Why Does Hamlet Act ? In the first act of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the young prince learns that his father, King Hamlet (who has been dead for two months), was murdered by Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, who is now the new king. Near the end of Act I, the ghost of king Hamlet appears before his son to inform him of this “foul, strange, and unnatural” treachery. The ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius poured poison in …showed first 75 words of 1555 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1555 total…why he does act. It is a fact that Gertrude is present in both instances when hamlet acts swiftly to mortally strike Claudius. In each of these instances when Hamlet’s own interpretation works at least as well as any other. In Hamlet’s mind, in each case, Claudius is in a state of unrepented sin. It is time to send him to hell. It is also, of course, the end of the last act.