Download What does Hamlet plan to do?

ACT ONE
Scene One
SETTING
Shakespeare had to use language to establish
setting in his plays, as all plays were performed
during the day in open air theatres. Directors
did not have the luxury of elaborate set
changes, lighting, or special effects to establish
time of day, season, location, etc., so the words
were essential in conveying the setting for the
audience.
TASK: Carefully read the opening lines of the play
(1 – 13). Discuss: what words does Shakespeare use in
this opening section to reveal the setting of this scene?
SETTING
BERNARDO: ’Tis now struck twelve. Get thee to
bed, Francisco.
FRANCISCO: For this relief much thanks. ’Tis bitter
cold, / And I am sick at heart.
Based on these details, what time of day is it?
Midnight
Based on these details, what time of year is it?
Winter
SETTING
TASK:
Continue Reading: Stop at line 20.
DISCUSS: What is happening in the play?
PROBLEM
In the opening scene, Shakespeare reveals
that the guards are concerned about
something.
TASK: Look carefully at lines 21 - 39.
Discuss: what words does Shakespeare
use in this opening section to reveal the
problem facing the guards?
PROBLEM
Marcellus: What, has this thing appear’d again to-night?
DISCUSS: Note the use of the word “thing.”
If Shakespeare is considered a “master of language”
why would he use such a vague, non-descript word here?
DISCUSS: Why is the word “appear’d” important in
explaining the problem? What does it suggest is
happening?
PROBLEM
Marcellus: Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy, / And will not let belief take
hold of him / Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us. / Therefore
I have entreated him along . . . to watch the minutes of this night, / That if
again this apparition come / He may approve our eyes and speak to it.
fantasy: imagination
dreaded: regarded with great fear or apprehension
apparition: a ghostly figure; unusual or unexpected sight
approve: prove; attest
What is the problem?
The guards have seen a ghost the past two nights.
HORATIO
MARCELLUS: Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy, /
And will not let belief take hold of him
HORATIO: Tush, tush, ’twill not appear.
BERNARDO: . . . let us once again assail your ears, /
That are so fortified against our story
What is Horatio’s reaction to the guards’
story about seeing a ghost?
He believes they are imagining it, and he does not
believe any ghost will appear.
THE GHOST
TASK: Look carefully at lines 40 – 51. Discuss: what
words reveal who the ghost appears to be?
THE GHOST
• “In the same figure, like the King that’s dead.”
• “Looks it not like the King?”
• “Together with that fair and warlike form / In which the
majesty of buried Denmark / Did sometimes march?”
Who does the ghost appear to be?
The King of Denmark, who is dead.
What does he appear to be wearing?
Armor or Uniform: Ready for Battle.
HORATIO
What does Horatio ask the ghost?
TASK: Continue Reading. Stop at line 69.
HORATIO
What does the ghost do?
Find the lines that indicate Horatio now believes
the guards’ stories about seeing a ghost.
Before my God, I might not this believe
Without the sensible and true avouch
Of mine own eyes.
“This bodes some strange eruption to our state.”
How does Horatio describe the ghost’s appearance?
What is the ghost wearing?
TASK: Continue Reading. Stop at line 111
What question has Marcellus asked?
What is Horatio’s response?
Marcellus asks why the kingdom seems to be preparing for war.
Horatio responds that the kingdom believes young Fortinbras may
attack their kingdom to reclaim lands lost in a battle between his
father Fortinbras and their deceased king, Hamlet.
“This bodes some strange eruption to our state.”
Horatio recounts events that preceded the death of Julius Caesar.
TASK: Look carefully at Horatio’s lines 112 – 125. Summarize the
events that took place in Rome before Julius Caesar was killed.
• ghosts roamed the streets
• shooting stars and eclipse of the moon
• blood mixed with the morning dew
Why does Horatio recount this story?
Horatio believes that the appearance of the ghost and the strange events at
Elsinore are prophetic. He sees the appearance of the ghost as a warning that the
Kingdom is in danger. Just as these were warnings of the tragedy that befell Julius
Caesar, these too are warnings for Denmark; they should pay attention to them.
THE GHOST
TASK:
Continue Reading: Stop at end of Scene 1.
DISCUSS:
What happens with the ghost?
What happens when the rooster crows?
What does Horatio and Marcellus say about spirits,
night, and daytime?
HORATIO
What does Horatio suggest he and the guards
should do about the ghost they have seen? Why?
Let us impart what we have seen tonight
Unto young Hamlet; for, upon my life,
This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
Horatio suggests they tell Hamlet about the
ghost and what they have seen. He believes that
the ghost will speak to Hamlet because it appears
to be Hamlet’s father, the dead King.
ACT ONE
Scene Two
TASK: Scene two introduces two important characters, King
Claudius and Queen Gertrude. Carefully examine The King’s
lines 1 – 16. What important details are revealed?
CLAUDIUS
Though yet of Hamlet, our dear brother’s death
The memory be green
• King Hamlet is dead.
• King Hamlet was King Claudius’s brother.
• When Claudius says “us” and “we” he means himself
– speaking in the “royal we.”
• The memory is “green” because his death was recent.
CLAUDIUS
. . . and that it us befitted
To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe,
Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature
That we with wisest sorrow think on him
Together with remembrance of ourselves.
What is Claudius saying about his brother’s memory and
the kingdom’s continued mourning of him?
Although it was proper to mourn King Hamlet’s death throughout
the kingdom, life still goes on. Claudius thinks he should mourn
his brother, but he should also think about his own well being.
CLAUDIUS
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,
The imperial jointress to this warlike state,
[have]
Taken to wife
What does Claudius reveal about his new marriage?
• He married his sister-in-law. She was his brother’s wife.
• As King Hamlet’s widow, she is the “jointress” – meaning the
one who holds the right of inheritance to her husband’s estate.
CLAUDIUS
NOTE: Why Claudius is crowned King instead of Prince Hamlet.
In Denmark, and other Scandinavian countries it was traditionally an
election rather than a firm rule of succession that determined the new
king. This was not, of course, a democratic election. Only men of royal
blood could be elected, and only a select group of nobles would vote.
Claudius was certainly eligible to be elected king as the brother of the
former king, and he strengthened his position by both marrying the
queen, his former sister-in-law, and rushing things along before the son,
Hamlet could return. Much of Claudius' opening speeches seem to be
aimed at strengthening his position and reminding everyone that he was
elected fair and square. Hamlet mentions or implies in the play that he
thinks his uncle unfairly stole the election and the throne.
ANTITHESIS
Antithesis: Juxtaposition of contrasting words or
ideas (often, but not always, in parallel structure).
Have we, as ’twere with a defeated joy,
With an auspicious, and a dropping eye,
With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage,
In equal scale weighing delight and dole
• Note the contrasting ideas in these lines. What
emotions is Claudius trying to convey about the death
of his brother and the marriage to his new queen?
FORTINBRAS
TASK:
Continue Reading: Stop at line 41.
DISCUSS: Summarize what is happening.
Why does Claudius mention young Fortinbras?
What does King Claudius command Cornelius and
Voltemand to do?
LAERTES
TASK:
Continue Reading: Stop at line 63.
DISCUSS: What is Laertes asking permission to do?
Who is Polonius? What does Polonius say?
HAMLET
TASK:
Continue Reading: Look at line 64.
Who is King Claudius addressing now?
What does he call him?
ASIDE
Aside: An aside is a dramatic device in which a
character speaks to the audience, but the other
characters are not aware of what he or she says.
It may be addressed to the audience expressly (in
or out of character) or represent an unspoken
thought. It is usually a brief comment. It occurs
within the context of the play, and is a true
statement of a character's thought; a character
may be mistaken in an aside, but he may not be
dishonest.
HAMLET’S FIRST WORDS
Note: The first time we hear from Hamlet is through an aside.
Look at the context of these words. What is happening in the play
at the time Hamlet first speaks? Who addresses him? What does
this aside reveal about Hamlet’s inner thoughts and emotions?
A little more than kin, and less than kind!
Hamlet is not happy about the “closeness” of his new family.
He believes that his uncle, who has now become his step-father
has become too close, creating too many family ties for his liking.
The fact that the first words he speaks reveal his inner thoughts
indicate that this new relationship weighs heavily on him.
PUN
Pun: a form of word play which
suggests two or more meanings,
by exploiting multiple meanings
of words, or of similar-sounding
words, for an intended humorous
or rhetorical effect.
HAMLET
Note: The next line of Hamlet’s is a pun. What does he mean?
KING: How is it that the clouds still hang on you?
HAMLET: Not so, my lord: I am too much i’ the sun.
• Sun: In the spotlight , attention on him,
no way to mourn.
• Sun: “Son” – Now he has two fathers.
GERTRUDE
TASK: Gertrude’s first lines in the play are to her son,
Hamlet. Look at her lines 68 – 73, what does she say to him?
Good Hamlet, cast they nighted color off,
And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.
Do not for ever with thy vailed lids
Seek for thy noble father in the dust.
Thou knows’t ’tis common. All that lives must die,
Passing through nature to eternity.
•
•
•
Get out of your black clothes and stop mourning.
Be friendly to the King.
You can’t spend your whole life being sad about your dad.
People die. It happens all the time.
What are your thoughts about Gertrude’s words to her son?
HAMLET’S MELANCHOLY
Hamlet: Ay, madam, it is common.
Gertrude: If it be,
Why seems it so particular with thee?
TASK: Look carefully at how Hamlet responds to his
mother’s question. Read lines 76 – 86. Highlight words
and phrases that indicate Hamlet’s state of mind and his
display of grief over his father’s death.
HAMLET’S MELANCHOLY
“Seems,” madam? Nay, it is. I know not “seems.”
'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected havior of the visage,
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly. These indeed “seem,”
For they are actions that a man might play.
But I have that within which passeth show,
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.
HAMLET’S MELANCHOLY
No Fear Shakespeare translation: “Seems,” mother? No, it is. I
don’t know what you mean by “seems.” Neither my black
clothes, my dear mother, nor my heavy sighs, nor my weeping,
nor my downcast eyes, nor any other display of grief can show
what I really feel. It’s true that all these things “seem” like grief,
since a person could use them to fake grief if he wanted to.
But I’ve got more real grief inside me than you could ever see
on the surface. These clothes are just a hint of it.
Based on what you have heard from Hamlet to
this point, what are your thoughts about him?
CLAUDIUS TO HAMLET
TASK: Carefully read the King’s lines (87– 117). Highlight words
and phrases that indicate the King’s opinion of Hamlet’s
behavior and his continued mourning. What does he tell him?
Claudius commends Hamlet for being a good son who has mourned his
father. However, he tells him to remember that his father lost a father, and
that father lost a father, etc., and every time, each son has had to mourn his
father for a certain period. But overdoing it is just stubborn. It’s not manly.
It’s not what God wants, and it betrays a vulnerable heart and an ignorant and
weak mind. Since we know that everyone must die sooner or later, why
should we take it to heart? He tells Hamlet that he is committing a crime
against heaven, against the dead, and against nature by the continued
mourning. He also tells him it is irrational since the truth is that all fathers
must die. He tells him to give up his useless mourning and start thinking of
Claudius as his new father.
GERTRUDES’ REQUEST
TASK: Continue Reading. Lines 118 – 128.
What does
Gertrude ask
Hamlet to do?
What is his
response?
SOLILOQUY
Soliloquy: A long speech in which a character
who is usually alone on stage expresses his or her
private thoughts or feeelings.
HAMLET’S SOLILOQUY #1
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!
TASK: Read Lines 129 – 158
ANALYIS OF SOLILOQUY
O that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God!
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
What does Hamlet wish for?
Why does he wish this?
Why doesn’t he simply kill himself ?
ANALYIS OF SOLILOQUY
Fie on't! O fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely.
What is an “unweeded garden”?
What does this passage imply about life?
What does this passage imply about King Claudius?
ANALYIS OF SOLILOQUY
That it should come to this!
But two months dead! — nay, not so much, not two:
So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother,
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember?
How long has Hamlet’s father been dead?
What does he call his father? What does that mean?
What does he call his uncle? What does that mean?
How does he remember his father treating his mother?
ANALYIS OF SOLILOQUY
Why, she would hang on him
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on: and yet, within a month, —
Let me not think on't, — Frailty, thy name is woman! —
How does Hamlet remember his mother treating his father?
What time frame does he mention in this part of the passage?
How is that different from what he just said a moment ago about
how long it has been since his father died?
What does that tell you about how he feels about his mother’s
actions?
What does he mean when he says “Frailty, thy name is woman!”
ANALYIS OF SOLILOQUY
A little month; or ere those shoes were old
With which she followed my poor father's body
Like Niobe, all tears; — why she, even she, —
O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourn'd longer, — married with mine uncle,
What is the tone in this passage? Give evidence in support.
What is revealed in this passage about Hamlet’s attitude towards
his mother’s remarriage?
ANALYIS OF SOLILOQUY
My father's brother; but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules: within a month;
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married: — O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not, nor it cannot come to good;
How does Hamlet feel about his uncle as his mother’s choice for
a new husband?
What type of relationship does he call it?
Is he angry or sad in this soliloquy? How do you know?
What does he seem to be most upset about, his father’s death or
his mother’s remarriage? How do you know?
HORATIO & HAMLET
TASK: Continue Reading. Lines 159 – 184
Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.
What does Hamlet mean in this passage?
What does he seem to be upset about?
Is this an example of hyperbole? Explain.
SOME FOUL PLAY
TASK: Continue Reading. Lines 185 – 254
What does Horatio tell Hamlet?
What does Hamlet plan to do?
My father’s spirit – in arms? All is not well.
I doubt some foul play. Would the night were come!
Till then sit still, my soul. Foul deeds will rise,
Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes.
Why does Hamlet believe there is “foul play?”
Speculate: Why do you think the ghost has appeared?
ACT ONE
Scene Three
LAERTES & OPHELIA
Act I Scene 3.
In this scene, we are introduced to Ophelia.
She is Polonius’s daughter, Laertes’s sister,
and Hamlet’s girlfriend. As scene three
opens, Laertes is making preparations to
return to school in France. Before he
leaves, he gives Ophelia brotherly advice
about her relationship with Hamlet.
LAERTES & OPHELIA
TASK: Read Lines 1 – 53. Pay attention to the advice
Laertes gives Ophelia. What is he telling his sister?
LAERTES & POLONIUS
Act I Scene 3. Polonius,
father of Laertes and
Ophelia, arrives on
scene. He then
proceeds to give his son
a lot of advice about
how he should behave
at college.
LAERTES & POLONIUS
TASK: Read Lines 55 – 87. Pay attention to the advice
Polonius gives Laertes. What does he tell him?
FATHERLY ADVICE
Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Don’t say what you are thinking, and don’t
be too quick to act on what you think.
FATHERLY ADVICE
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade.
Be friendly to people, but don’t overdo it. Once
you have tested out your friends and found them
trustworthy, hold onto them. But don’t waste your
time with every person you meet!
FATHERLY ADVICE
Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Don’t be too quick to start a fight, but once
you are in one, hold your own.
FATHERLY ADVICE
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Listen to many people, but talk to few.
Hear everyone’s opinion, but reserve your
judgment. Be selective.
FATHERLY ADVICE
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Spend all you can afford on clothes, but make sure
they are quality, not flashy, since clothes make the
man – which is doubly true in France.
FATHERLY ADVICE
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
Don’t borrow money and don’t lend it, since
when you lend to a friend, you often lose the
friendship as well as the money, and
borrowing turns a person into a spendthrift.
FATHERLY ADVICE
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
And, above all, be true to yourself.
Then you won’t be false to anybody else.
POLONIUS & OPHELIA
Act I Scene 3. After Laertes leaves, Polonius
discuss Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet.
TASK: Read Lines 88 – 114
What does Ophelia tell her father about her relationship
with Hamlet?
How does Polonius respond to her?
POLONIUS & OPHELIA
TASK: Read Lines 115 – 136
Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both,
Even in their promise, as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire.
These vows are just traps for stupid birds. I know when a man is on
fire, he’ll swear anything. But when a heart’s on fire, it gives out
more light than heat, and the fire will be out even before he’s done
making his promises. Don’t mistake that for true love.
POLONIUS & OPHELIA
From this time
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence;
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley.
From now on, spend a little less time with him and talk to him less.
Make yourself a precious commodity.
POLONIUS & OPHELIA
For Lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, that he is young
And with a larger tether may he walk
Than may be given you
Remember that Lord Hamlet is young,
and he has more freedom to fool around than you do
POLONIUS & OPHELIA
in few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,
The better to beguile.
In short, Ophelia, don’t believe his love vows, since
they’re like flashy pimps who wear nice clothes to
lead a woman into filthy acts.
POLONIUS & OPHELIA
This is for all:
I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth,
Have you so slander any moment leisure,
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.
Look to't, I charge you: come your ways.
To put it plainly, from now on, you are not to
spend any time with Hamlet. You are not to
talk to him at all. Do as I say.
ACT ONE
Scene Four
THE KING
Act I Scene 4. As this scene opens, Hamlet,
Horatio, and Marcellus are outside on the castle
platform looking for signs of the ghost. They
hear trumpets and shots sounding from within
the castle. Horatio asks Hamlet what is going on
and Hamlet tells him.
TASK:
Read Lines 1 – 38 and discuss what is happening.
THE GHOST
Act I Scene 4. Suddenly, the ghost appears.
Hamlet immediately talks to it, but it doesn’t
answer. The ghost beckons Hamlet to follow it,
but Horatio fears for Hamlet’s well being if he
does.
TASK: Read Lines 39 – 92 (end of scene).
What happens?
ACT ONE
Scene Five
THE GHOST
Act I Scene 5.
As this scene opens, Hamlet
and the Ghost are alone.
Hamlet tells the ghost to
speak to him, and the ghost
does. He explains who he is.
THE GHOST
TASK: Read Lines 1 – 25.
Who is the ghost?
What does he tell Hamlet about his “prison house”?
What does he ask Hamlet to do?
MURDER MOST FOUL
TASK: Read Lines 26 – 41.
Who killed Hamlet’s father?
Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift
As meditation or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.
What does Hamlet plan to do after the ghost tells him
who murdered him?
MURDER MOST FOUL
TASK: Look closely at lines 34 – 40 again.
How does the kingdom believe King Hamlet died?
Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me
MURDER MOST FOUL
TASK: Look closely at lines 34 – 40 again.
How does the ghost describe
the person who did kill him?
The serpent that did sting
thy father’s life
Now wears his crown
Explain the allusion to the “serpent” – what connection
is the ghost making with his murderer?
MURDER MOST FOUL
TASK: Look closely at lines 34 – 40 again.
What does Hamlet say when he hears that the murderer
is his uncle, his father’s brother, and the new king?
O my prophetic soul!
My uncle?
Prophetic: Accurately describing or predicting what will
happen in the future
What does Hamlet reveal here?
THE LOSS OF HIS QUEEN
TASK: Read lines 41 – 57.
What does the ghost reveal about his relationship with
his Queen, Gertrude, and his thoughts about his
brother and their new marriage?
Whom is the ghost most angry with?
How do you know? Find evidence from these lines to
support your answer.
MURDER MOST FOUL
TASK: Read lines 58 – 80.
Why must the ghost get on with telling his story?
How did he die?
Why is it so horrible that he died while sleeping?
THE GHOST’S REQUEST
TASK: Read lines 81 – 91.
What does the ghost want Hamlet to do?
What does he tell him to do about his mother?
Why does the ghost have to leave?
What is the ghost’s final request to Hamlet?
HAMLET’S ANGUISH & ANGER
TASK: Read lines 92 – 112.
What does Hamlet say to himself about
“remembering” his father?
How does he plan to remember him? What is he going
to do?
What does Hamlet call his mother?
What does Hamlet call his uncle, the King?
HAMLET’S ANGUISH & ANGER
TASK: Read lines 93 – 190 (End of Scene).
What happens when Horatio and Marcellus find
Hamlet?
What does Hamlet tell them about what the ghost said?
What does Hamlet ask Horatio and Marcellus to swear?
What does Hamlet tell Horatio about how he might
behave in the coming days? Why does he do this?
HAMLET’S “ANTIC DISPOSITION”
Act I Scene 5. At the end of Act I, the ghost can be heard saying
“Swear!” several times. However, there is no indication by the lines
spoken that Horatio and Marcellus hear the ghost. However,
Hamlet does keep responding to it.
Although Horatio does say “O day and night, but this is wondrous
strange!” it is not made clear whether he is responding to the ghost
saying “swear” or to Hamlet’s strange behavior.
In some productions, this scene is played as if all on stage can hear
the ghost, in others, only Hamlet hears the ghost. Speculate: How
would the two different interpretations of this scene affect the play?