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HAMLET ACT II, SCENE 2 (PART 2). JUNIORS. SWBAT understand the meaning behind Hamlet’s allusions . DO NOW AHEAD OF MOVIE Copying down the allusions referenced in Act II. HAMLET’S REFERENCE TO POLONIUS AS JEPHTHA. WHO WAS JEPHTHA?
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HAMLETACT II, SCENE 2(PART 2) JUNIORS
SWBAT understand the meaning behind Hamlet’s allusions • DO NOW AHEAD OF MOVIE Copying down the allusions referenced in Act II
HAMLET’S REFERENCE TO POLONIUS AS JEPHTHA • WHO WAS JEPHTHA? • In the Bible, Jephtha was a judge who presided over Israel for six years. He led the Israelites into a battle with Amon and asked God to give him a victory—if he gave him a victory, he would sacrifice the first person who walked through the door. The first person to walk through the door was his daughter and only child. He had to sacrifice her. She asked if he would allow her to go to the mountains for two months to bewail her virginity. She gets herself to a nunnery—then she is sacrificed.
MORE ALLUSIONS • Hyrcanian beast: Tiger native to a region of ancient Persia. • Dido: Carthaginian queen who was seduced by Aenas who then left her. • Aenas: founder of Rome. In love with Dido, abandoned her. He was a Trojan prince who married Creusa, daughter of King Priam. He became separated from his wife upon fleeing Troy. During a 7 year voyage, he meets Dido, but declines her offer of marriage and the throne. He goes on to establish Rome.
AND MORE… • Priam: king of Troy who was killed by Pyrrus (last King of Troy). He witnessed the destruction of Troy twice, Upon losing the Trojan War, he had to beg Achilles to return the body of his son. Achilles’s son kills him in the end. • Mars: Roman God of War
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? • Polonius is like Jep in that he bars Ophelia from marriage and procreation (essentially keeping her a virgin). • There are more explanations on the similarities—but we won’t get to them until Act 3.
AFTER THE SOLILOQUY • Hecuba – Trojan Queen in mythology, when her husband King Priam dies, her grief is enormous. • Famous quotes from the soliloquy to know. • “For murder, though it has no tongue, will speak with most miraculous organs.” • “The play is the thing, wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.”
MORE NOTES ON THE SOLILOQUY • He is conflicted still about what to do concerning Claudius • Line 578—He is unsure if the spirit is legitimate. So while he spends a lot of the soliloquy tearing himself apart—he is not sure if his uncle is guilty—maybe the spirit is an evil one and tempting him to sin.