Having created a supernatural tone in the first scene, the second scene is a contrast, conveying the apparently exultant court of King Claudius who, along with the queen, frantically acts as if nothing is wrong. Claudius suggests that they should combine the sorrow he feels for his brother’s death with the happiness he feels for his wedding. Despite his efforts, the joy of those assembled seems shallow. Importantly, this is due to the fact that the equilibrium that Claudius suggests is unnatural, as it is impossible to balance the death of a brother, husband or father with the happiness of a wedding. This sits easily with an Elizabethann audience who would consider the act of Regicide, the murder of a monarch, to be equally unatural. Resultantly, Claudius’ speech is full of conflicting ideas such as:
“Though yet of Hamlet our late brother’s death / The memory be green,” (I.ii.1–2).
This combines the idea of death and decay with the idea of greenery, growth, and renewal. In doing this, Shakespeare gives the audience a poor impression of Claudius, augmented by his clumsy attempt to undertake a paternal role toward the obviously grieving Hamlet. Whilst Scene One demonstrated a supernatural menace in Denmark, Scene Two suggests the living King is dishonest and weak. This weakness is exemplified by the description of Fortinbras:
“holding a weak supposal of our worth, / Or thinking by our late dear brother’s death / Our state to be disjoint and out of frame” (I.ii.18–20).
Prince Hamlet appears to be the sole character who is reluctant to adhere to Claudius’s attempt to impersonate the royal court and the only person whose emotions are offended by what has happened in the aftermath of his father’s death. This may suggest that he is also the only truthful character in the scene, but alternatively, it may suggest that he is moody and difficult. The queen’s quick remarriage has also shattered Hamlet’s opinion of women, a motif that will develop throughout the relationships he has with other women in the play:
(“Frailty, thy name is woman,” [I.ii.146])
For Hamlet, the world is too painful to live in, but, for a post-Tudor English audience, the act of suicide would be inconceivable. Nevertheless, the idea of escape and suicide is introduced as Hamlet suggests:
(“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, / Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!” [I.ii.129–130])
Beginning in Act One, Scene Two, but continuing throughout the play, we see a gradual erosion of the beliefs on which Hamlet’s world is built. In his first soliloquy, it is clear that religion and family have already failed him.
Higher English Online 