A1 S1
Horatio: Called a “scholar”
What is Horatio called which sets him up to be a
contrasting character and gives him the authority to
judge whether or not the apparition that's been
appearing on the battlements is actually a ghost.
A1 S1
What does Horatio say which indicates corruption in
Denmark
Corruption
A1 S2
What is Claudius’s disingenuous opening line of the
play, which was said in a speech to a large room of
people including Queen Gertrude and Hamlet, just after
the death of the King.
Dissembling, Corruption
A1 S2
What does Claudius call Gertrude in his opening speech
of the play, said to a large group of people including
Queen Gertrude and Hamlet, just after the death of the
King
Dissembling, Corruption, Gender
A1 S2
What oxymoron does Claudius say in in his opening
speech of the play, said to a large group of people
including Queen Gertrude and Hamlet, just after the
death of the King
Dissembling, Corruption
A1 S2
What does Hamlet say to Gertrude in response to her
when she shares her feelings about death
Death and Grief, Dissembling, Destiny Providence and
Divinity
“this bode some strange eruption to our state”
- In the Elizabethan era there was a Christian
belief that if something bad was happening
then it would be reflected in nature
- Something is out of place in the world order.
- eruption” relates to the theme of disease,
which is indicative of corruption.
- “strange” relates to something out of place in
the world.
“our dear brother’s death / The memory be green”
Disingenuous sorrow for the dead king.
“green” - symbolic of jealousy
- Green relates to sickness (green face) – symbol
of disease
- Also relates to the freshness of a wound
(recent, raw, unhealed) indicating that the
corruption was recent (as a wound relates to
disease and sickness). Also indicates the state
of Hamlet’s emotions as he deals with the
death of his father emotions are raw and
unhealed.
Contrast between the words “death” and “green” make
Claudius’s speak seem disingenuous
“imperial jointress”
A “jointress” means that Gertrude has a lifetime right
to rule Demark after the death of the King, which
Claudius inherits by marrying her.
This means that Gertrude did wield some power and
Claudius had political motivations for marrying her.
“With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage”
- Oxymoron- happy at funeral and sad at
wedding
- Claudius was being insincere, as his words are
contradictory and cannot be taken seriously.
- “Mirth” means happiness, high spirits, and
laughter
- A “Dirge” is a lament for the dead, a mournful
song, something that is slow and boring.
“it is common”
- “Common” has a double meaning
o Means common occurrence, not rare
(Gertrude’s meaning)
o Can also describe a person with no
taste, of lower class, vulgar (Hamlet’s
meaning)
A1 S2 Hamlet’s First Soliloquy
“an unweeded garden / That grows ro seed; things rank and gross in
nature / Possess it merely.”
What does Hamlet call the world which
- Hamlet is calling the world an unweeded garden where only
reveals his anger at the life changing
weeds grow.
events he is experiencing
- Hamlet is upset by the disorder that is his mother marrying
Claudius.
- “unweeded” relates to neglect and disorder
- weeds = something that is unwanted and strangling the good
things
- Weeds are a symbol for corruption. Link to disease motif =
Weeds are also known to harbour diseases which kill plants,
relating to the motif of disease.
o Weeds are symbolic of Claudius killing King Hamlet
and taking the throne
o Within a biblical context weeds are representative of
people who do not follow god’s word and are evil—
parable of the weeds Mathew 13:24-30, 36-43.
o Symbol of death
- “rank” is indicative of something unpleasant
Corruption disease and chaos, death and
- “gross” is indicative of something unacceptable, and very
grief.
clearly wrong,
o It is also indicative of something rude, vulgar, lewd,
and unpleasant.
A1 S2 Hamlet’s First Soliloquy
“Frailty, thy name is woman!”
- Hamlet is referring to Gertrude because he sees
What does Hamlet say in reference to his mother that
her as morally weak, and is upset at her.
conveys that women are weaker than men
- It foreshadows Ophelia’s betrayal of him.
Gender
A1 S2 Hamlet’s First Soliloquy
What does Hamlet say which conveys that his mother
and Claudius’ marriage is evil and wrong
Gender, Dissembling
A1 S2
How does Hamlet greet Horatio
“O! most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to
incestuous sheets.”
Hamlet conveys his anger towards Claudius and his
mother, calling their marriage “incestuous.”
- “wicked” conveys that what Claudius and
Gertrude are doing is evil and inherently wrong
- “incestuous” conveys a sin, and comments on
the fact that Gertrude used to be her new
husband’s sister in law, going against god.
“my good friend”
- Hamlet conveys his love for his friend.
- Contrasts to the terrible things he was just
- Horatio contrasts: brings out best in Hamlet
when others bring out the worst
- Hamlet and Horatio relationship highlight how
bad Hamlet’s relationship is with everyone else.
“Good”- is a term which frequents the bible, to
describe god, and to describe the opposite of evil. It has
the meaning of holy, pure, righteousness.
A1 S2
What does Horatio say to Hamlet to describe the ghost
Dissembling, Death and Grief, corruption
A1 S3
What does Laertes remind Ophelia of to scare her out
of a relationship of Hamlet
Gender, Reputation and Calumny, Privacy and
Surveillance
A1 S3
What does Ophelia say to Laertes to remind him of his
hypocrisy
Gender double standard
A1 S3
What does Polonius call Ophelia to convey that he
believes she is naive
Gender double standards, Privacy and Surveillance,
Reputation and Calumny
A1 S3
What does Ophelia say to Polonius in response to him
when he conveys his issues with her relationship with
Hamlet
“[the Ghost had] A countenance more in sorrow than in
anger…[it was] very pale”
Horatio describes the ghost as being more sad than
angry and very pale.
- “pale” indicates sickness, linking to the theme
of corruption, it also indicates that the ghost
may be suffering.
“your honour”; “your chaste treasure”; “fear”, “fear”,
“best safety lies in fear”
Laertes relates Ophelia’s virginity (“chaste treasure”) to
her “honour” and convinces Ophelia to “fear” in order
to keep her safe.
- “chaste” – means to stay away from sex
- “treasure” – means something that is very
precious, something of value, a quantity of
something precious  gives virginity a
monetary value
don’t show me the “steep and thorny way to heaven”
while you take “the primrose path of dalliance”
Ophelia tells Laertes not to be a hypocrite, questioning
why he can do whatever he want but she cannot.
Ophelia’s outburst defies gender norms- one of the
only times in the play where she does this.
- “steep and thorny”—difficult, painful
- “primrose path” – easy, peaceful, joyful
- “dalliance” – casual sex
“green girl”
- Polonius is disgusted at Ophelia’s relationship
with Hamlet.
- Treating her as if she were a child, he belittles
her as an innocent girl, inexperienced in the
ways of love and sex.
- Polonius manipulates and exerts control over
his daughter.
- “green girl”—young fresh, not fully formed girls
“I do not know, my lord, what I should think”
Conveys Ophelia’s passive attitude, unchallenging of
gender roles.
- “what I should think” – Ophelia is expectant of
a man to tell her what to think
- “should”- she is thinking but she doesn’t know
if it is correct
Gender double standards
A1 S3
What does Polonius respond to Ophelia when she tells
him that she does not know what she should think
Gender double standards
“I’ll teach you: think yourself a baby”
Polonius condenses Ophelia- implying that her
thoughts are at the same level as a baby and that he is
superior.
A1 S4
What does Hamlet say in preparation to follow the
ghost which conveys that he does not care about his
life
“I do not set my life in a pin’s fee.”
Hamlet proclaims that he does not care about his life,
saying that his life is worthless. Conveys Hamlet’s low
self-esteem.
- “pin’s fee”- very little cost, worthless
Death and Grief, Dissembling
A1 S4
“draw [Hamlet] into madness.”
What does Horatio say which foreshadows Hamlet’s
demise
Death and Grief, Dissembling,
A1 S4
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
- Corruption is deteriorating and sickening
What does Marcellus say after seeing the ghost
Denmark.
- Elizabethan era: the health of the nation =
legitimacy of the King
- thus Shakespeare use of disease and decay to
highlight the sickness of Denmark implies that
the King is also corrupt.
‘rotten’ – can be used to describe a
Death and Grief, Dissembling, Corruption Disease and
decomposing plant or a decaying body, which
Chaos
relates to the symbol of decay which is used
highlight corruption.
A1 S5
“Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” “most
foul, strange, and unnatural”
What does the Ghost instruct Hamlet to do, and how
The ghost tells Hamlet to avenge him, for the first time
does he describe Claudius
it is suggested that the king was murdered.
- “revenge”—command that Hamlet wrestles
with for the rest of the play
- “Unnatural” “strange” – out of order, unholy,
not right, not how god intended  disruption
Death and Grief, Dissembling, Corruption Disease and
of the natural order.
Chaos, revenge
- “foul” – bad smell, links to disease motif- king
was killed by corruption
A1 S5
“with wings as swift / As meditation or the thoughts of
love, / May sweep to my revenge.”
What does Hamlet tell the ghost he will do in response
Hamlet says that he think about revenge quickly his
to the Ghost’s demand
natural response is to think not act.
- “as swift/ as meditation” meditation is not
swift its slow and calm he is saying he will
think about it deeply
- “or the thoughts of love” also not swift but it
Dissembling, revenge, thought and action
does relate to thinking deeply
A1 S5
It was claimed that Old Hamlet was “serpent stung” but “The serpent
that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his crown.”
How does the ghost tell Hamlet that
The ghost calls Claudius a serpent who killed him and took the crown.
Claudius killed him
“Serpent”—the allusion of Claudius as a serpent is used throughout the
play to depict Claudius as cunning a traitorous.
- Snakes kill by poisoning their prey with venom, just as Claudius
killed the king with poison.
o
Dissembling, revenge, Corruption
Disease and Chaos
Serpent
-
Denmark has fallen under the sway of a serpent
(something evil) as is depicted in “something is rotten
in the state of Denmark.”
serpents = Satan = deceptive creature =
Serpent tricks eve into doing something unholy= Claudius
marriage to Gertrude
“sting” – venomous spike to inject poison, or a wound.
A1 S5
What does the ghost call Gertrude in relation to her
virtue
Gender, Dissembling
A1 S5
How does the ghost describe Gertrude and Claudius’s
relationship
Dissembling, Corruption Disease and Chaos.
A1 S5
What does the ghost say about the royal bed of
Denmark
Dissembling
“seeming-virtuous queen”
The ghost conveys that Gertrude may have cheated on
him with Claudius
- “seeming” – implies that the queen is not what
she seems, indicates deception
- “Virtuous”—implies that the queen is not
virtuous
“Lewdness” + “lust … / Will sate itself in a celestial bed, /
And prey on garbage.”
The ghost conveys that Gertrude may have cheated on
him with Claudius
- “seeming” – implies that the queen is not what
she seems, indicates deception
- “Virtuous”—implies that the queen is not
virtuous
“Let not the royal bed of Denmark be / A couch for
luxury and damned incest.”
Ghost is calling Gertrude and Claudius’s relationship
incest because Gertrude used to Claudius’s sister in law
and now they are married.
- “couch for luxury”- lust
- “damned”- unholy, going to hell
- “royal bed” – Claudius and Gertrude’s bed