Hamlet

2. Hamlet By William Shakespeare

3. Shakespeare's Hamlet is full of dead bodies, murder, suicide, disease, graves, and talk about death. And there is no traditional Christian comfort or promise of eventual justice or happiness for the good people. • But the message is ultimately one of hope. You can be a hero.

4. Idea for theme • As you read the play, watch how Hamlet -- who starts by wishing he were dead -- comes to terms with life, keeps his integrity, and strikes back successfully at what's wrong around him.

6. On a sheet of paper … • Write down your name • Write down your mother's name • Write down your father's name • Write down your paternal uncle's name (paternal = father’s side) • (If you do not have an uncle, write the name of a godfather or a male who acts as an uncle to the family)

7. To connect to the play, cross out your father's name. He just died. • Draw a line connecting your mother's name to your uncle's. A month has passed. Your mother has just married your uncle. • The issue of Gertrude's marriage to Hamlet's uncle surfaces immediately in the first words Hamlet speaks in the play: “A little more than kin and less than kind” (1.2.67). • Notice whether Claudius and Gertrude's marriage was politically or romantically motivated and whether Gertrude played a part in the death of King Hamlet.

8. Hamlet is the first work of literature to look squarely at the stupidity, falsity and sham of everyday life, without laughing and without easy answers. In a world where things are not as they seem, Hamlet's genuineness, thoughtfulness, and sincerity make him special. • Hamlet is no saint. But unlike most of the other characters (and most people today), Hamlet chooses not to compromise with evil.

9. Theme idea • Unlike so much of popular culture today, Hamlet leaves us with the message that life is indeed worth living, even by imperfect people in an imperfect world.

10. Written around 1601Published in 1603Setting: Denmark • Shakespeare's Hamlet was a remake of an already popular play, based in turn on historical fiction, based in turn on an episode from the Dark Ages: the lawless, might-makes-right 7th century era.

11. In Hamlet, Shakespeare holds up a mirror to nature, showing us ourselves. • If this were an action-movie, Hamlet might be entirely sympathetic, and his enemies altogether despicable; however it's characteristic of Shakespeare's tragedies that our sympathies are divided. • The audience comes away from Hamlet liking the prince very much. He is a thinker, and he is funny. We see into his own mind and discover him to be genuine and sincere. We admire him for resisting the evil around him. • But he begins the play with a nasty, bitter outlook on life. If you do not like everything about today's teenaged goth culture (wearing black, being clever and disrespectful, playing with people's feelings, complaining that life seems meaningless and empty), you may not like the Hamlet whom we meet at the beginning. We see him as both stupid and mean when he kills Polonius.

12. Round-robin reading2 volunteers, please! • Bernardo: Who's there? • Francisco: Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself. • Bernardo: Long live the King! • Francisco: Bernardo? • Bernardo: He. • Francisco: You come most carefully upon your hour.

13. 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. • Bernardo: Have you had quiet guard? • Francisco: Not a mouse stirring. • Bernardo: Well, good night. If you do meet Horatio and Mercellus, the rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.

14. Say What? • What do you know about the play just from those few words? • Pay attention to how the play begins: with a question • The blurring of appearance and reality is a motif in this play • Sample test questions: fate, supernatural, family, tragic hero, justice. Your test will be one ‘question.’

15. Character List • Hamlet: The Prince of Denmark. About 30 years old at the start of the play, Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King • Hamlet, and the nephew of the present king, Cladius. • Claudius: The King of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle, and the play’s antagonist

16. Gertrude: The Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, recently married to Claudius • Polonius: The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’ court; father of Laertes and Ophelia • Horatio: Hamlet’s close friend, who studied with him at the university in Wittenberg

17. Ophelia: Polonius’s daughter, who obeys her father and her brother, Laertes. Hamlet has been in love with her. • Laertes: Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother

18. Fortinbras: The young Prince of Norway, whose father the king (also named Fortinbras) was killed by Hamlet’s father (also named Hamlet). • The Ghost: The specter of Hamlet’s recently deceased father • Marcellus and Bernardo: Officers who first see the ghost and who call Horatio to witness it. Marcellus is present when Hamlet first encounters the ghost.

19. Francisco: A soldier and guardsman at Elsinore (the castle) • Reynaldo: Polonius’s servant, who is sent to France by Polonius to check up on and spy on Laertes

20. Tragic hero • A tragic hero has the potential for greatness but is doomed to fail. • He makes some sort of tragic flaw, and this causes his fall from greatness. • Realizes he has made an irreversible mistake • Faces and accepts death with honor • Meets a tragic death

21. Tragic heroes are: • Born into nobility • Responsible for their own fate • Endowed with a tragic flaw • Doomed to make a serious error in judgment

22. Fun with Hamlet and his Friends • See the man. What a funny man. His name is Hamlet. He is a prince. He is sad. Why are you sad, Hamlet? • "I am sad for my father has died," says Hamlet. "My father was the king." • "Where are you going, Hamlet?” • "I am going to the castle," says Hamlet. • On the way he meets a ghost.

23. "Where are you going?" asks the ghost. • "I am going to the castle," says Hamlet • "Boo, Boo" says the ghost. • "What is you name, you silly ghost?" asks Hamlet, clapping his hands. • "I am your father," says the ghost. "I was a good king. Uncle Claudius is a bad king. He gave me poison. Would you like poison?" • "Oh, no," says Hamlet. "I would not like poison." • "Will you avenge me, Hamlet?" says the ghost. "Oh yes," says Hamlet. "I will avenge you. What fun it will be to avenge you."

24. On the way he meets a girl. • "Where are you going ?" asks the girl. • "I am going to the castle," says Hamlet. • "Ha, ha," says the girl. • "What is your name?" • "My name is Ophelia." • "Why are you laughing?" asks Hamlet. "You are a silly goose." • "I laugh because you are so funny," says Ophelia. "I laugh because you are so weird!"

25. "I am not weird," says Hamlet, laughing and clapping his hands. "I pretend I am crazy. I pretend to fool my uncle. What fun it is to pretend." • See Hamlet run. Run, Hamlet, run. He is going to his mother's room. • "Oh, I have something to tell you mother," says Hamlet. "Uncle Claudius is bad. He gave my father poison. Poison is not good. I do not like poison. Do you like poison?” • "Oh, no indeed!" says his mother. "I do not like poison.

26. "Oh, there is Uncle Claudius," says Hamlet. "He is hiding behind the curtain. Why is he hiding behind the curtain? I shall stab him. What fun it will be to stab him through the curtain." • See Hamlet draw his sword. See Hamlet stab. Stab, Hamlet, stab. See Uncle Claudius's blood gush. Gush, blood, gush. • See Uncle Claudius fall. How funny he looks, stabbed. Ha. Ha. Ha. But it is not Uncle Claudius. It is Polonius. Polonius is Ophelia's father.

27. What fun Hamlet is having. "You are naughty, Hamlet," says Hamlet's mother. "You have stabbed Polonius.” • But Hamlet's mother is not cross. She loves Hamlet. He is a good boy. And Hamlet loves his mother. She is a good mother. • Hamlet loves his mother very much. Hamlet loves his mother very, very, very much. Does Hamlet love his mother a little too much? • See Hamlet run. Run, Hamlet, run. Where are you going Hamlet?

28. "Where are you going?" asks Laertes, Ophelia’s brother. • "I am going to find Uncle Claudius." • "Oh ho! I am Laertes," says the man. "Let us draw swords. Let us duel." • "I don't think I'm going to find Uncle Claudius," says Hamlet. • "I am going to find Uncle Claudius." • On the way he passes a brook. In the brook he sees Ophelia. Ophelia is drowning.

29. See Hamlet and Laertes duel. • See Hamlet stab Laertes. • See Hamlet's mother drink poison. • See Hamlet stab King Claudius. See everybody wounded and bleeding and dying and dead. The End