NATURAL+ACT+I

Kristy Nigbur Hour 3

1.) Act one. Scene two. Line 65. Hamlet says, "A little more than kin and less than kind."

2.) Act one. Scene two. Lines 150-152. Hamlet says, "( O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer!), married with my uncle, my father's brother"

3.) Act one, Scene five, Lines 26 and 29. The ghost says, "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder." and "...but this most foul, strange, and unatural.

The unifying element of natural vs. unnatural is greatly developed and demonstrated in these lines throughout act one. Act one, scene two, line 65 where Hamlet says, “A little more than kin and less than kind” is an example of this motif. Hamlet uses the two meanings of kind, which are loving and natural, to describe how he feels about the recent death of his father and the marriage of his mother and uncle. Shakespeare develops what is natural vs. unnatural when Hamlet says this because Hamlet is showing that even though he is “more than kin” to Claudius because he is his nephew and now also his stepson, it is unnatural because he is “less than kind” and does not have the natural affection a son normally has for a father figure. Next, act one, scene two, lines 150 through 152 help to demonstrate this reoccurring element because Hamlet goes over how unnatural it is for his mother to get over his father’s death so quickly and to be able to remarry so soon. It is obvious that Hamlet thinks this is unnatural by when he compares it to the likeliness of a “beast” that “would have mourned longer.” Lastly in act one, scene five, lines 26 and 29 help to express and expand this motif because the ghost stresses and repeats the fact that a man killing his own brother is an “unnatural” murder. This continues to develop the idea of what is considered natural and what is not. This theme of natural vs. unnatural is a common and reoccurring element throughout the play and leads to the constant questioning of what reality is and what it is not? And also what is considered right and what is considered wrong?