iEnglish - Hamlet

Hamlet

Hamlet QUESTIONS – CHECKING UNDERSTANDING Act 1 Folger

A. Main Events

Why is Horatio initially important to the story?
Who is Fortinbras, and why is Claudius concerned about him?
What has Claudius recently done that deeply upsets Hamlet?
Why does Hamlet dislike Claudius?
What does Horatio tell Hamlet about the Ghost?
Why does Laertes warn Ophelia about Hamlet?
How does Polonius react to Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship?
What does the Ghost reveal about King Hamlet's death?
What does the Ghost demand that Hamlet do?

B. Characters

Give two reasons why Hamlet is unhappy at the beginning of the play.
How does Claudius present himself as king? Does he appear entirely trustworthy? Explain.
What impression do we get of Gertrude through Hamlet's comments about her?
What do Laertes and Polonius have in common in their attitudes towards Ophelia?
How is Hamlet different from Horatio?

C. Themes

How is the theme of appearance versus reality introduced in Act I?
How is corruption presented in Act I?
Why is death and mourning an important theme from the very beginning?
How does Act I introduce the theme of revenge?
Why might the Ghost be considered both a source of information and a source of uncertainty?
How does Shakespeare create a sense of mystery and suspense in Act I?
What does “The time is out of joint” suggest about Hamlet's situation?

D. Quotation Analysis

Who says “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”? What does “rotten” suggest?
Explain the meaning of Hamlet's “A little more than kin, and less than kind.”
What does Hamlet reveal about his state of mind when he says “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt”?
Why is the Ghost's statement “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his crown” particularly powerful?
What is the significance of Hamlet saying “Remember thee!”?
What does the final statement “The time is out of joint” tell us about Hamlet's new role?

E. Discussion / Deeper Thinking

Is Hamlet already suspicious of Claudius before he meets the Ghost? Give evidence from Act I.
Does Gertrude's remarriage justify Hamlet's anger towards her? Explain your interpretation.
Is the Ghost trustworthy? What reasons might Hamlet have for believing or doubting it?
At the end of Act I, Hamlet knows that Claudius supposedly murdered his father. What problems might revenge create for Hamlet?
Shakespeare begins the play with a Ghost. Why might this be an effective way of introducing the story?

ACT 1 CLOSE-READING

Act 1, scene 1: video here

discuss non-verbal ways in which the change of mood could be conveyed at the end of Act 1, scene 1(lightning, posture,sounds, etc)
discuss the themes present in ACt 1, scene 1 (words or phrases)

Act 1, scene 2: click here for the video of the first part

Claudius as a character (you can start making notes)

explore different staging of Claudius's entrance (is he celebrated, feared, respected?)
take turns to speak lines 1-39 ("Though...duty") to show Claudius as confident, uneasy and insecure, devious and crafty, honest and sincere. Then talk about what you feel
speak the lines 10-14 using an action to accompany each antithesis
criticism of Hamlet's grief: lines 87-106: use a commanding tone; emphasize the repeated words; then lines 106-112: use a cordial tone and insist on Hamlet being the immediate heir to the throne; at the end, lines 112-117, be abrupt

Politics: parallel Denmark/Norway - is Shakespeare setting up a comparison?

Claudius describes the king of Norway as "impotent and bedrid": how would you act his lines, especially as he uses imperatives, the royal 'we', 'the Dane' to refer to himself and his insistent questioning.

Laertes as a character

look at his speech lines 50-56: what impression does he make on you as a character and a courtier?

Hamlet

asides: what is his tone? Does he speak to himself or to the audience?
How should he stress the words line 67?
Gerturde/Hamlet (lines 68-87): read in in pairs and choose which words to stress
first soliloquy (lines 129-158): decide where you would place the key breaks? video here

--> notice how "nature" (natural world, life, all that is natural, human character/also "disposition"), "will" (self-determination) and "sense" (=feel, be aware of, sensibility, sensibleness) have been used

Act 1, scene 4-5 - video here

The Ghost. Observe the language in the play:

Hamlet is unsure about what type of apparition he sees Is it a good or an evil spirit, tempting him to eternal damnation? He expresses his invertaintly in vivid antitheses (lines 40-42): take turns to read act 1, 4 lines 39-57 to each other: emphasize the antitheses, and try different pacings (fast, slow, varied). Experiment with different tones (amazed, questioning, fearful and pleading).

experiment with readings of act 1, 5, lines 9-22 that will make audience shrink back in their seats! The lines are packed with vivid phrases suggesting horrors and torments. Make the most of them! Add sound effects as you think appropriate.

"O villain, villain, smiling damnèd villain! ...That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain!" (I.5, lines 106 +108): Would playing Claudius as a "smiler" add to or lessen dramatic impact? Explain your views and reasons.
Is it the onset of Hamlet's madness or is he pretending to be mad? (Observe lines 113-191) Since Hamlet is keeping a record ('from the table of my memory' l.98), does it make him look mad?

--> Make notes about madness in the play You can read about madness in Elizabethan and Jacobean times ('madness' in Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy here: "Madness is therefore defined to be a vehement dotage, or raving without a féver, far more violent than melancholy, full of anger and clamour, horrible looks, actions, gestures, troubling the patients with far greater vehemency both of body and mind, without all fear and sorrow, with such impetuous force and boldness that sometimes three or four men cannot hold them. Differing only in this from frenzy, that it is without a fever, and their memory is most part better. ")

Shakespeare's Ghosts: compare the ghost of King Hamlet