Initial Impressions on Hamlet

       My initial impressions on the play as a whole are that it seems very dark and deceiving. When we filled out that packet, I said I would do nothing about my suspicions of my uncle, but after reading the first 3 scenes my opinion has changed. King Claudius appears sketchy right off the bat. If Hamlet was written today, King Claudius would be the bully of the book. He is very sly in his mistreatment of Hamlet. He does not come off as an honest good person, and this is most apparent in his decision to marry Queen Gertrude. To me, it was suspicious how excited King Claudius became when Hamlet listened to his mother and decided to stay. It reminded me of a similar scenario in many movies and TV shows; when the bully gets the victim to give in, they appear to be elated. But, I think he is so happy because he may have plans to hurt Hamlet. Queen Claudia seems that she will play out to be a static character. I do not believe she will change or really have an impact because of the way she does what she is told. When Hamlet speaks of his father, it seems that he truly loved Claudia. It is strange that Claudia was able to move on so quickly and I did question whether or not she was forced into this marriage with King Claudius for there is power involved. Hamlet is clearly very depressed about his father. This is apparent when he talks to himself and wishes he could die. This also becomes apparent when he somewhat easily believes Horatio's ghost story. He still hangs on to his father and wishes he was there. Although 2 months is a very short time to move on from the loss of a loved one, it seems that this was the expectation during that time period so it is strange that Hamlet still wears grieving clothes. He is told by Claudia to stop wearing black, but unlike his orders to stay put, he does not listen to Claudia. Hamlet is already starting the book as crazy and it easy to imagine his downfalls in the play.