight

Characters: Bernardo and Marcellus (two officers), Francisco (a soldier), Horatio (a friend of Hamlet’s), ghost of the deceased king of Denmark (Hamlet’s father)
 

In the Danish castle Elsinore there is fear of the upcoming war against Norway. Before his death, the recently deceased King Hamlet of Denmark won a battle against the Norwegian king Fortinbras and thereby received all his lands. Now the young Fortinbras, the son of the Norwegian king, wants to reclaim these lands and is gathering an army. Denmark is now busy preparing for war, and the royal castle is guarded.

During two of these nightly guard shifts, the ghost of the deceased King Hamlet has appeared to the two officers Bernardo and Marcellus. Horatio, a friend and fellow student of the king’s son, who is also called Hamlet, initially believes the ghost to be pure imagination. However, he agrees to stand guard with the men on the third night to see the ghost with his own eyes.

Indeed, the ghost appears again that ni...