Hamlet 2.2 study guide (08)

ENG4U J. Rice

Hamlet April 2007

Act 2, scene 2 – The Plot Thickens

ACT TWO overview:

with notes from http://vc.ws.edu/engl2410/2002/unit4/03HamletTwo.htm

In Act Two, we move to the current situation in the castle.  In short, we see a parallel between the world at large (the state of Denmark) and the world of the familiar (the two families of the play – one with Polonius as the head, the other with Claudius as the head).  Thus the organization of the family and the organization of the state are paralleled.  Themes – of right and wrong, of appearance and reality, of outward show and inward truth, of good and evil, of health and sickness, of social order and social disorder – that will dominate the play, are elaborated upon. Family is further elaborated upon in the Players’ speeches when they dramatize the death of the idealized king of Troy, Priam, as well as his wife Hecuba’s profound grief.

Scene 2:

Scene 2 has many layers of plot development in it. We can divide it into several parts:

• • Lines 1-39: the King and Queen enlist Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in their efforts to find out why Hamlet is acting so strangely

  • Lines 40-58: Polonius enters, saying he has news he will tell after the King has received the ambassador who has been in Norway. Polonius leaves to bring him in. In an aside, the King tells the Queen what his opinion is as to why Hamlet seems insane. The Queen gives hers (note what she says).

  • Lines 59-85: the King takes a report from Voltemand (his ambassador to Norway) to learn what is happening in the rival nation

  • Lines 86-167: Polonius advises the King and Queen regarding Hamlet’s madness and ways to determine its source:

    • • lines 85-108: Polonius tells what he thinks the reason for Hamlet’s madness is.

      • lines 109-124: Polonius reads a letter given to him from Ophelia. It had been sent to her by Hamlet.

      • lines 127-166: Polonius shares a plan to seek out whether Hamlet’s madness is real or not and the cause of it.

  • Lines 168-216 and 370-407: Hamlet plays word (and mind) games with Polonius

    • • Note 1: the "fishmonger" scene is an old joke. It runs something like: what do women’s genitals smell like? If women are fish -- and Ophelia is a woman -- then Polonius is, to Hamlet, a seller of fish -- a pimp, a whore monger

      • Note 2: see that in this section Hamlet slips out of poetry and into prose. See how the lines are arranged on the page. We are not longer hearing poetry, but paragraph-style prose.

  • Lines 217-369: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern engage Hamlet in conversation to try to find out what is bothering him

    • • lines 299-305: Read slowly Hamlet’s speech here; it is his "ode to humankind" in which he sets mankind in the great chain of being--finding the place of man in the natural and spiritual world.

      • lines 310-352: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell Hamlet that a troop of wandering actors (the players) have come to the castle to put on a play. They discuss the current events of the day--the roving bands of actors and the dramas they present.

      • lines 358-390: The players enter; Polonius re-enters. Hamlet makes Polonius a laughing-stock.

  • Lines 408-533: Hamlet welcomes the Players to Elsinore and plans with them for their performance. He remembers a moving scene relating Priam’s death (king of Troy), who was believed to be a model father, and whose kingdom represented harmony and order until the Trojan War. The players enact the scene.

  • Lines 534-592: Hamlet’s “O what a rogue and peasant slave” soliloquy, in which he berates himself for his inaction and formulates a plan based on the Players’ performance

and we see several significant themes reflected in the words and actions of the characters:

• • acting or appearance and reality – who is acting a role? How so? How is the reality different from the appearance they put on?

  • words – are they effective? Do they always mean what we think they do? How might they be used as weapons?

  • disease/decay and health – if “something’s rotten in the state of Denmark”, is it starting to show? In whom? How? What do images of disease and decay symbolize?

  • moral and immoral action – how do we know what is a moral action? What are the correct and moral actions for the characters in this scene to take?

  • family and the state – how is the organization of a family mirrored in the organization of a country? Who is in charge? What are his ideal characteristics? What happens if he does not possess these characteristics?

Activities

• 1. Read through your assigned section of Act 2, scene 2 with these themes in mind, and take notes of at least two different themes appearing in your section. Make sure you cite the line(s) you are discussing!

  2. Then discuss (in writing here) the two references you have chosen by answering the questions related to them, above.

  3. Brainstorm words that might be related to your themes. Use the Shakespeare Concordance to search for various occurrences of your theme and its related concepts elsewhere in the text. Note down those references in your text by annotating them. Look for at least one reference BEFORE this scene and one reference AFTER. What remarks can you make about how these themes have progressed so far?

  4. Post your responses to the Discussion Board under the themes you have examined.

Homework

Continue your character blog: Entry #2 – Your character has heard about Hamlet’s treatment of those around him (Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Ophelia). Build your own theory of his behaviour (use all the pop-psychology you want, but keep it focused on the things he has done) and “analyse” him from your perspective. Make an effort to “go deep”!

If you are Hamlet: Choose one of the characters you have interacted with in your “antic disposition” and speculate on what they must think of you. Include such details as their emotional and physical reactions, what they said, what their reaction says about the kind of person they are, what you think of them because of it…

Re-post your blog when you have completed it.

Read to the end of Act 3 for Monday, April 16

Student-created Study Guide

Make use of the Discussion Board postings from last class to create a study guide for your assigned part of 2.2.

Format:

* Write in full sentences, not in point form

* Include quotations and citations, properly integrated.

Part 1:

What do you consider to be the key passages (i.e. quotations) to note in this scene?

Include 3-5 quotations and comment on the significance of each to the plot, characters, and themes (a short paragraph for each)

Part 2:

If you were directing a version of Hamlet for stage or film, would you include this part of the scene, or cut it?

Justify your reasoning in terms of how this part of the scene fits into the bigger picture of plot, character, and theme development.

Ensure that you make reference to how the themes in this section are connected to themes elsewhere in the scene and the play.

This section should be approximately 400-500 words.