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Introduction
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
Hamlet is the first of Shakespeare’s four
great tragedies, written in 1600.

The other three are Othello (1601),
King Lear (1606), and Macbeth
(1606).

The plot of Hamlet is that of a “revenge
tragedy,” a popular genre at this time.

The plot centers around a noble person
who has been hideously wronged and
must take revenge on a powerful
enemy.

Hamlet’s delay and inaction is
considered by many critics to be the
central problem of the play.
Edwin Booth as Hamlet, 1870
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
There are three versions of Hamlet:

First Quarto: Published in 1603, a pirated
edition.

Second Quarto: Published in 1604, twice as
long as the first quarto. The best version of
the play, probably approved by Shakespeare.

First Folio: Published in 1623, a collection of
Shakespeare’s plays compiled by two of his
associates, based on the acting version of the
play.

Modern editions are a combination of the
Second Quarto and First Folio and are usually
longer than both.
Title page of the Second Quarto
of Hamlet published in 1604-05
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1.
Historia Danica (12th Century), by Saxo Grammaticus.

2.
3.
Told the story of a Danish prince, Amlethus, who feigned madness in
order to murder Feng, his father’s killer
Histoires Tragiques (1576), written by Francois de Belleforest.

Recounted Saxo’s story of a young Prince Hamlet who avenges the
murder of his father.

In this version, Hamlet’s mother helps him and Hamlet becomes the King
of Denmark.
Ur-Hamlet

According to a popular theory, Shakespeare's main source is believed to
be an earlier play—now lost—known today as the Ur-Hamlet.

Possibly written by Thomas Kyd or even William Shakespeare himself,
the Ur-Hamlet would have been in performance by 1589 and the first
version of the story known to incorporate a ghost.

No copies of Ur-Hamlet exist today.
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God
Angels
Demons
Stars
Moons
Kings
Princes
Nobles
Men
Wild Animals
Domesticated Animals
Trees
Other Plants
Precious Stones
Precious Metals
Other minerals
Introduction to Hamlet
• Shakespeare’s audience believed in a
great Chain of Being that determined
the natural order of events.
• The chain was a series of hierarchical
links with God at the top.
• Each level of the chain had its own
hierarchy, with the king at the top of
the human level.
• Disruptions in the chain could also
disrupt the laws of nature and cause
bizarre events to occur.
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

The King and the Chain of Being

The king was believed to have been appointed by God in order to assure the
stability of society.

Removal of the king disrupted the chain of being and risked the collapse of order
and universal disaster.
Ghosts and the Devil

Shakespeare’s audience believed in
ghosts and believed that the ghost of
a murdered person could return to
demand revenge on his murderer.

Shakespeare’s audience also believed
in the Devil and believed that he
could appear on earth in many forms,
including that of a ghost.
Hamlet and the Ghost, Henry Fuseli, 1789
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Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
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1.
Why have Marcellus and Bernardo invited Horatio to join them
on their watch? 
2.
Who is Laertes, and what request does he make of the king? 
3.
How does Hamlet feel about his mother and why? 
4.
5.
Briefly describe the murder of the king, as told to Hamlet by the
ghost. 
What are the ghost's instructions regarding the queen? 
Hamlet Quizzes
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1. Why have Marcellus and Bernardo invited Horatio to join
them on their watch?
Click anywhere to show answer.
Horatio has come to see for himself if the story they told him is
true.
They claim that on the past two nights, at the stroke of one, a spirit
has appeared in the likeness of the late King Hamlet.
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2. Who is Laertes, and what request does he make of the
king?
Click anywhere to show answer.
Laertes is the son of Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain and minister to
the king. Laertes asks Claudius's permission to return to
France. With Polonius's consent, Claudius agrees.
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3. How does Hamlet feel about his mother and why?
Click anywhere to show answer.
He is disgusted by her hasty marriage to Claudius, and doesn't think
she grieved long enough for his dead father.
He despises Claudius, a detestable man who is no more like his
admirable father than he is "to Hercules."
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4. Briefly describe the murder of the king, as told to Hamlet
by the ghost. Click anywhere to show answer.
Although the "official story" was that the former king was bitten by a
serpent, the ghost reveals that he was murdered by his brother,
Claudius.
After seducing and winning over Gertrude, Claudius poured poison
in the king's ear while he slept in his orchard.
The ghost complains that he was killed before he had a chance to
confess his sins and be absolved.
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5. What are the ghost's instructions regarding the queen?
Click anywhere to show answer.
The ghost tells Hamlet not to plot against his mother, but to "leave
her to heaven" and the "thorns" of her own conscience.
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1.
What does Polonius instruct Reynaldo to do at the beginning of
Act II? 
2.
For what reason has Claudius sent for Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern? 
3.
According to Polonius, what is the cause of Hamlet's madness?

4.
What is Hamlet’s reaction to the arrival of the players, and what
special instructions does he give them? 
5.
What plan to reveal Claudius’s guilt does Hamlet announce at the
end of Act II? 
Hamlet Quizzes
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1. What does Polonius instruct Reynaldo to do at the
beginning of Act II? Click anywhere to show answer.
Polonius sends Reynaldo to deliver money and messages to Laertes,
but he also wants him to spy on his son.
He goes so far as to instruct Reynaldo to slander Laertes, just to see
if his lies are confirmed or denied by others.
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2. For what reason has Claudius sent for Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern?
Click anywhere to show answer.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are old school friends of Hamlet.
Claudius wants them to spy on Hamlet and provide him with
information. He says he wants them to find out the reason for
Hamlet's "transformation."
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3. According to Polonius, what is the cause of Hamlet's
madness? Click anywhere to show answer.
Polonius thinks Hamlet's madness is due to Ophelia's rejection of
him.
Under her father's orders, Ophelia has denied Hamlet's letters and
refused to see him.
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4. What is Hamlet’s reaction to the arrival of the players,
and what special instructions does he give them?
Click anywhere to show answer.
Hamlet greets the players warmly. He knows them well and jokes
about how one has grown, and another has a new beard.
Hamlet asks the players to perform a particular play, The Murder of
Gonzago. Furthermore, he asks the player to memorize and insert
in the play an extra speech that Hamlet will write.
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5. What plan to reveal Claudius’s guilt does Hamlet
announce at the end of Act II?
Click anywhere to show answer.
Hamlet has heard that guilty people at a play have sometimes been
“struck to the soul” and betrayed their guilt.
Hamlet plans to watch Claudius carefully during the performance of
The Murder of Gonzago, hoping that he will betray himself.
…the play’s the thing
Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king. (Hamlet, II, 2)
Hamlet Quizzes
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1.
2.
After spying on Hamlet and Ophelia, what does Claudius decide
to do with Hamlet and why? 
What is the King's reaction to the play? 
3.
What reason does Hamlet give for not killing Claudius while he is
praying? 
4.
Who is killed by Hamlet in the Queen’s bedchamber? Describe
the circumstances. 
5.
What happens in this scene that causes Gertrude to conclude that
Hamlet is mad? 
Hamlet Quizzes
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1. After spying on Hamlet and Ophelia, what does Claudius
decide to do with Hamlet and why?
Click anywhere to show answer.
Claudius senses that Hamlet represents a danger to him and decides
to send him to England on the pretense of collecting an overdue
tribute.
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2. What is the King's reaction to the play?
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When the murder of the king is enacted, Claudius rises in shock and
halts the performance, crying out, "Give me light!"
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3. What reason does Hamlet give for not killing Claudius
while he is praying? Click anywhere to show answer.
Hamlet is about to kill Claudius, but hesitates at the last moment
because killing Claudius while he prays would send his soul to
heaven. One of the worst aspects of Claudius's crime is that he killed
King Hamlet before he could confess his sins.
Hamlet decides to wait for a chance to kill him while he is engaged in
some wicked act, such as "th' incestuous pleasure of his bed," in
order to insure his damnation.
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4.
Who is killed by Hamlet in the Queen’s bedchamber? Describe
the circumstances. Click anywhere to show answer.
While Hamlet is confronting his mother, he becomes increasingly
threatening and violent, causing Polonius to cry out from behind the
arras (curtain) where he is hiding and overhearing the conversation.
In a rage, Hamlet impulsively stabs Polonius through the arras and kills
him. Immediately after, he says he knows not what he has done and
asks, “is it the king?” (III, 4)
Shakespeare has set up an ambiguous situation. Is Hamlet shown
taking the action of revenge, which he hesitated to do in the previous
scene, or has he committed a totally rash act? (He could not consciously
know it was Claudius, since he just left him in prayer, while on the way
to his mother’s room.
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5. What happens in this scene that causes Gertrude to
conclude that Hamlet is mad?
Click anywhere to show answer.
The Ghost appears to Hamlet, but Gertrude cannot see him. When
Hamlet says that he gazes on “my father, in his habit, as he lived,”
Gertrude concludes that “This is the very coinage of your brain.”
This scene sets up another ambiguous situation. Is the ghost really
there, or just a figment of Hamlet’s overactive mind? If the ghost is real,
has he come to spur Hamlet on to action, or to prevent him from
harming his mother as his rage builds? If the ghost is real, why does he
not appear to Gertrude?
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True or False?
1. Claudius feared for his own safety when he heard of the killing of Polonius.

2. The Queen kept her promise to Hamlet not to reveal to the King that
Hamlet's madness was pretended. 
3. Hamlet referred to Polonius as a "sponge" that soaked up information for
Claudius. 
4. Hamlet refused to go to England voluntarily and was sent there as a prisoner
against his will. 
5. Claudius and Gertrude together devised a plot to have Hamlet killed when
he arrived in England. 
6. After a conversation with Fortinbras, Hamlet condemned himself as a
coward who had a much better reason to take action than the Norwegian
prince. 
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True or False?
1. Claudius feared for his own safety when he heard of the
killing of Polonius. Click anywhere to show answer.
True.
Claudius realizes the danger of Hamlet's murderous mood.
"It had been so with us, had we been there."
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True or False?
2. The Queen kept her promise to Hamlet not to reveal to
the King that Hamlet's madness was pretended.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Probably true.
Gertrude tells Claudius that Hamlet killed Polonius in a fit of
madness: "...as mad as the sea and wind when both contend."
However, it's not clear whether she's keeping her son's secret, or she
believes he really is mad. His behavior in her chamber certainly was
wild enough to cause her to draw that conclusion.
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True or False?
3. Hamlet referred to Polonius as a "sponge" that soaked up
information for Claudius. Click anywhere to show answer.
False.
He directs this accusation at Rosencrantz when he and Guildenstern
try to find out the location of Polonius's body.
Using the "sponge" metaphor, he accuses them of soaking up
information for Claudius, who will "squeeze" them dry when he
wants their information (about Hamlet).
Hamlet viciously insults and mocks both of them in this scene (IV,2),
knowing they are merely puppets of Claudius.
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True or False?
4. Hamlet refused to go to England voluntarily and was sent
there as a prisoner against his will.
Click anywhere to show answer.
False.
Claudius tells Hamlet he must go to England for his own
good. Hamlet agrees, but his sarcastic answers to Claudius make it
obvious he does not believe Claudius's stated purpose for sending
him.
Unknown to Hamlet (or to Rosencrantz and Guldenstern, who will
accompany him), Claudius is also sending letters ordering the
English to put Hamlet to death on his arrival.
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True or False?
5. Claudius and Gertrude together devised a plot to have
Hamlet killed when he arrived in England.
Click anywhere to show answer.
False.
There is no evidence in the play that Gertrude is aware of Claudius's
plot to kill her son.
She agrees to send Hamlet away because she assumes it is in his
best interest to leave the country, after the murder of Polonius.
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True or False?
6. After a conversation with Fortinbras, Hamlet condemned
himself as a coward who had a much better reason to
take action than the Norwegian prince.
Click anywhere to show answer.
False.
Hamlet does not actually have a conversation with Fortinbras, but
with a Norwegian captain who has come to ask permission for the
Norwegian army (led by Fortinbras) to cross Denmark in order to do
battle with the Polish forces.
This conversation is one more reminder of Hamlet's delay in
avenging his father's death. He curses himself for continuing to talk
about the deed, instead of just doing it, and compares himself to
Fortinbras, who is willing defend his honor "for an eggshell."
Hamlet Quizzes
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1.
How did Hamlet arrange for the deaths of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern? 
2.
What is the purpose of the gravedigger scene (V, 1)? 
3.
Explain how each character died: 





4.
Ophelia
Laertes
Gertrude
Claudius
Hamlet
What is Horatio’s purpose at the end of the play? 
Hamlet Quizzes
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1. How did Hamlet arrange for the deaths of Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern? Click anywhere to show answer.
During the voyage to England, Hamlet stole the letter carried by
Rosencrantz and Guldenstern and discovered that it contained
orders to have him beheaded on his arrival.
He wrote a new letter ordering the immediate execution of the
letter's bearers and switched it with the first.
The next day, the ship was attacked by pirates and Hamlet escaped.
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2. What is the purpose of the gravedigger scene (V, 1)?
Click anywhere to show answer.
The scene is one of comic relief. It gives the audience a break
between two scenes of tragedy—the news of Ophelia’s death and
the mass slaughter in the final scene.
It contains humorous wordplay and jokes between Hamlet, Horatio
and the gravedigger. Hamlet does not at first realize that the grave
is Ophelia’s.
The discovery of Yoric’s skull prompts Hamlet to reflect more
seriously on many of the play’s main themes—the temporary nature
of life, the inevitability of death, and the physical and moral decay of
man.
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3. Explain how each character died:
Click anywhere to show answer.
Ophelia drowned when the willow branch she was climbing on broke and she
fell into the river. She was finally pulled to a “muddy death” by the weight of
her own clothes, still singing her songs.
Laertes was killed when the swords were switched during the duel. Hamlet
wounded him with the poison sword.
Gertrude drank the poison that Claudius had prepared for Hamlet as a backup, in case the poison sword didn't work. It is not clear from the evidence in
the play whether Gertrude knows she is drinking poison. In some productions,
she is aware that it's deadly and drinks it to prevent Hamlet from doing so.
Claudius is finally killed by Hamlet after Laertes confesses their plot and the
Queen dies after drinking the poison. Hamlet rushes at Claudius, stabbing
him with the poison sword and then pours the remainder of the poison drink
down his throat.
Hamlet dies as a result of being wounded by Laertes with the poison sword
during the duel (before the switch).
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4. What is Horatio’s purpose at the end of the play?
Click anywhere to show answer.
Horatio is basically the only main character left alive at the end of
the play to tell the story. He is also the only character who was
taken into Hamlet’s confidence and the only one who knows the
whole truth.
When Fortinbras enters at the end of the play, Horatio emphasizes
that the story must be told, in order to prevent further “plots and
errors.” He says he plans to tell of
…carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts …
Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook. (V, 2)
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Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
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1.
...Fear it, my dear sister,
And keep you in the rear of your affection,
Out of the shot of danger and desire. 
2.
The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown. 
3.
...meet it is I set it down
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark. 
4.
The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right! 
Hamlet Quotes
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1. ...Fear it, my dear sister,
And keep you in the rear of your affection,
Out of the shot of danger and desire.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Laertes is giving his sister Ophelia some brotherly advice before he
returns to France. He tells her to view Hamlet's advances with
caution in order to stay out of danger.
He believes Hamlet is sincere now, but because of his social position,
may not be free to choose his bride. He warns Ophelia to consider
what would happen if she "lost her honor" to Hamlet and was then
rejected by him.
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2. The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Although it was reported that King Hamlet died after being bitten by
a serpent, the ghost informs Hamlet that the current king (Claudius)
is his murderer.
The serpent is a Biblical symbol of evil.
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3. ...meet it is I set it down
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Hamlet, after learning that Claudius is his father's murderer, curses
him as someone who can maintain the appearance of propriety
while committing evil acts.
Hamlet seems to be almost raving in this scene. It is a matter of
discussion whether he is behaving irrationally, reacting normally to
sudden grief, or already beginning to put on the "antic disposition"
he announces later in the scene.
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4. The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
Click anywhere to show answer.
Hamlet ends Act I with this couplet.
Claudius has been exposed as a villain by the Ghost, and Hamlet
realizes that revenging his father’s murder is his responsibility.
This quote emphasizes that the murder of a king has disrupted time
and the universal order, which must be “set right.”
Hamlet’s mission is not only revenge, but a responsibility to restore
order to the state/universe and avert chaos.
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1.
Denmark's a prison. 
2.
...I'll loose my daughter to him.
Be you and I behind an arras then.
Mark the encounter. 
3.
Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other,
And with a look so piteous in purport,
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors--he comes before me. 
4.
The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king. 
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1. Denmark's a prison.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Hamlet's explains to his friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, that
to him Denmark is a prison because he perceives it as
such. "Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Hamlet
also refers to recent "bad dreams."
Later in this scene in his famous "apostrophe to man" speech,
Hamlet further describes his desperate state of mind.
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2. ...I'll loose my daughter to him.
Be you and I behind an arras then.
Mark the encounter.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Polonius offers to set up an "accidental" meeting between Hamlet
and Ophelia. He and Claudius will hide nearby and observe the
conversation.
Polonius intends to prove to Claudius that Hamlet's madness has
been caused by Ophelia's rejection of his love.
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3.
Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other,
And with a look so piteous in purport,
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors--he comes before me.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Ophelia reports to her father the details of Hamlet's recent visit.
Hamlet appears in a disordered state, half-dressed, acting
crazy. Her words remind us of the ghost in Act I: "as if he had been
loosed out of hell to speak of horrors."
This scene has been the subject of much criticism. Is Hamlet putting
on the "antic disposition" he announced in Act I? Or is he genuinely
crazed over the appearance of the ghost and Ophelia's rejection?
Polonius assumes that Hamlet's behavior is due to Ophelia's
rejection.
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4. The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Hamlet decides to use the players' visit to be sure of Claudius's guilt.
The traveling theatre troupe is planning to stage The Murder of
Gonzago, and they have agreed to insert a speech that Hamlet will
write.
Hamlet plans to observe his uncle during the speech, hoping he will
reveal his guilt.
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1.
...the dread of something after death...
Makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of. 
2.
Do not forget. This visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. 
3.
O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon't... 
4.
O, I am slain! 
Hamlet Quotes
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1. ...the dread of something after death...
Makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of.
Click anywhere to show answer.
This is part of Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy.
He is contemplating suicide and explains why people sometimes
decide against suicide.
As unbearable as one's life may be, the fear of a worse fate after
death makes us bear our current suffering, rather than risk the
unknown.
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2. Do not forget. This visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.
Click anywhere to show answer.
The ghost appears to Hamlet while in his mother's chamber.
The ghost reminds him not to forget his original purpose--to avenge
his father's death--which is not yet accomplished.
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3. O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon't...
Click anywhere to show answer.
These are Claudius's words as he prays, after leaving the players'
performance. He acknowledges his guilt here and the heinous
nature of his crime. The "primal eldest curse" he refers to is the
Biblical story of Cain, who was cursed after he murdered Abel, his
brother.
It's ironic that, at end of this speech after Hamlet leaves, Claudius
admits that he was unable to pray because his thoughts are not pure
enough. Since he was not actually praying, Hamlet could have killed
him without sending his soul to heaven.
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4. O, I am slain!
Click anywhere to show answer.
Polonius's last words, after he is stabbed and killed by Hamlet while
he is hiding behind the arras (curtain) in order to overhear the
conversation between Hamlet and his mother, the queen.
In the killing of Polonius, Shakespeare once again sets up a brilliantly
ambiguous action. Is Hamlet shown taking the action of revenge
which he hesitated at the previous scene while Claudius was
praying? If so, is it the presence of his mother and a reminder of her
crime that finally induces him to act? Or has he committed a rash
act without thinking about the identity of the victim?
After killing Polonius, Gertrude asks Hamlet what he has done, and
he responds, "I know not. Is it the King?"
Hamlet Quotes
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1.
High and mighty, you shall know I am set naked on your
kingdom. Tomorrow I beg leave to see your kingly eyes. 
2.
There's a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered
all when my father died. 
3.
...You may choose / A sword unbated, and, in pass of practice, /
Requite him for your father. 
4.
...her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay,
To muddy death. 
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1. High and mighty, you shall know I am set naked on your
kingdom. Tomorrow I beg leave to see your kingly eyes.
Click anywhere to show answer.
This is a quote from the letter Hamlet sends to Claudius on his return
to Denmark from England.
Its tone is sarcastic and challenging--he promises to see Claudius
tomorrow to explain his return.
Claudius is, of course, surprised to learn that Hamlet has returned
alive and alone. Laertes, who is present when Claudius reads the
letter, is glad to have the chance to confront Hamlet directly.
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2. There's a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they
withered all when my father died.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Ophelia, in her madness, sings and gives flowers to Laertes, Claudius
and Gertrude.
With these words, Ophelia makes it clear that her father's death is at
least partially responsible for her current mental state.
Laertes reacts emotionally to his sister's condition: "...is't possible a
young maid's wits / Should be as mortal as an old man's life?"
Claudius will take advantage of Laertes's grief and anger to
manipulate him in the final plot against Hamlet.
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3. ...You may choose / A sword unbated, and, in pass of
practice, / Requite him for your father. Click anywhere to show
answer.
Claudius is instructing Laertes on the duel which is intended to kill
Hamlet and allow Laertes to avenge his father's death.
According to Claudius's plan, he will praise Laertes's dueling skill in
Hamlet's presence and set up a duel between them, wagering on the
outcome.
The unsuspecting Hamlet will not inspect the swords and will not
realize that Laertes is choosing the foil that is not blunted (as they
usually are during exhibition duels to prevent injury).
Laertes agrees with this plan, adding his own touch: He will dip the
point of his unblunted sword in poison, so that even a slight scratch
will cause death.
Hamlet Quotes
Next Question
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4. ...her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay,
To muddy death. Click anywhere to show answer.
Gertrude reports the death of Ophelia by drowning.
She was weaving garlands of flowers and hanging them on a tree
when a branch broke, causing her to fall into the water.
Although she floated in the river, buoyed by her clothes and singing,
she was finally pulled to a "muddy death" by the weight of her own
clothes.
Hamlet Quotes
Main Menu
1.
Hamlet, thou art slain....Thy mother's poisoned.
I can no more. The King, the King's to blame. 
2.
Sweets to the sweet! Farewell...
I thought thy bride bed to have decked, sweet maid,
And not have strewed thy grave. 
3.
Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet Prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. 
4.
...Let four captains
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,...
Such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss. 
Hamlet Quotes
Main Menu
1. Hamlet, thou art slain....Thy mother's poisoned.
I can no more. The King, the King's to blame.
Click anywhere to show answer.
After being wounded by Hamlet (with the poisoned sword after the
foils are switched), Laertes confesses Claudius's plot.
He informs Hamlet that neither of them have long to live, having
been wounded with the poison. He also tells him that Gertrude's
drink was poisoned, and places ultimate blame on Claudius.
Hamlet Quotes
Next Question
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2. Sweets to the sweet! Farewell...
I thought thy bride bed to have decked, sweet maid,
And not have strewed thy grave.
Click anywhere to show answer.
Gertrude scatters flowers on the grave at Ophelia's funeral.
She admits her hope that Hamlet and Ophelia might have been
married.
The flowers that should have decorated her bridal bed now adorn
her grave.
Hamlet Quotes
Next Question
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3. Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet Prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Click anywhere to show answer.
A moving final comment from Horatio, Hamlet's friend, after
Hamlet dies in the last scene.
Hamlet Quotes
Next Question
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4.
...Let four captains
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,...
Such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Click anywhere to show answer.
At the end of the play, Fortinbras enters and is stunned by the scene
of destruction. (The bodies of Hamlet, Laertes, Claudius and
Gertrude are all dead on stage.)
Fortinbras honors Hamlet by ordering four captains to carry his body
to the stage (platform) requested by Horatio, who (as the only one
alive who knows the whole truth) wants to explain the
circumstances behind these events.
Fortinbras's final words emphasize the tragedy of Hamlet's death by
pointing out his nobility. The audience is left at the end of the play
thinking what a great king Hamlet might have become had he lived.
Hamlet Quotes
Main Menu
Hamlet
Horatio
Gertrude
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
Claudius
Fortinbras
Polonius
Two Clowns (gravediggers)
Ophelia
First Player
Laertes
Player King and Queen
The Ghost
Minor Characters
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Hamlet’s Problem
Hamlet’s Madness
Hamlet’s Delay
Hamlet and Women
Hamlet and His Mother
Hamlet and Oedipus
Characters
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
At the beginning of the play, Hamlet is a
distraught, slightly suicidal young man.

His father has recently died.

His mother soon after married his Uncle
Claudius, who is now the current king.

Hamlet learns from a ghost that his father
was murdered by Claudius.

Hamlet must carry out revenge by killing the
current King of Denmark and his mother’s
new husband.

The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right! (I, 5)
Characters
Hamlet
Sir Thomas Lawrence
J. P. Kemble as Hamlet (1801)
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
Horatio is the first to suggest Hamlet’s madness, fearing in Act I that if
Hamlet follows the ghost, it will “draw you into madness.” (I, 4)

If the ghost is a demon, Horatio fears it will lure Hamlet to a cliff edge.

Horatio also comments on Hamlet’s “wild and whirling words” after he has
seen the ghost. (I, 5)

At the end of Act I, Hamlet warns Horatio and Marcellus that he will put
on an “antic disposition,” and commends them not to reveal this
pretense.

Hamlet never explains the purpose of his pretended madness.

Feigned madness was a widely-used plot device in revenge tragedies.

The avenger used this ruse to confuse his target until the last moment.
Characters
Hamlet
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
Polonius is convinced Hamlet’s madness is
caused by Ophelia’s rejection of him.


Polonius also recognizes that Hamlet’s
madness may serve some other purpose.


Although this is probably not true, it’s ironic that
Hamlet’s madness is caused by a woman’s
rejection—his mother’s rejection of his father’s
memory.
Though this be madness, yet there is method
in't. (II, 2)
When Hamlet abuses Ophelia, she mourns the
loss of his sanity.

Hamlet and Ophelia
Dante Gabriel Charles Rossetti, 1858
O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!" (III, 1)
Characters
Hamlet
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
Hamlet’s “madness” gives Claudius a good reason to send Hamlet to
England.



I like him not, nor stands it safe with us
To let his madness range. (III, 3)
Gertrude is convinced that Hamlet is crazy when he sees the ghost in
her chamber and she does not.

Alas, he’s mad! (III, 4)

Hamlet explains to her that he is only “mad in craft,” and she agrees to
keep his secret.
Hamlet’s madness is one of the central questions of the play: Is it real
or feigned?

If feigned, how does it help Hamlet accomplish his revenge?

Hamlet’s predicament could be reason enough for him to lose his sanity.
Characters
Hamlet
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

Does Hamlet delay? There are two
theories:
1.
Hamlet does not delay. He acts as soon as
he is convinced of Claudius’s guilt and the
situation presents itself.
2.
Hamlet does delay. He has several
opportunities to kill the king before the
final act, and he berates himself several
times as a coward who is afraid to act.
After Hamlet hears the ghost’s story in
Act I, he vows:
…that I, with wings as swift
As meditation or the thoughts of love
May sweep to my revenge. (I, 5)
Characters
Hamlet
John Barrymore as Hamlet, 1922
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In Act III, Hamlet reacts strongly to the player’s performance of Queen
Hecuba’s grief for her murdered husband.


He compares the player’s theatrical grief to his own situation.

O, vengeance! / Why, what an ass am I! (II, 2)

However, after this scene, Hamlet further delays by deciding to find out
whether the ghost was telling the truth about the murder, for the first time
expressing doubts about the ghost’s story.

Is this a real concern or another delaying tactic?
In his “To be or not to be” soliloquy, Hamlet gives another reason for his
delay: his own conscience.


Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought… (III, 1)
Characters
Hamlet
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In III, 3, Hamlet finally has a “golden
opportunity” to kill Claudius while he is praying.


He is convinced of Claudius’s guilt, and his mood is
“murderous.”

However, he chooses not to act, afraid that
Claudius’s soul will go to Heaven, and decides to
wait until he can catch him in a sinful act.
Is Hamlet rationalizing another delay, or is this a
legitimate reason?



One of the worst aspects of Claudius’s crime is that
King Hamlet was killed with no chance to repent
his earthly sins.
Contrast Hamlet’s behavior in this scene to his
impulsive murder of Polonius in the next scene.
Characters
Hamlet
Claudius at Prayer, Eugene Delacroix, 1844
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In IV, 4, Hamlet speaks to a Norwegian captain in the service of
Fortinbras, who is fighting for a small patch of land held by the Poles.


Hamlet compares himself to Fortinbras, who will expose himself to “death
and danger…even for an egg-shell.”

He berates himself again for not acting and “thinking too precisely on the
event.”
Hamlet ends his last soliloquy, vowing:


O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!
When Hamlet duals Laertes in the final scene, he finally kills Claudius
and accomplishes his revenge.


Hamlet has no “plan” going into the final scene.

When he finally kills the king after Laertes reveals that Claudius poisoned his
weapon, he acts quickly without thinking (perhaps reacting emotionally to
the death of his mother?).
Characters
Hamlet
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
Frailty, thy name is woman! (I, 2)


In his first soliloquy, Hamlet expresses his disgust
at his mother’s “o’erhasty marriage” to his uncle.
Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a
breeder of sinners?

Hamlet is brutal to Ophelia in III, 1, most likely
aware that she is a pawn of Claudius and Polonius.

In this scene with Ophelia, Hamlet seems to
alternate between sincere emotion (“I did love
you once.”) and pretended (?) irrational behavior :
You should not have believ'd me… I lov'd you not.
(III, 1)

When Ophelia comments on the briefness of the
play within the play, Hamlet responds, “As
woman’s love.” (III, 2)
Characters
Hamlet
Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet, 1880
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
Hamlet attacks both Gertrude and Ophelia as symbols of all women and
their hypocritical love.

Is Hamlet a misogynist? Are his attacks on women justified?

Gertrude is the cause of Hamlet’s disdain for women:


O, most wicked speed to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! (I, 2)

The speed of her remarriage is suspicious. Did she commit adultery while
the king was alive, and did she help plan his murder?
Hamlet is obsessed and tormented by sexual images of his mother and
Claudius, imagining them,

In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, / Stewed in corruption, honeying and
making love / Over the nasty sty! (III, 4)
Characters
Hamlet
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

La Petite Ophélie (The Young Ophelia)
Adolph-William Bouquereau
Hamlet sees Ophelia as a tool of Claudius and
Polonius, another example of women’s
deceiving nature:

God hath given you one face and you make
yourselves another. You jig, you amble, and you
lisp… Go to, I’ll no more on’t! It hath made me
mad. (III, 1)

Why does Ophelia help Claudius and Polonius
deceive Hamlet? Does she have any choice?
"Through Ophelia we witness Hamlet’s
evolution, or de-evolution into a man convinced
that all women are whores; that the women who
seem most pure are inside black with corruption
and sexual desires.”
(Mabillard, Amanda. Ophelia. Shakespeare Online.)
Characters
Hamlet
Next Back Main Menu


From the beginning of the play, he seems to focus more on his mother’s
incestuous, lustful behavior than on the murder of his father.

Is Hamlet having trouble coming to terms with his mother’s sexuality, or
does he suspect her of a crime against his father?

It is unclear whether Gertrude and Claudius were having an affair while King
Hamlet was alive.
Hamlet’s directly confronts Gertrude in III, 4, in a climactic scene:

Hamlet begins the scene chanting “Mother!” three times, emphasizing the
reason for his emotional distress.

By killing Polonius, Hamlet is shown taking the action of revenge which he
hesitated to do in the previous scene while Claudius was praying.

Is it the presence of his mother that induces him to finally act?
Characters
Hamlet
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

In III, 4, Hamlet begs Gertrude to repent her
sins and refuse to sin further with Claudius:

Assume a virtue, if you have it not…
Refrain tonight,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence: the next more easy…
(III, 4)

Hamlet clearly still loves his mother and will
allow her to redeem herself by rejecting
Claudius.
While pouring the poison down Claudius’s
throat in the final scene, Hamlet says, “Follow
my mother!” (V, 2)

If he is finally carrying out the revenge of his
father’s murder, why doesn’t he say, “Follow my
father”?
Characters
Hamlet
Hamlet and His Mother
Eugène Delacroix, 1830
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
In 1910, Ernst Jones, a colleague and biographer of Freud, published an
influential analysis of Hamlet titled Hamlet and Oedipus.

Jones explains Hamlet's procrastination as a result of the Oedipus
Complex:


The Oedipus Complex is a psychoanalytic theory that centers around the
unconscious desire to possess the parent of the opposite sex and eliminate
the parent of the same sex.
Jones suggests that Hamlet postpones the act of revenge because of
the complicated psychodynamic situation in which he finds himself.

Though he hates his fratricidal uncle, he unconsciously identifies with him.

Having killed Hamlet's father and married his mother, Claudius has carried
out what are Hamlet's own unconscious wishes.
Characters
Hamlet
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

Gertrude's ambiguous role seems to be part of Shakespeare’s conscious
design.

Did she have foreknowledge of her husband’s murder?

Did she conspire with Claudius to kill her husband?
Although she indicates concern for Hamlet and his welfare, she also
desires the status and physical affection that her new marriage provides.

How closely is she allied with Claudius against Hamlet?

Does she keep her son’s secret, or does she purposely betray him to Claudius?

At the end of the play, does know that chalice contains poison?

Does she realize it during the scene, and commit suicide in order to save
Hamlet?

Does she drink it innocently, unaware of the poison?
Characters
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
The Ghost denounces Gertrude’s sexual relationship with Claudius:


Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
…won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. (I, 5)
After confirming Claudius’s guilt during the play, Hamlet is obsessed with
confronting his mother with her guilt, not with killing Claudius.

His thoughts are murderous and knows he must use self-control to avoid
harming his mother.

Now I could drink hot blood. (Hamlet, III, 2)

I will speak daggers but use none. (Hamlet, III, 2)

These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears… (Gertrude, III, 2)
Characters
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
During the duel between Hamlet and
Laertes (V, 2), Gertrude takes the poison
cup and drinks to Hamlet.



As she dies, she tells Hamlet that she has
been poisoned.
Does Gertrude know that the drink is
poison? The text is ambiguous.
Shakespeare leaves it up to a director to
interpret this scene:

Some productions make it obvious that Gertrude
knows the drink is poisoned, and knowingly
commits suicide in order to save Hamlet.

Other productions highlight Claudius’s evil by
showing her drinking the poison unknowingly, as
Claudius does nothing to stop her.
Characters
Hamlet Kills King Claudius
Gustav Moreau (date unknown)
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

Claudius is a symbol of evil.

He is guilty of killing the king, his own
brother.

He coldly plans the murder of Hamlet.

He is willing to sacrifice both Laertes
and Gertrude to avoid being discovered.
Claudius’s main goal is to maintain his
own power.


He manipulates everyone in the play—
Gertrude, Ophelia, Polonius, Laertes,
and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Although a villain, Shakespeare makes
Claudius human by revealing that he
has a conscience when he tries to pray.
Characters
Russian actors Nikolai Massalitinov and
Olga Knipper (wife of Anton Chekhov) as
Claudius and Gertrude in
Stanislavski's Hamlet (1911)
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
As a shrewd and conniving man of action, Claudius is one of the foils
to Hamlet in the play.

Claudius does not hesitate to act, and he is not bothered by moral
doubts.

When Claudius learns of Polonius’s murder, he concerned for his own
safety, not Gertrude’s:
O heavy deed!
It had been so with us, had we been there:
His liberty is full of threats to all—

Claudius is ultimately undone by his own plan.

Instead of relying on Laertes’s poison sword, he poisons the drink as a
backup plan.

When Gertrude drinks the poison and dies, Hamlet is finally motivated to
kill Claudius.
Characters
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

A stain glass window representation
of Polonius
Characters

Polonius is the Lord Chamberlain to the King.

He is a foolish old man and a distrustful meddler.

He sends Reynaldo to spy on his son, Laertes,
and instructs him to slander Laertes in public as a
way of testing his character.
Polonius is used by Shakespeare to further the
plot and provide comic relief.

Polonius forbids Ophelia to see Hamlet and
agrees to spy on Hamlet for Claudius.

His motivation is to ingratiate himself with the
King.
Polonius’s death furthers the plot by setting up
Laertes as another avenger whose father has
been murdered.
Main Menu

Ophelia is a naïve and docile young woman with
whom Hamlet had once been in love.



Ophelia can be seen as a weaker version of
Hamlet:






Daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes.
She obeys her father and Claudius without
question.
Her father was murdered.
She was rejected by her lover.
She was driven to madness by her father’s death.
She contemplates and possibly commits suicide.
Ophelia is a victim whose only flaw is
unquestioning obedience.
She allows herself to be used by both Polonius
and Claudius.
Characters
Mignon Nevada as Ophelia, 1910
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
Ophelia appears in IV, 5, after being driven mad.

Her songs are a product of her madness, yet they repeat many of
the main themes of the play.

Her songs also contain hints about what caused her madness—the
death of her father and Hamlet’s rejection:

He is dead and gone, lady, / He is dead and gone. (IV, 5)

We must be patient: but I
cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay him
i' the cold ground. (IV, 5)

Ophelia also sings of a maid who lost her virginity to a man who
promised marriage and then rejected her.
Characters
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Ophelia, John W. Waterhouse, 1889
Characters
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

Gertrude reports in IV, 7, that
Ophelia died by drowning.

While wearing garlands of flowers
and hanging on a willow tree, she
fell into the water.

Buoyed by her own clothes, she
floated while continuing to sing,
until she was finally pulled to a
“muddy death” by the weight of
her own clothes.
Is Ophelia’s death a suicide?
Ophelia, Sir John Everett Millais, 1852

Because of her mental state, she
did not save herself.

Another parallel with Hamlet, who considered suicide, but rejected it.
Characters
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
Laertes is the son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia.

Laertes is Hamlet’s major foil in the play.



Laertes must also avenge his father’s murder.

Unlike Hamlet, Laertes acts quickly without considering
consequences.
In IV, 7, Claudius skillfully manipulates Laertes by
challenging the sincerity of his love for his father.

…what would you undertake, / To show yourself your
father's son in deed / More than in words?

Laertes says he would “cut his throat i’ the church.”

Contrast this with Hamlet, who would not kill his
father’s murderer while he was praying.
Before he dies in the final scene, Laertes exposes
Claudius, and he and Hamlet forgive each other.
Ophelia and Laertes
William Gorman, 1880
Characters
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

The Ghost of King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father, appears three times in
the play.

In Act I, the ghost first appears to Horatio and the two guards, and then
to Hamlet, informing him that he was murdered by his brother Claudius,
the current king.

In Act III, while Hamlet confronts his mother, the ghost returns to remind
him of his responsibility to avenge his father’s death.
Horatio and Hamlet both question whether the ghost is indeed the
dead king, or an evil spirit that has come to deceive Hamlet.


Hamlet’s fear of the ghost as a demon may also be an excuse for his
delay.
In the first production of Hamlet, it is thought that Shakespeare
himself played the Ghost.
Characters
Main Menu




Horatio is Hamlet’s close friend and his only confidante.
His calm, rational personality is another contrast, or foil, to Hamlet.
Act I:

Horatio has been invited by Marcellus to witness the ghost’s appearance.

He is skeptical, but open-minded, and clearly shaken by the ghost’s visit.
Act V:

Hamlet’s last act is to knock the cup of poison from Horatio’s hand as he
tries to follow his friend in death.

Hamlet pleads with Horatio to tell his story.

Horatio’s epitaph for Hamlet is moving:
Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince:
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! (V, 2)
Characters
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
Two former school friends of Hamlet

They are manipulated by Claudius, and they
never question his evil motives.


Hamlet shows the same contempt for them
that he shows Polonius, mocking them with
his wit.
Hamlet tells Gertrude that they are:
…my two schoolfellows,
Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd (III, 4)

Hamlet coldly plots to kill them, and tells
Horatio:
They are not near my conscience. (V, 2)
Characters
A lithograph of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern in the flute scene from
Hamlet by Eugène Delacroix
Main Menu


Fortinbras is a Norwegian prince who seeks revenge for his father’s
death.

Fortinbras’s father (King Fortinbras) was killed by King Hamlet in single
combat, and forfeited some Norwegian land to Denmark.

Young Prince Fortinbras has gathered an army in an attempt to regain
the land lost by his father.

This is the reason Denmark prepares for war at the beginning of the play.
Fortinbras is another foil to Hamlet.

Fortinbras acts honorably and without hesitation to restore his father’s
lands and his honor.

His willingness to risk all for a “patch of ground” contrasts with Hamlet’s
delay and acts to “spur my dull revenge.” (IV, 4)
Characters
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

In IV, 4, Hamlet compares himself to Fortinbras after talking with a
Norwegian captain:

Fortinbras is willing to risk everything “even for an eggshell” and “find
quarrel in a straw” for the sake of honor.

He describes his own situation in comparison:
How stand I then, / That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd…
Fortinbras is stunned by the scene of destruction at the end of the
play.

He points out his claim to part of Denmark, but accepts his fortune “with
sorrow.”

Take up the bodies: such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss. (V, 2)

He honors Hamlet by ordering captains to carry him to the stage,
emphasizing his potential as a king.
Characters
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
The two clowns are rustics who are digging a
grave in V, 1.

Hamlet and Horatio joke with them about
death before they realize it is Ophelia’s
grave.


The gravedigger digs up the skull of Yoric,
the King’s jester, whom Hamlet loved as a
boy.

I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest,
of most excellent fancy… (V, 1)
The humor in this scene provides comic
relief between two scenes of high tension -the news of Ophelia’s drowning (IV, 7) and
the upcoming duel between Hamlet and
Laertes (V, 2).
Eugène Delacroix, 1839
Characters
Main Menu


In II, 2, Hamlet welcomes the players affectionately and asks for an
example of a “passionate speech.”

The First Player performs a speech about the death of King Priam during the
siege of Troy.

The speech describes a bloody Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, savagely
murdering King Priam as vengeance for the death of his father, who was
killed by Paris, the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba.
The player gives a melodramatic but sympathetic description of the
Queen Hecuba’s reaction to the murder:


The instant burst of clamor that she made… / Would have made milch the
burning eyes of heaven, / And passion in the gods. (II, 2)
Moved by the player’s emotion, Hamlet condemns himself as weak and
cowardly for his inaction.

He imagines if the player had his motive for action, he would “drown the
stage with tears /And cleave the general ear with horrid speech.” (II, 2)
Characters
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

In The Murder of Gonzago, the Player King and Queen reflect the main action
of Hamlet.

The Player King says he will not live long and hopes his wife will find another
husband after he dies.

The Player Queen vows
never to remarry after
his death.
When the Player Queen
exaggerates her vow to be
faithful, Gertrude points
out her hypocrisy:
The lady doth protest too
much, methinks… (III, 2)
The Play Scene, Edwin Austin Abbey, 1897
Characters
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

Marcellus

A sentry at the King’s castle. He and Barnardo invite Horatio to witness
the appearance of the ghost, and he accompanies Horatio to tell Hamlet
of the ghost.

He says the oft-quoted line:
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. (I, 4)
Cornelius and Voltemand


Danish ambassadors to Norway who report to Claudius in II, 2, that
Fortinbras has been ordered by his uncle, the King of Norway, to desist in
his plans to attach Denmark, and Fortinbras has agreed to obey his
uncle.
Reynaldo

A servant in the employ of Polonius, who sends him to France to spy on
Laertes and report back to him.
Characters
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

Lucianus

In the play-within-the-play, the Player King’s nephew and murderer.

Lucianus represents both Claudius (the murderer of a king) and Hamlet
(the nephew who kills the king).

When Lucianus pours poison in the Player King’s ear, Claudius freaks out
and stops the play.
Norwegian Captain


A commander in Fortinbras' invading army, assigned by Fortinbras to get
permission from Claudius for Fortinbras's army to cross Danish land in
order to attach Poland.
Osric

The courtier sent by Claudius to invite Hamlet to participate in the duel
with Laertes. Osric engages with Hamlet in witty discourse. Played by
Robin Williams in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet.
Characters
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Acting
Corruption / Decay
Ears
Madness
Reason vs. Passion
Revenge
Spying
Suicide / Death
Thos. Keene in Hamlet, 1884
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
Acting has two meanings in Hamlet.
Hamlet’s failure to act is often cited as the central problem of the play.
 Acting in the theatrical sense is an important theme in the play.


Many of the characters in Hamlet use a false appearance to hide their
real motives.





Claudius uses the kingship to conceal his crime.
Polonius patronizes Hamlet, while secretly plotting against him with
Claudius.
Ophelia loves Hamlet but rejects him on her father’s advice, and helps
Polonius and Claudius spy on him.
Hamlet puts on an “antic disposition” in order to deceive Claudius.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pretend to befriend Hamlet in order to spy on
him for Claudius.
Themes and Motifs
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
Hamlet welcomes the players affectionately in II, 2, and has a high
regard for their skill, instructing Polonius to see that they are well taken
care of.


The first player’s speech about the death of King Priam during the siege of
Troy causes Hamlet to compare his inaction to the player’s depth of emotion
for a fictional character.
His advice to the players in Act II focuses on the nature and purpose of
drama.
He cautions them not to overdo their parts with wild words and exaggerated
gestures.
 This shows Shakespeare’s interest in acting techniques, but also Hamlet’s
interest in playing roles and his expertise at doing so.


Hamlet describes the purpose of drama as “the mirror up to nature.”

This is a particularly apt description of the play-within-the-play.
Themes and Motifs
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


The play-within-the-play is highly effective dramatically:

Hamlet is watching Claudius, who is watching the play.

The audience is watching Claudius, but is also watching Hamlet watching
Claudius.
Hamlet successfully uses the play-within-the-play to expose Claudius’s
guilt.

Shakespeare uses this dramatic device to show that theatre can be used to
hold “a mirror up to nature.”

By transforming the actors on stage into an audience watching actors,
Shakespeare reminds the real audience that they are also watching a play.

If the purpose of drama is to reflect real life, what truths is Shakespeare
trying to communicate through the play Hamlet?
Shakespeare emphasizes drama as a central theme by placing the
scene (III, 2) in the physical center of the play (in the middle of Act III).
Themes and Motifs
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

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. (I, 4)
This oft-quoted line sums up the effect of King Hamlet’s murder on the
country as a whole.
Images of disease and poisoning are mainly derived from the Ghost’s initial
description of the murder.
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour
The leperous distillment; (I, 5)
 Shakespeare uses a metaphor to compare the king’s ear to the country as a
whole when the Ghost describes the false story circulated by Claudius about
his death:
…so the whole ear of Denmark / Is by a forged process of my death /
Rankly abused… (I, 5)

Themes and Motifs
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
To Hamlet, Denmark is:



…an unweeded garden,/ that grows to seed,
Things ranks and gross in nature possess it merely… (I, 2)
The corruption and decay in a state ruled by the murderer of a king are
reflected in the natural world.

The Elizabethan belief in the Chain of Being held that disruptions in any of
the links had repercussions on other levels of the chain.

The play has many examples of the effect of Claudius’s crime on the health
of Denmark as a whole.
Hamlet describes the air in Denmark to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern:

…this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why,
it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent
congregation of vapors. (II, 2)
Themes and Motifs
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
Images of corruption and decay are most closely associated with
Claudius’s crime and his incestuous relationship with Gertrude.


When Hamlet confronts his mother after the play, he emphasizes the
physical details of her relationship with Claudius:


When Claudius tries to pray, he admits:
O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven (III, 3)
In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love
Over the nasty sty— (III, 4)
He advises his mother to repent and save herself with more images of
decay:

Confess yourself to heaven;
Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;
And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
To make them ranker. b(III, 4)
Themes and Motifs
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
Hamlet is obsessed with the physical effects of death on the human
body.
When Claudius asks Hamlet about the location of Polonius’s body, Hamlet
responds that he is “at supper”:
Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain
convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. (IV, 3)
 Hamlet jokes with the gravedigger about how long it will take for a body to
rot after it is buried:
I' faith, if he be not rotten before he die...
he will last you some eight year or nine year. (Gravedigger, V, 1)
 When the gravedigger digs up Yoric’s skull (the king’s former jester and
companion of the youthful Hamlet), Hamlet is fascinated with the physical
effects of death:
To what base uses we may return, Horatio!
Why may not imagination trace the noble dust
of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole? (V, 2)

Themes and Motifs
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
Shakespeare uses ears and hearing as recurring images in Hamlet for
two purposes:
1.
The king’s ear represents the central crime of the play, and the king’s
connection to country as a whole.

King Hamlet was killed when Claudius “in the porches of my ears did pour
The leperous distillment.” (I, 5)

By murdering the king and spreading the false snakebite story, “the whole
ear of Denmark is…Rankly abused.” (I.v.36–38).

When confronting his mother, Hamlet holds up pictures of the dead king
and of Claudius:
This was your husband. Look you now, what follows:
Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear… (III, 4)
Themes and Motifs
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2.
Hamlet is filled with references to hearing and contains several scenes
of characters overhearing or spying on others.

Hamlet in his letter to Horatio after returning to Denmark:
I have words to speak in thine ear will make thee dumb. (IV, 4)

The ghost to Hamlet: List, Hamlet, list, O list! (I, 5)

Gertrude to Hamlet when he confronts her about her adultery:
O, speak to me no more;
These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears (III, 4)

Claudius and Polonius both hide to overhear the conversation between
Hamlet and Ophelia.

Polonius hides in Gertrude’s chamber to overhear her conversation with
Hamlet.
Themes and Motifs
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
After seeing the ghost, Hamlet announces to Horatio and Marcellus
that he will put on an “antic disposition.”



Although he does not explain why, it is implied that he will be able to act
more freely against Claudius.
Hamlet’s madness raises a number of questions:

If Hamlet acts mad so that he can attack the king more freely, does he use
his madness to do so?

Is Hamlet on the borderline between madness and sanity during the course
of the play anyway?

Does Hamlet feign madness to cover his true emotional instability?
Hamlet uses his madness to mock Polonius, as well as Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern, all of whom are stooges for Claudius.

I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is
southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. (II, 2)
Themes and Motifs
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

Do the events in the play account for Hamlet’s real emotional
instability?

Hamlet has undergone an emotional trauma when we first meet him—his
father has died and his mother has remarried a man he hates.

This trauma is compounded when Hamlet discovers that his uncle is also his
father’s murderer.
When is Hamlet actually unstable, and when is he acting?

Hamlet is almost certainly performing when he acts crazy with Polonius,
Claudius, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

However, Ophelia’s story of Hamlet appearing to her seems to describe
someone in real emotional distress:
Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other;
And with a look so piteous in purport
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors,--he comes before me. (II, 1)
Themes and Motifs
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

Hamlet is in continual conflict between the two forces of reason and
passion.

He knows he must kill Claudius in revenge, but passes up opportunities
because he thinks too much about the consequences.

When he does act passionately and impulsively, he kills an innocent person
(Polonius).
The Elizabethans believed that man was positioned between the angels
and the beasts on the Chain of Being.


Mankind is pulled by two forces—the base passions of the beasts below and
the pure rationality of the angels above.
Shakespeare presents in the character of Hamlet a universal conflict—
the struggle between reason and passion as influences on our actions.
Themes and Motifs
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

Hamlet criticizes his mother for giving in to passion, often dwelling on
the sensual nature of her relationship with Claudius.

O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourn'd longer. (I , 2)

…the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love
Over the nasty sty… (III, 4)
While Hamlet is sometimes impulsive and passionate, as when he kills
Polonius, his thoughts often prevent him from acting.

In his “To be or not to be” soliloquy, he considers suicide, but admits that
fear of life after death prevents him from ending his life.

Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all. (III, 1)
Themes and Motifs
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
In Hamlet’s soliloquy in IV, 4, he points out that reason is what distinguishes
men from beasts:
What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure, He that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused.

He also admits that his tendency to think too much has prevented him from
acting:
…thinking too precisely on the event,
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
Why yet I live to say "This thing's to do,"
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do't.
Themes and Motifs
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
Revenge tragedies were very popular in Elizabethan England.


The Spanish Tragedy (1587) by Thomas Kyd was the most popular revenge
tragedy (aka a “tragedy of blood”) of the day.
Most revenge plays used the same formula (much like the plots of
modern TV series):

A ghost appears to the protagonist, usually a family member, demanding
revenge for a heinous crime, usually murder.

The protagonist or other characters are either mad or pretend to be.

A play within a play

A scene in a graveyard

Violent deaths, including that of the protagonist, usually in the act of
accomplishing the revenge.
Themes and Motifs
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
In Hamlet, Shakespeare takes the revenge tragedy to a deeper level:
The characters, especially Hamlet, are more psychologically and morally
complex than in traditional revenge tragedies.
 Hamlet’s revenge becomes an examination of the deeper mysteries of life.
 Shakespeare’s figurative language is richer and more complex than that of
other revenge tragedies.


Hamlet contains more than one revenge plot.
Hamlet must avenge his father’s murder, but he is the also the target of
Laertes, who must also avenge the murder of his father by Hamlet.
 The play-within-the-play shows Lucianus in the double role of avenger and
target.

 Lucianus represents Claudius, the murderer who pours poison in the Player
King’s ear.
 Lucianus also represents Hamlet, the avenger, who plans to kill the current
king.
Themes and Motifs
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
There are multiple instances of spying or eavesdropping in Hamlet.


III, 1: Claudius and Polonius spy on Hamlet and Ophelia.


These scenes contribute to the overall atmosphere of suspicion, mistrust and
uncertainty in the play.
Hamlet is probably aware that they are eavesdropping and performs for their
benefit, although some of his conversation with Ophelia seems sincere.
II, 1: Polonius sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes in order to discover
information about his reputation.

Polonius even instructs him to slander Laertes in order to see if his insults are
confirmed or denied by others:
See you now;
Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out. (II, 1)
Themes and Motifs
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
Claudius sends for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to hang out with
Hamlet and try to find out what “afflicts” him:

…so by your companies
To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather,
So much as from occasion you may glean,
Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus. (Claudius, II, 2)

Claudius is being sneaky here. He wants to find out through Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern how much Hamlet knows.

Hamlet knows they are Claudius’s stooges, and mocks them viciously:
ROSENCRANTZ : Take you me for a sponge, my lord?
HAMLET :
Themes and Motifs
Ay, sir, that soaks up the king's countenance, his rewards,
his authorities…when he needs what you have
gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you
shall be dry again. (IV, 2)
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
Polonius eavesdrops on Hamlet and Gertrude while hiding behind an
arras, and is killed by Hamlet.


It is ironic that Polonius, who advocates eavesdropping to Claudius and
sends an agent to spy on his own son, is killed because of his own deception.
The play-within-the-play is one of the best examples of spying on
others in the play.

Hamlet devises the plan in order to observe Claudius’s behavior:
I have heard / That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have …been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaim'd their malefactions; (II, 2)

While Hamlet and the audience watch Claudius during the play for signs of
guilt, we (the audience) are also watching Hamlet watching Claudius.
Themes and Motifs
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
Hamlet is clearly obsessed with death after his father’s unexpected passing.

At the beginning of the play, before Hamlet discovers that his father was
murdered, he is despondent and grieving.

Claudius and Gertrude, both think he should moderate his grief:
Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,
Passing through nature to eternity. (Gertrude, I, 2)
But, you must know, your father lost a father;
That father lost, lost his…but to persever
In obstinate condolement is a course
Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief. (Claudius, I, 2)

In his first soliloquy, Hamlet expresses his wish to die and regrets that there
are moral laws against suicide.
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! (I, 2)
Themes and Motifs
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
Hamlet considers suicide again in his “To be or not to be” soliloquy.




The speech is a mediation on existence and whether it is morally right to end
one’s own life in an unbearable world.
Hamlet asks the question whether it is nobler to live and suffer, or to end an
unhappy life quickly:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
He concludes that if life were a dreamless sleep, suicide would be a more
attractive option.
However, no one knows what happens after death:
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all… (III, 1)
Themes and Motifs
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
Hamlet’s conversation with the gravedigger is another examination of
death:



Hamlet jokes with the gravedigger about how long it will take a body to
rot in the ground.


The physical effects of death
The inevitability of death
The humor in this scene is ironic. Hamlet does not know the upcoming
funeral is Ophelia’s.
When the gravedigger throws up the skull of Yoric, the king’s jester,
Hamlet philosophizes on the end to which all living things must come:
To what base uses we may return, Horatio!
Why may not imagination trace the noble dust
of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole? (V, 2)
 Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. (V, 2)

Themes and Motifs
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
Introduction to Hamlet – Kenneth Branagh

David Tennant as Hamlet (BBC Production)


Trailer

Soliloquy: II, 2
“To be or not to be” Soliloquy (III, 1)

Richard Burton (1964)

Derek Jacobi (1980)

Kenneth Branagh (1996)

Ethan Hawke (2000)
A live Internet
connection is
required to view
these videos.

Hamlet on the Street – Excellent student performance of Hamlet’s II, 2
soliloquy.

Hamlet, Prince of YouTube – Satire of “To be or not to be” soliloquy
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Introduction to Hamlet by Kenneth Branagh, 1996
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David Tennant as Hamlet - Preview
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David Tennant as Hamlet (BBC Production) – II, 2
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Richard Burton as Hamlet, 1964
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Derek Jacobi as Hamlet, 1980
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Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet, 1996
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Ethan Hawke as Hamlet, 2000
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Hamlet II, 2 soliloquy – Student Performance
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Hamlet, Prince of YouTube - Satire
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1.
Agree or disagree: “Hamlet would have accomplished his revenge much
sooner if he hadn’t been so neurotic about his mother’s remarriage.” Cite
three references to the play to support your view.
2.
Explain how Ophelia can be seen as a weaker version of Hamlet.
3.
Summarize the purpose of the corruption-disease-decay imagery in the
play. Cite three examples.
4.
Agree or disagree: “Claudius is a villain with a conscience.”
5.
Explain why Laertes is considered to be Hamlet’s major foil in the play.
6.
Summarize the “gravedigger scene” (V, 2), and explain its purpose in the
play, as it relates to both plot and themes. Explain how the gravedigger is
used by Shakespeare to provide a different type of foil for Hamlet.
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7.
Summarize your view of Hamlet’s madness or “antic disposition.” Is it real,
feigned, or a combination of both? If feigned, what is the purpose of this
deception? Cite three references from the play to support your view.
8.
The central questions about Hamlet (both the play and its main character) are
these: Does Hamlet delay in taking action? If so what are the causes of his
hesitation?
Answer these questions by discussing Hamlet’s thoughts, words and actions in
the play. Use specific references to support your view.
9.
According to Aristotle, a tragedy is centered around a tragic hero, a person of
nobility who suffers misfortune due to a flaw or weakness in his/her personality.
For the audience, tragedy results in a catharsis—a pleasurable release of pity and
fear.
Analyze Hamlet in terms of Aristotle’s definition. Is Hamlet a tragic hero? If so,
what is his tragic flaw? What parts of the play arouse pity and fear in the
audience?
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