He also says that Fortinbras has had the gall to 'pester us' with demands for the return of those lands that King Fortinbras lost to King Hamlet. The King, showing how capable he is, says that Fortinbras is fooling himself if he thinks that Denmark will be weaker now that King Hamlet is dead. One of the reasons they shouldn't rock the boat is that the country is facing a danger: young Fortinbras. In other words, no one has offered any objections to the marriage, and now is not the time to rock the boat. They have all, he reminds them, 'freely gone / With this affair along' (1.2.15-16). Therefore, the King has married Gertrude 'With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage' (1.2.12).This is one of the many paradoxes in this paradoxical play, but the King doesn't mean it as a paradox. The King tells the court he is sad, and everyone should be sad, at his brother's death, but it's best to think of the dead king with 'wisest sorrow.' That is, life goes on, and doesn't stop for a single person's death. The marriage needs some justification because it has taken place less than two months after the death of old Hamlet, and also because it might be incestuous. Perhaps everyone else is dressed as for a wedding, because the first thing that the new King does is justify his marriage to Gertrude, his brother's widow and Hamlet's mother. There are a lot of people dressed in finery and one person dressed in black. Enter Horatio, Marcellus, and Barnardo.Д®nter Claudius, King of Denmark Gertrude the Queen and others:ДЄs the scene opens, we see a party and a party-pooper.Enter Claudius, King of Denmark Gertrude the Queen and others, including Polonius, Laertes, Hamlet, Voltemand, and Cornelius.

Detailed Summary of Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2 Page Index:

King hamlet