Hamlet
By
William
Shakespeare
• 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.
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.
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)
• 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.
• 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.
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.
Written around 1601
Published in 1603
Setting: 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-makesright 7th century era.
• 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.
Round-robin reading
2 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.
• 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.
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.’
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
• 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
• 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
• 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.
• 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
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
Tragic heroes are:
•
•
•
•
Born into nobility
Responsible for their own fate
Endowed with a tragic flaw
Doomed to make a serious error in
judgment
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.
• "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."
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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!"
• "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.
• "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.
• 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?
• "I am going to find Uncle Claudius."
• On the way he passes a brook. In the
brook he sees Ophelia. Ophelia is
drowning.
•"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.
• 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