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HAMLET NOTES ACT I SCENE I: -Guardsmen open up the first scene (Barnardo and Francisco), protecting the castle (time period). -King is highly respected (time period). “Long live the king” (I, I) -Barnardo relates that the dead king, King Hamlet, is in heaven (Shakespeare believed in heaven). -Horatio (the scholar) comes in and tries to approach the ghost (that looks like King Hamlet who has died) and he says “Before my Gd” (I, I). (This shows Shakespeare’s belief in Gd and his religious influences) -King Hamlet is dressed in armor/war combat apparel and killed Norway’s King Fortinbras (Shakespeare’s time period influences). -“This bodes some strange eruption to our state” (I, I). (Foreshadowing) -“A little ere the mightiest Julius fell…did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets…” (I, I) (Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar— advertising). -“god of day…no fairy takes…” (I, I) (Shakespeare’s audiences’ knowledge of Greek mythology and folklore on fairies). SCENE II: -Opening of scene is Claudius revealing his new king status and the fact that his wedding to Gertrude quickly followed the funeral of his brother (Shakespeare’s structure: revealing background, including the Denmark vs. Norway conflict—events that preceded the play--in a soliloquy). -“I am too much in the sun” (I, II). (Pun/double entendre=Hamlet does this to show that he’s now the son of Claudius and in his royal favor, sarcastically). -“Tis unmanly grief. It shows a will most incorrect to Heaven…” (I, II). (Shakespeare’s misogynistic reference of “unmanly” and reference to Hamlet not acting toward G-d’s will). -“Frailty, thy name is woman” (I, II) (Shakespeare’s misogyny) -“O most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheet!” (I, II) (Hamlet’s obsession with his mother’s sexual activities=Oedipal Complex) -“The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” (I, II) (Hamlet’s obsession with the fact that his mother’s marriage quickly followed his father’s funeral=imagery) -“If it assume my noble father’s person, I’ll speak to it, though Hell itself should gape and bid me hold my peace” (I, II). (Hamlet will speak to his father’s ghost, unless Hell prevents him; Shakespeare’s time period/religious influences). -“My father’s spirit in arms. All is not well. I doubt some foul play” (I, II). (Hamlet believes his father’s ghost has something important to share and he believes that there’s been something fishy; figurative language=foreshadowing). SCENE III: -“Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, show me the steep and thorny way to Heaven…” (I, III). (Ophelia tells her brother Laertes to not be a hypocrite in his advice giving to her regarding being pure/chaste in her dealings with Hamlet. Meanwhile, Laertes is not pure/chaste. This is also revealing Shakespeare’s interest in chastity vs. promiscuity and religious influences, as well as the identity theme). -“Give every man thy ear and few thy voice…neither a borrower nor a lender be…to thine own self be true” (I, III). (Identity theme=Polonius tells Laertes some important advice in developing his character). SCENE IV: -King Claudius is described as a drunk (It’s believed that Shakespeare’s father, John, was also a drunk and involved in illegal financial dealings) -Hamlet’s trying to understand if the ghost (appearing as his dead father) is “from Heaven or blasts from Hell” (I, IV). Hamlet will talk to this ghost because he’s feeling very low about himself and doesn’t care if he risks his own life. “I do not set my life at a pin’s fee” (I, IV). (Shakespeare’s religious invocations and melancholic spirits are revealed here). -“Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark” (I, IV). (Foreboding/Foreshadowing) SCENE V: -“I am thy father’s spirit, doomed for a certain term to walk the night…” (I, V). (King Hamlet’s ghost is in purgatory; religious influences). -“A serpent stung me…the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (I, V). (King Hamlet’s ghost reveals that Claudius—metaphorically the serpent—murdered him). -“Ay that incestuous that adulterate beast…” (I, V, 40). (King Hamlet’s ghost is remarking on the so-called ‘incestuous’ relationship between his wife and his brother=Oedipal Complex). -“Let not the royal bed of Denmark be a couch for luxury and damned incest” (I, V, 83). (King Hamlet’s ghost again remarks on the ‘incest’ of his wife’s relationship). -Hamlet recognizes that his dead father’s ghost is a “host from Heaven” (I, V, 90). -“In this distracted Globe” (I, V, 97). Hamlet says that he’s in a disordered world and also connecting to the Globe Theater where the play is being performed (metatheatricality—theater talking about theater!). -Hamlet asks Horatio and the guards to swear (on their swords because they make a cross) that they never will talk about what they’ve seen or else Hamlet will appear insane (I, V, 150). (Religious influences) -“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right” (I, V, 188-189). (Hamlet feels he has a clear purpose in life now, a mission to complete his identity). ACT II SCENE I: -“Lord Hamlet…as if he had been loosed out of Hell…” (II, I, 7480). Ophelia describes Hamlet’s wild and disheveled appearance. (Shakespeare’s religious influences) -“By Heaven, it is as proper to our age to cast beyond ourselves in our opinions as it is common for the younger sort to lack discretion” (II, I, 111-113). Polonius comments on the stereotypes about age (old vs. youth). (Identities of old=misinterpreting things and young=lack discretion/distinguishing right from wrong) ACT II SCENE II: -Claudius and Gertrude ask Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, childhood friends of Hamlet, if they’ll spy on Hamlet and see what’s wrong with him. “To lay our service freely at your feet to be commanded” (II, II, 31-32). (A sign of the times=do anything for the king!) -“Lord Hamlet is a prince out of thy star” (II, II, 138). (Polonius says that Hamlet is in a higher social ranking than Ophelia. A sign of the times=social rank/status/hierarchy). -Hamlet belittles Polonius and using puns. When Polonius asks Hamlet what he’s reading, Hamlet says “Words, words, words” (II, II, 188). This shows that Hamlet has no interest in revealing anything of his personal pursuits. (Shakespeare’s use of repetition is emphasizing Hamlet’s disinterest in conversation/truth-telling). -“Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t” (II, II, 201202). Polonius tells the audience in an aside that he believes Hamlet’s deceiving in his fake madness. (Aside=revealing to the audience his innermost thoughts, like a mini-soliloquy). -Prophetic words of Hamlet’s: “Into my grave” (II, II, 203) and “except my life, except my life, except my life” (II, II, 210-211). -Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern talking suggestively/sexual talk (II, II, 220-230). (PUNS!) -“What a piece of work is a man” (II, II, 267). Hamlet is cynical about all human beings because of the treatment he has received. His identity has changed to be a misanthropist. -“For my uncle is King of Denmark, and those that would make mouths at him while my father lived give twenty, forty, fifty, a hundred ducats apiece for his picture in little” (II, II, 297-300). Hamlet’s misanthropy revealed again as he mocks how people used to ridicule Claudius and now they pay big money for his picture. -Hamlet’s soliloquy to end Act II reveals his evil plotting against Claudius to orchestrate a play that will reveal Claudius’ guilt. The play will mimic the murder of his father, the dead King Hamlet. Hamlet will then observe Claudius’ reaction. Hamlet is still unsure of his father’s ghost is from Heaven or Hell. “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King” (II, II, 530-531) ACT III SCENE I: -“The harlot’s cheek, beautied with plast’ring art, is not more ugly to the thing that helps it than is my deed to my most painted word. O heavy burden!” (III, I, 50-53). Claudius reveals in an aside that he is burdened by guilt and deception, like makeup covers up a prostitute’s face. -Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy reveals his internal struggle, as he is burdened with so much weight of carrying out a mission for his dead father’s ghost. He decides not to commit suicide because he doesn’t know what afterlife is like. -“Get thee to a nunnery” (III, I, 120). “Go thy ways to a nunnery” (III, I, 128-129). “Get thee to a nunnery” (III, I, 136). “To a nunnery go, and quickly too” (III, I, 139). “To a nunnery, go” (III, I, 148). Hamlet does not want Ophelia to be with any other man. Shakespeare repeats “nunnery” 5x to emphasize Hamlet’s misogyny and overall cynicism about women, and all human beings, being trustworthy. -“Oh, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!” (III, I, 148). Ophelia states that Hamlet has lost his mind and his nobility has lost its status. -“It shall be so. Madness in great ones must not unwatched go” (III, I, 187-188). Claudius believes that there’s method to his madness. He doesn’t trust Hamlet, and that’s why he’s sending him to England, away from Denmark. Claudius’ identity is weak and distrusting of himself and others. SCENE II: “I did enact Julius Caesar. I was killed i’ th’ Capitol. Brutus killed me” (III, II, 97-98). The actor who is playing Polonius reveals that he played Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s other play. Shakespeare is advertising his other plays (metatheatricality). -“Come hither, my dear Hamlet; sit by me” (III, II, 102). Gertrude is showing she has a close relationship, perhaps too close, with her son, Hamlet (Oedipal). This is right before the performance which Hamlet wants to observe his uncle’s reaction. -“Give me some light, away” (III, II, 253). Claudius reveals his discomfort during the reenactment of the murder of his brother, King Hamlet. Shakespeare’s religious influences— Claudius desires to enter heaven where there’s light, but he can’t since he belongs in hell. -“You would play upon me…call me what instrument you will, though you fret me, you cannot play upon me” (III, II, 345-352). Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he doesn’t trust them (Shakespeare uses the instrument as a metaphor for Hamlet’s distrust of them) when they tell him to go see his mother, Queen Gertrude, since she requests him in her chamber. -“I will speak daggers to her but use none” (III, II, 374). Hamlet’s metaphor of daggers (harsh words) to his mother, but he won’t harm her, as his dead father’s ghost said not to. SCENE III: -“Oh my offence is rank…a brother’s murder…my stronger guilt…what if this cursed hand were thicker than itself with brother’s blood…O wretched state! O bosom black as death…” (III, III, 36-72). Claudius’ soliloquy reveals his guilt to the audience (empowering the audience with knowledge). Repetition of “O” as moaning from the grave. -“Now might I do it, but now ‘a is a-praying. And now I’ll do ‘t, and so ‘a goes to Heaven, and so am I revenged…” (III, III, 7396). Hamlet shares his soliloquy, as he overhears Claudius’ repentant soliloquy and decides not to kill him, but it would be a perfect time to do so. This is the religious connection that Shakespeare reveals. Hamlet repeats Heaven 4x during this soliloquy, as he does not want to allow Claudius to go to Heaven since he’s repentant. SCENE IV: -“Oh, I am slain…A bloody deed? Almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother” (III, IV, 24-28). Polonius is killed by Hamlet, though Hamlet thinks he killed Claudius who was spying on him and his mother. Hamlet feels no remorse since he has become a misanthropist (identity development). -“An eye like Mars to threaten and command, a station like the herald Mercury…” (III, IV, 57-58). Hamlet glorifies his dead father (simile/like Mars and like Mercury). Often, in death, we elevate a person’s ranking. -“Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty—“ (III, IV, 92-95). Hamlet’s Oedipal/ imagery-rich references to his mother in bed with his uncle. -“My pulse as yours doth temperately keep time and makes as healthful music. It is not madness that I have uttered…madness…madness…(III, IV, 140-146). Hamlet explains to his mother that he is sane (though she has just seen him talk to a ghost, though she can’t see the ghost). He repeats “madness” which makes the audience question his sanity and even believe he’s sane. -“Good night—but go not to my uncle’s bed, assume a virtue if you have it not…refrain tonight, and that shall lend a kind of easiness to the next abstinence, the next more easy” (III, IV, 159-167). Hamlet’s Oedipal obsession with his mother’s sexual activities. -“Be thou assured, if words be made of breath and breath of life, I have no life to breathe what thou hast said to me” (III, IV, 197-199). Gertrude’s portentous words. ACT IV SCENE I: -“Mad as the sea and wind when both contend which is the mightier” (IV, I, 7-8). Gertrude describes her son Hamlet’s mad identity in a simile/imagery-rich language. Claudius and Gertrude decide to send him away to England because of his so-called madness. SCENE II: -Hamlet calls Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sponges and repeats “sponge” and “soak” multiple times, as they will absorb anything that Claudius tells them. -“The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body. The King is a thing” (IV, II, 23-24). Hamlet uses puns here as he declares that the body of the government is with King Claudius, but King Hamlet is not with his body. The rightful king is dead and just a thing, not living. Or he could be referring to Polonius’ body not being with King Hamlet, because Polonius is in hell, not heaven with King Hamlet. Hamlet is not being straightforward to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, when asked about Polonius’ body, because he doesn’t trust them. SCENE III: -“Not where he eats, but where ‘a is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet” (IV, III, 19-22). Hamlet tells Claudius where Polonius’ body is located, but he uses the repetition and metaphor of the ‘worm’ to represent Polonius as a worm and Claudius as a worm. Hamlet has method to his madness. SCENE IV: -