WILLIAM
S HAKESPEARE
AP Lit and Comp
HAMLETS
HAMLET MOVIES
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 Song and poetry paper pushed back.
 Focus on poetry terms– studying the poems we covered in class.
 Block Day will be our last poetry day, and then we will test Friday
or Monday.
SENECA ( C .
4 BC – AD 65)
 Roman philosopher and dramatist
 Hercules Furens (The Madness of Hercules) Troades (The Trojan Women)
Phoenissae (The Phoenician Women) Phaedra Thyestes Hercules Oetaeus (Hercules
on Oeta): there is doubt by some scholars whether this tragedy was
written by Seneca. Agamemnon Oedipus Medea Octavia
WHY IS SHAKESPEARE SO
HARD TO READ?
 Geoffrey Chaucer solidified English by writing his works in Middle English
 Shakespeare vaulted literature/language into what we consider modern
English. However, there are some words that are no longer used or words that
do not have the same denotation today as they did in the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Helpful: footnotes, watching the play as you read it.
 English sentence structure determines meaning:
• The dog bit the boy. vs. The boy bit the dog.
 Shakespeare shifts his sentences away from “normal” structure in order to
create a particular rhythm: emphasize a certain word, give a character his own
speech patterns, create a tone, etc.
 “He goes” changes to “Goes he.” “I hit him” changes to “Him I hit”
WHY IS SHAKESPEARE SO
HARD TO READ?
 Wordplay
• Notice the characters that use it
• Notice the characters who seem oblivious to ironic or satirical
statements
• “Seems” I.ii.74-79
• How is it different with Hamlet and Polonius?
 Implied Stage Action
• Little stage direction written into the play
• Much is mentioned through dialogue
• Bernardo says of the ghost, “See, it stalks away.”
• “I’ll cross it, though it blast me.”
ACT 1
The fact that a ghost has been seen walking the ramparts
suggests, as is usual in Shakespeare’s plays, that nature is out
of harmony. For example, Horatio comments that the
ghost’s appearance “bodes some strange eruption to our
state.”
Horatio’s stoic nature allows us to trust him when
surrounded by so many emotionally charged characters.
Claudius’ opening speech
Hamlet vs. other characters
ACT 1
Hamlet’s first soliloquy reveals a desperate character who is
apathetic and despairing about life. He is satiric and
melancholic to himself and others. Consider that satire is
used to destroy the imperfections in life, melancholy to
destroy the self because it can no longer endure those
imperfections.
“Frailty, thy name is woman” is key to understanding
Hamlet’s view of the world, and, more particularly, his
misogynistic attitude toward Ophelia and women in general.
ACT 1
 Laertes and Polonius are both concerned with Ophelia’s honor. Laertes warns Ophelia
to guard her “chaste treasure,” to which Ophelia responds that he should not do “as some
ungracious pastors do” and lead her up “the primrose path of dalliance” and not heed his
own advice. Perhaps she knows her brother well!
 Both Polonius and Laertes are concerned with their family honor but do not appear to
act with any. Polonius does have some useful fatherly advice: “Neither a borrower nor a
lender be,” “to thine own self be true.”
 Recognize the tragic consequences of Polonius’ order to Ophelia and her response:
POL.
“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.”
OPH.
“I shall obey, my lord.”
ACT 1
 MAR. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
 Hamlet’s reaction to the ghost suggests that he has had his
suspicions:
GHOST. “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his
crown.”
HAM.
“O my prophetic soul! My uncle!”
ACT I DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
 Within your group, answer the assigned questions. Be prepared to
share your answers. Each of you should write your answers to these
questions as study materials for later.
ACT II
 Ophelia’s report to her father about Hamlet’s appearance and actions suggest that he is
passionately distracted. Hamlet’s later fascination with the actor’s ability to so passionately
display Hecuba’s emotional trauma seems to suggest he is genuinely mad in this scene [As with
most interpretations of Hamlet’s character, this observation is also open to . . . interpretation]
 Ophelia is a good girl, but obeying her father has tragic consequences. When Polonius asks,
“What, have you given him any hard words of late,” Ophelia responds, “No, my good lord,
but as you did command / I did repel his letters, and denied his access to me.” Remember,
Hamlet already has been betrayed by his mother’s actions.
 Polonius’ aside, “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t” may reinforce the idea
that Hamlet has truly put on an “antic disposition.” We are constantly left wondering whether
he is actually mad at times or whether he is in control of his faculties.
ACT II
 Hamlet’s “What a piece of work is man” speech does not sound like a
madman – even if he is speaking in prose.
 The actors play a scene where Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, takes revenge
for his father’s death by killing King Priam.
• If Pyrrhus = Claudius then Hamlet may be stirring up feelings of pity for
his father and hatred for Claudius.
• If Pyrrhus = Hamlet then he may be looking for the inspiration to become
a cold-blooded killer.
• Hamlet may be dubious about the morality of revenge and needs the
hellish scene replayed to confirm his doubts.
• Hamlet may realize that killing would reduce him to Claudius’ level.
ACT II
 Hamlet’s “rogue and peasant slave” soliloquy sees Hamlet enraged that he can’t “act” when
the actor playing Hecuba is so convincing in his portrayal of a grieving wife. He rages that he
has not killed the “[bloody], bawdy villain!” He then recovers his wits to conceive of the plan
to expose Claudius’ guilt.
ACT II DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
 Within your group, answer the assigned questions. Be prepared to share your answers.
Each of you should write your answers to these questions as study materials for later.
ACT III