Read the excerpt from Hamlet, Act I, Scene i.Horatio: That can I; At least, the whisper goes so. Our last king, Whose image even but now appear’d to us, Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, Thereto prick’d on by a most emulate pride,Dar’d to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet— For so this side of our known world esteem’d him— Did slay this Fortinbras; who, by a seal’d compact, Well ratified by law and heraldry, Did forfeit with his life all those his landsWhich he stood seiz’d of, to
Answer
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to describe to the audience the location of the castle and kingdom
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to help the audience better understand Horatio’s character
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to inform the audience of the events leading up to this point
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to explain to the audience how the former king died and became a ghost