[Music] in act 1 scene 1 of Hamlet Sentinels Bernardo and Francisco stand the Night Watch at Denmark's Elsinore castle Francisco is about to go off duty when another Sentinel Marcellus appears with Horatio a friend of the young Prince Hamlet after Francisco leaves Marcellus and Bernardo discuss a ghost they have been seeing on watch lately the ghost they say looks a lot like the late King Hamlet Prince Hamlet's father but Horatio is skeptical as they tried to convince him what they saw was the ghost of King Hamlet the ghost suddenly appears the guards urge Horatio to
try to speak with the ghost but when he pleased with it to speak it disappears Horatio is terrified and suggests that the ghost presence might be a bad omen for Denmark noticing that the ghost was wearing the armor King Hamlet wore when he fought old Fortinbras of Norway he recounts the story in a battle over a small piece of land bold Fortinbras was killed by King Hamlet now Fortinbras his son also named Fortinbras seeks to avenge his father's death and reclaim the land as Horatio concludes his story the ghost appears again and seems as though
it were about to speak suddenly however the Sun rises and the ghost slips away Horatio suggests that they inform Hamlet of what they've seen in the first scene of Act one of Shakespeare's Hamlet he pulls the audience in with an intriguing ghost episode Horatio's account gives readers a good amount of backstory in a relatively short scene for instance readers learn of the recent death of old king hamlet they learn of the tensions between Denmark and Norway and of Denmark's current state of unrest this backstory will become the plot that unfolds over the course of Hamlet
Horatio goes from being skeptical to now fearing what the ghost foreshadows especially for his good friend Prince Hamlet in this scene Horatio also introduces the Fortinbras subplot which will gain importance as Hamlet progresses the information that Fortinbras has a desire to avenge his father's loss introduces a theme critical to understanding Hamlet's characters namely the theme of thought versus action in Hamlet Fortinbras described as a man of action will serve as a foil to young Prince Hamlet
