Hamlet’s emotional state before the appearance of the ghost.

The recent events in Denmark appear to have deeply troubled Hamlet. His first appearance in the play during scene two depicts a depressed and bitter young man. The text notes make special mention to Hamlet’s conspicuous black attire or in his words, “inky cloak” in an effort to suggest that he is still mourning the sudden death of his father. Even his uncle, the king recognises Hamlet’s despondent state and asks, “How is it the clouds still hang on you?” Both Claudius and Gertrude appear to have finished mourning their brother and husband respectively. This fact angers Hamlet as he held his father in such high esteem. Later he states, “’A was a man, take him for all in all” and further describes his father as “Hyperion”, elevating the old king to an almost mythical status.

Hamlet is also furious and disappointed with his mother’s hasty and incestuous remarriage. Compounding this fact is her apparent and easily transferable lust that Hamlet suspects was present instead of love during her first marriage. His first soliloquy describes his mother as sexually predatorial, “…as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on”. Such an absolute difference between the nasty image of his mother’s desire and the earlier exaggerated purity of his father’s gentleness suggests that Hamlet’s perception of his mother’s sexuality is perverse and hysterical. His disgust of his mother’s sexual indulgence is reinforced with her haste in forgetting her husband. The idealist Hamlet appears to be governed by a strong set of morals and ethics. Gertrude’s actions undermine the very foundations of his ethical framework on how society functions.

Hamlet thoroughly despises his uncle, not only because of his attempt to substitute old Hamlet but because of his betrayal of his brother. Claudius’ attempt to placate and ingratiate himself with his stepson is spurned by Hamlet who responds, “a little more than kin, and less than kind” too his referral as “son” by his uncle. Hamlet also resents Claudius’ hedonistic desires, of which he considers embodies the attitudes of the Danes and man alike. Of course, what is deeply wrong with the world, as Hamlet sees it, is the repugnant dominance of the flesh, the gross sexual appetite of his mother and uncle, and man’s weakness to the powers of corruption. He refers to Denmark as an “unweeded garden” and to the Danish drinking habits exclaiming to Horatio, “We’ll teach you to drink deep ere you depart.”

As the heir to the throne Hamlet realises that all his actions will be scrutinised by the king for possible sedition, thus he hides his anger, grief and bitterness behind a fast-retort sardonic wit and a generally morose appearance. Until the appearance of Horatio, Hamlet also seems to be very lonely. Barred from returning to his friends in Wittenburg and emotionally severed from his mother, Hamlet is left to ponder his sorrows in self-pity.