How does Shakespeare use setting in the play Hamlet?

To answer an essay question such as this you would need to come up with around 3 or 4 separate examples. You may want to start with the opening scene - the castle cloaked in the darkness of midnight which could be said to evoke a sense of foreboding from the play's outset. Shakespeare in general avoided using overly descriptive presentations of settings and instead much of what we know about where each play and scene is set is inferred from the dialogue. Therefore when choosing quotes as evidence for this point you'll look to the play's first lines; The play opens on the question 'Who's there?' asked of Francisco by Bernardo. The characters seem wary and on edge which creates a sense of uneasiness. This is emphasised by the fact 'tis now struck twelve' and 'tis bitter cold', meaning the play opens on a cold winter night, a sombre and harsh setting which helps to develop a sense of foreboding, foreshadowing the dark themes explored throughout the rest of the play.To achieve higher marks it's important you can convince the reader that you understand the text as a whole, the fact it's a play and was written within a completely different context to that in which it is being read today. Therefore, along with carefully chosen and embedded quotes it's good to include a few contextual factors to draw your answers together as well as make reference to different adaptations and critical perspectives. For this example it might be interesting to reference Branagh's 1997 film version in which the eeriness of the opening scene is played to an almost horror-movie like degree with the use of sound effects and camera angles.