Act I recap of Hamlet and Act II Lecture notes:
Important characters:
Horatio: Hamlet’s best friend and educated soldier (sees ghost)
Hamlet: Our Simba, grieving his father’s death
Ophelia: Hamlet’s GF who is told to stay away from Hamlet by both her brother and father
Claudius: Our Scar. A devious new monarch who murdered the late king.
Polonius: Our Zazu, but stupid version of him. Ophelia’s father. Tells his son “To thine own self be
true”, as he goes off to college and tells his daughter to “tender herself more dearly” when she asks to
see Hamlet again. Polonius does not want his daughter to see him again!
Last act recap: Hamlet is told by his best friend Horatio that his father’s ghost appeared before him
and other guards as they kept watch over the tower. Hamlet’s father has been dead but two months
and his mother has already married her brother-in-law, Claudius, who is also the newly crowned
king. When Hamlet confirms the ghost’s appearance, the late Hamlet insists that Hamlet Jr. avenge his
death, as he was murdered by his own brother (Claudius). Hamlet then agrees to “put an antic
disposition on” and seem crazy in front of his mother and uncle, so as to confuse them about his
behavior.
History lesson: Queen Elizabeth did not have a next of kin; therefore, the state of the kingdom was in
great uncertainty upon her death. The throne would likely go to King James of Scotland. This next
monarch could potentially shift the entire shape of the kingdom, much like Claudius could do as the
new monarch of Denmark (Circle of Life)
Items of merit: Norway is interested in reclaiming land that the late King Hamlet took in war.
Question: Knowing how King Hamlet left the kingdom, how might Claudius use this
information?
Hamlet’s feelings at this point: depressed, grieving, upset at his mother’s hasty marriage, and unsure
of how to react to his new step-father. He is also frightened at how to react to the ghost
Themes:
Appearance versus reality: should Hamlet believe that he is seeing a ghost? (insanity)
Father vs. Son: With both Hamlet and his father and Fortinbras and the young Prince Fortinbras
Displacement of political power: is Claudius directing the state impartially?
Woman as subordinate: Getrude marrying out of incapability to rule alone, Ophelia being told what
to do by all men in her life
Disobedience: Hamlet speaking scornfully to his mother and new father
Madness vs. sanity: Hamlet sees a ghost; he speaks to a ghost, yet he says he will “act” crazy.
Theories:
Materialism: Holds that the only thing that exists is matter or energy, that all things are composed
of material and all phenomena (including consciousness) are the result of material interactions. In
other words, matter is only substance, and reality is identical with the actually occurring states of
energy and matter.
Question: If materialism is in fact true, what does this say about Hamlet?
Passage analysis: Act I, Scene ii:
“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come to this!
But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two:
So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember? why, she would hang on him,
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on: and yet, within a month-Let me not think on't--Frailty, thy name is woman!-A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she follow'd my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears:--why she, even she-O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourn'd longer--married with my uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules: within a month:
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good:
But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Read the above passage from the play
Analyze Hamlet’s frame of mind; what is he upset about?
How is misogyny a relevant theme in this passage?
Is he suicidal? Why?
Act I, Scene iii: Ophelia and Polonius
Ophelia
And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord,
With almost all the holy vows of heaven.
LORD POLONIUS
Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both,
Even in their promise, as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire. From this time
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence;
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, that he is young
And with a larger tether may he walk
Than may be given you: in few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,
The better to beguile. This is for all:
I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth,
Have you so slander any moment leisure,
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.
Look to't, I charge you: come your ways.
Questions:
How does diction affect the meaning of this passage? Give examples.
How is Polonius changing the meaning of “vows”?
Why is this passage important in understanding the motives of Polonius and Ophelia?
Scene V:
What does Hamlet Sr. inform his son about?
How does this information change Hamlet’s emotional state?
Does Hamlet believe in the theory of materialism?
Why could one consider Hamlet indecisive or wishy-washy?
ACT II:
Summary:
Polonius hires Reynaldo to act as a spy on Laertes. He sends Reynaldo to France to ensure that Laertes is
acting nobly while he is off studying in college. This is a true characterization of Polonius. He cannot be
trusted. Sending someone to spy on his son? Soon after this occurs, Ophelia runs into the room to declare
that Hamlet has recently burst into her room, starring at her awkwardly and wearing no pants. She is clearly
baffled (is he “acting” crazy?) Polonius insists that he will tell the king and queen that Hamlet’s lunacy is
due to his infatuation and love for his daughter.
Meanwhile, Gertrude and Claudius learn that Norway would like safe passage through Denmark to attack
Poland. They do not wish to fight; they only desire a safe route to take through the country. Claudius
agrees.
Question:
Can Norway be trusted?
Why should Claudius agree to this?
How does this tie into the theme of displacement of power?
Why is this seemingly small piece of information important to the play?
Soon after, C and G desire to know more about Hamlet’s strange behavior. They hire Rosencratz and
Guildenstern (Timon and Pumba) to spy on Hamlet in order to determine why he is so upset (duh…his dad
just died). Two spies at court? I smell mischief. Polonius soon runs in to inform the king and queen that
Hamlet is “crazy in love” with his daughter, Ophelia. The three agree to set up a plan to confirm Hamlet’s
“love sickness”.
At such a time I'll loose my daughter to him:
Be you and I behind an arras then;
Mark the encounter: if he love her not
And be not from his reason fall'n thereon,
Let me be no assistant for a state,
But keep a farm and carters.
Hamlet is smarter than his elders think him to be. He devises a plan of his own to throw off the suspicions
of the King, Queen and Polonius.
HAMLET
Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here
that old men have grey beards, that their faces are
wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and
plum-tree gum and that they have a plentiful lack of
wit, together with most weak hams: all which, sir,
though I most powerfully and potently believe, yet
I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down, for
yourself, sir, should be old as I am, if like a crab
you could go backward.
LORD POLONIUS
[Aside] Though this be madness, yet there is method
in 't. Will you walk out of the air, my lord?
Questions:
How does Hamlet confuse Polonius?
Themes:
Disobedience: Hamlet testing the wits of his elders
Communication Breakdown: Spies at court. What they report back to the kingdom may not be true.
As we move through Act II, Hamlet is greeted by R and G (Timon and Pumba). Remember, they are not
visiting with true intentions. They are spying. They inquire about Hamlet’s sadness, but Hamlet can tell that
their intentions are false. He yells at them and claims this:
I will tell you why; so shall my anticipation
prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the king
and queen moult no feather. I have of late--but
wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth, forgone all
custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not
me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling
you seem to say so.
Questions:
What is Hamlet saying?
What does the diction reveal about his view of the world?
Does he seem sane or insane at this point?
R and G inform Hamlet that he needs to discontinue his tears. Instead, be happy because a troupe of
actors is coming into town and are going to perform for the kingdom. Hamlet then gets a great idea!
a. Speak to the players and have them reenact the murder of King Hamlet
b.
c.
d.
e.
Call it “The Mousetrap”
Watch the King’s reaction when he sees the murder he committed played out before
him.
If Claudius “freaks out”, Hamlet can safely believe the ghost’s story (this also confirms
Hamlet’s belief in materialism).
If Claudius can be proven guilty, Hamlet can pursue vengeance and not worry about
guilt. He can also restore balance to the kingdom and send his father to Heaven.
Analyze the following passage from Hamlet:
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ. I'll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle: I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick: if he but blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen
May be the devil: and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds
More relative than this: the play 's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.