Question

Explain two major conflicts experienced by Hamlet in Act 1

Answer 1

Conflicts within a narrative are usually classified in external and internal conflicts. Both of these types are present in Act I of Hamlet.

In the case of the external conflict, Hamlet is mainly opposed to his mother, and more specifically, to her marriage with King Claudius. After King Hamlet passed away, Hamlet's mother remarried his brother extremely quickly. Hamlet is angry at this union, which he finds immoral and insensitive. The conflict of Hamlet with his mother is an important theme throughout the play.

The second conflict is internal in nature. Hamlet is confused about his role in the new arrangement. On the one hand, he has not inherited the throne, as would be expected. Instead, he feels power has been stolen from him by his uncle. Secondly, as he believed the marriage to be immoral, he feels the need to do something about it. Finally, he also believes his father died in a suspicious way (killed by Claudius) and feels that he has to avenge him. However, Hamlet is indecisive, and full of guilt. He seems incapable of taking any action in any direction, and is overwhelmed by his powerlessness.

Answer 2

There are two main conflicts experienced by Hamlet in Act 1.
One is with his mother and his new stepfather Claudius (external conflict) and one with the ghost (internal conflict). 

External conflict:
The conflict with his mother begins with her will for him to get over his father’s death. Hamlet claims that his feelings are deep and his mourning is real. He doesn’t specifically say it out loud, but lets the reader understand that his mother dressed in mourning clothes just because it was conventional, but her feelings weren’t truthful, in contrary with Hamlet’s feelings. What troubled him was the fact that his mother was marrying Claudius, her husband’s murderer. Claudius, on his behalf wouldn’t  grant Hamlet permission to return to his studies in Wittenberg, he had to remain in Denmark, under his supervision. Claudius, now the new king, wanted to keep an eye on Hamlet, as he saw that his behavior was unusual.  

Internal conflict:
The second conflict was the one regarding the ghost. Although it could be said that it is more a one-sided conflict because Hamlet was stressing about the fact that he struggled communicating with the ghost. He wanted to obtain the information the ghost had and did not worry about his eternal soul.