British actor Derek Jacoby as Hamlet
We are first introduced to the goings-on at Elsinore Castle from the encounter that guardsmen Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo and Francisco have with the ghost of the former King Hamlet. The others dare Horatio to speak to the phantom, and he does, and he scares it away. Or so they think.
Scene II
We meet Prince Hamlet at the wedding of his Uncle Claudius, and his mother, Queen Gertrude of Elsinore. Hamlet is dressed in mourning clothes and he's surly. Once all have cleared the state room, he embarks on a soliloquy in which he denounces the hasty marriage. Then the guards show up to tell him all about the specter they've just seen. Marcellus and Horatio are old friends of Hamlet's from Wittenberg, who've left school to attend the wedding. Then they tell Hamlet about the ghost who's hanging around the battlements outside.
We also learn of a war raging in the distance beyond the castle: Prince Fortinbras has vowed to avenge the death of his father--an event occasioned by the guy who is now a ghost. Fortinbras aims to collect on the land that Hamlet took from his father.
Hamlet decides to confront the ghost. He and his chums Horatio and Marcellus agree to help him wait for it "twixt eleven and twelve" (line 251).
Scene III
Meanwhile, Polonius, the castle's Lord Chamberlain, is chatting with his kids, Laertes, who is about to take off to college in France, and Ophelia, who has it bad for Hamlet. Polonius dispenses some critical, paternal advice to his son, in which he tells him "Neither a borrower or lender be: For loan oft loses both itself and friend" and "This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow as the night the day, Then canst not then be false to any man" (lines 77-83). Then he tenders advice to his young daughter Ophelia, warning her not to expect much out of this 'romance' with Hamlet: he is royalty and will choose a royal wife. And, she must retain her virtue: if she sleeps with him she has hence lost her chastity and her honor. Ah well, too late.
Scene IV
We're taken back to the battlements, where Hamlet, Marcellus, and Horatio all sit sentry, waiting for a ghost to show up. It shows up, alright. It appears before them, beckoning at them, while the Hamlet's friends urge him not to follow the thing: it could drag him off to hell or drive him mad. Hamlet listens not.
Scene V
The ghost and Hamlet have a chat. Effectively, Claudius is to blame for King Hamlet's death: "The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown" and all that. While the king was sleeping in the garden (as was his custom), his brother sneaks upon him and pours poison into his ear. The upshot of all this is that the ghost wants Hamlet to avenge his murder, BUT
"...howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven,
and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and and sting her. Fare thee well at once!"
Horatio and Marcellus return and want to know the news. Hamlet tells all and swears them to secrecy upon his sword. Hamlet then plans to "put an antic disposition on" which could refer to a. a pantomime that he knows nothing; or b. a pantomime of madness.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy"
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