Hamlet: Act 3 quiz
1. Good night. But go not to my uncle’s bed.
Hamlet
In this play we are shown over and over again how
powerless women are in their society. They don’t stand a
chance against men. Brothers seem to find it only natural to
tell their sisters how to live their sex life. A son sees nothing
wrong with telling his mother whom she may sleep with.
After killing Polonius Hamlet finally gets his mother’s
undivided attention and by the end of their conversation he
seems to get her to understand him. He tells her he is only
pretending to be crazy and asks her to keep it a secret from
his uncle. At this moment Gertrude is put into position to
choose a side and perhaps unaware of it she chooses
Hamlet’s. She agrees not to tell about Hamlet’s madness as
well as not to sleep with Claudius.
2. These words like daggers enter in my ears.
Gertrude
In Gertrude’s room, Hamlet screams and wants to make her
realize she is doing wrong. This specific line is connected
with what Hamlet says in the end of act two, that instead of
actually using a dagger on her he will “speak daggers” to
her. We also once again see how attackable ears are in
Denmark. This has been a recurring theme in the play. Now
Gertrude’s ears are being attacked and as a result her
opinions are changing.
3. Our wills and fates do so contrary run…
Player King
These words tie in with the concept of Fortune, which keeps
coming up in the play. Despite the fact that we may plan our
lives out, our fate will come and take over. The Player King
connects it to finding a new partner when your previous one
is dead. This is something Hamlet has not yet understood –
he cannot fathom how his mother could marry someone
else so quickly. These words also apply to what’s happened
to Hamlet. Whatever plans he had before the play began, he
now has to avenge his father’s murder. It is clear that
Hamlet’s will is against the idea – he wonders “why me?”
and does not want to follow what fate presents him with. But
he does anyway, he can’t oppose it, his ends are none of his
own.
4.
…blessed are those
Whose blood and judgment are so well commeddled…
Hamlet
Hamlet’s adoration for Horatio is founded on Horatio’s
stoicism. Horatio doesn’t allow himself to be manipulated by
fate by staying constant no matter what it throws at him. He
also does not allow himself to be ruled by his emotions.
Hamlet does the opposite. From the moment the ghost
gives him his task, Hamlet complains. He gets so angry at
his mother that she thinks he’s going to kill her. His most
dreadful act done when he is passion’s slave is his murder
of Polonius. Unlike the person he admires, Hamlet is very
much like a pipe for Fortune. Soon he’ll say that
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern try to play him like a pipe
when he finally loses it and acts on his feelings.
5. How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience.
Claudius
Claudius finally admits that he has a conscience and that he
feels guilty. This quote is important because we have never
seen Claudius show a conscience before. Even though we
know that he killed Hamlet’s father, we see Claudius show
no regret for what he did. He doesn’t speak of why he
murdered Hamlet’s father until 3.3 where he says “the
crown, mine own ambition, and the queen.” From this line
we see that he killed Hamlet’s father for a reason. We can
understand that maybe Claudius is in fact human and not
just a power-crazed maniac. Claudius shows a side of
himself that we have never seen before.
6.
…the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er…
Hamlet
This quote states that when you plan to do something and
then think about it a lot, you fail to complete it. This may be
Hamlet’s greatest barrier to overcome. He plans to kill
himself but thinks too much about it and doesn’t. He plans to
kill others like Claudius, but thinks too much and can’t. every
time Hamlet does this, he fails to take action. It seems
unlikely that he will ever take action until he acts
spontaneously, without thinking.
7.
…am I then revenged
To take him in the purging of his soul…
Hamlet
Hamlet says this as he sees Claudius praying right after the
play. He could have easily killed him then, but decided
against it because he was praying and getting rid of his sins.
This shows us that Hamlet is a perfectionist and does not do
anything unless it is under perfect conditions. Hamlet could
also be procrastinating, as he doesn’t actually want to kill
the king, but rather sees it as a duty to kill him.