10/14 blog post:

Hamlet is living in a world that is moving much too fast for his tastes.  His beloved father just passed away (of what will be revealed as murder), but even worse, his mother without wasting a month, marries a new man.  Hamlet feels as if his mother just discarded her old husband for a new one.  Because Hamlet feels like he is one of the few people who are actually grieving for his father, when he hears of news from Horatio that his father's ghost is lurking around the castle at midnight, he becomes so obsessed with the possibility that he could have an opportunity to communicate with his father.  He even threatens to kill anyone who acts as an impediment toward him following the ghost into the forest.  Hamlet is certainly determined to honor the legacy of his father, instead of not even recognizing his former presence as his mother and father-in-law/uncle are.