Tragedy | A literary work in which the protagonist meets an unhappy or disastrous end but faces the downfall in a heroic way. |
7 parts of a tragedy | Exposition, inciting force, rising action, climax (turning point), falling action, moment of final suspense, catastrophe |
Blank verse | Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter. |
Climax (Turning point) | The point of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a piece of literature. |
Catastrophe | The final stage of a tragedy in which the hero meets his unhappy fate. |
Diction | A writer’s choice of words, particularly for clarity, effectiveness, and precision. |
Dialogue | The conversation between two or more people in a literary work. |
Conflict | The struggle between two or more people in a literary work. |
Soliloquy | A device whereby a character speaks his thoughts and feelings aloud, unheard by other characters. |
Pun | Simultaneous use of two different meanings of the same word. |
Analogy | A comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them. |
Protagonist | The central character of a drama, novel, short story, or narrative poem. (The hero) |
Stream of consciousness | The natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, memories, etc.. As a character experiences them. |
Antagonist | The person or force opposing the protagonist; a rival of the hero or heroine. |
Exposition | The general atmosphere, time, place, main characters, and the opening conditions of the play. (Act 1 scene 1) |
Inciting force | Something happens that starts the real action of the play moving. (Act1) |
Rising action | A series of events where the protagonist is the active force in the plot. He makes plans which work out as he intends and appears to have the upper hand. |
Climax(Turning point) | The protagonist reaches the peak of his power, and from this point on, because of a series or unfortunate events, there is a distinct transfer of power. Events begin to go against him. |
Falling action | Events are now going against the protagonist. Here we see the rise of the antagonist. The struggle between the two is the essence of the drama. |
Moment of final suspense | This is the moment when the protagonist thinks things are going to go his way and that his tragedy may be averted. |
Catastrophe | The complete downfall of the protagonist (or moment everyone dies). |
Exposition (Atmosphere) | Gloomy, uneasy mood. |
Exposition (Time) | 17th century. |
Exposition (Place) | Denmark, Elsinore castle. |
Exposition (Main characters) | Hamlet, Claudius, Polonius, Laertes, Gertrude |
Exposition (Opening conditions) | -king hamlet is dead. -Gertrude hastily remarries. -danger of war with Norway. |
Inciting force | The ghost of king hamlet appears to hamlet. The ghost tells of his murder by his brother Claudius. |
Rising action | Hamlet pretends madness, and designs “play with a play”, Claudius reveals his guilt. |
Turning point | Hamlet fails to kill Claudius as he prays, hamlet confronts Gertrude, hamlet kills Polonius. |
Falling action | Claudius sends Hamlet to England to be executed, death of Ophelia, Claudius plots with Laertes to kill Hamlet. |
Moment of final suspense | Hamlet talks with Horatio and accepts his fate. Hamlet agrees to duel with Laertes. |
Catastrophe(Climax) | Hamlet’s death. Death of other characters -Gertrude-Claudius-Laertes |
The death of his mother, Gertrude, and Laertes’ confession. | What finally forced Hamlet to kill Claudius? |
King Hamlet; Hamlet I | Who’s funeral opens up the play? |
His father being murdered; the way Gertrude and Claudius looked at each other | What do you think Hamlet suspects at the funeral? |
Claudius and Gertrude hastily marry | What happened two months after the funeral of Hamlet’s father. |
As an unweeded garden (decay and destruction) he is very melancholy (sad, manic depressant, bipolar) | How does Hamlet view the world? |
She married Claudius, too soon after the Kings death. | Why is hamlet so angry with his mother? |
What advice does Polonius give Laertes before he leaves for Paris? What does he mean? | “To thine own self be true”- be true to yourself; be honest with yourself, by doing so you will be true to others. |
His is a prince and she is a commoner. (Social differences) | Why do Ophelia’s father and brother want her to stay away from hamlet? |
The ghost of King Hamlet | What does Horatio tell he and some other sentries saw wandering the halls of the castle? |
That his brother killed him and his wife was unfaithful. He was betrayed and murdered by Claudius and betrayed by Gertrude | What does Hamelt learn from the ghost of the father. |
To kill Claudius, spare Gertrude, and to remember him. | What does the ghost ask of his son? |
They swear on Hamlet’s sword | How does Hamlet persuade his companions to keep the appearance of the ghost a secret. |
Because of his love for Ophelia | What does Polobius think is the cause of Hamlet’s lunacy? |
His life | What does Hamlet say he would most willingly part with? |
Claudius and Polonius- to find out the root of the matter; to see what’s causing him to become mad | Who spies on Hamlet, and for what reason? |
Sleeping | To what does Hamlet compare death? |
Because of the dreams he may have that he cannot wake up from | Why does Hamlet feel death cannot bring him peace? |
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern- to follow Hamlet around to find out what’s wrong | Who does Claudius send for? Why? |
To devise a play that rein-acts King Hamlet’s death exactly the way the ghost explained it. | How does Hamlet decide to determine Claudius’ guilt? |
The mouse trap | What was the name of the play? |
Claudius is asking for forgiveness and Hamlet thinks if he kills him he will be sent to heaven | Why does Hamlet choose not to kill Claudius when he finds him praying in the chapel? |
Polonius; he thought is was Claudius | Who does hamlet kill behind the tapestry? |
The ghost | Who appears to hamlet in the queen’s chamber? |
She thinks Hamlet has gone mad | What does the queen think is happening? |
To be executed | What plans does Claudius have for hamlet once he gets to England? |
He switches the letters with his own | What happens instead? |
She goes mad, everyone she loved and cared for was either dead or away | What happens to Ophelia, why? |
Ophelia’s; she drowned | Whose funeral procession does Hamlet see? How did she die? |
A pearl(Poisoned pearl) | What does Claudius drop into the wine? |
Dies from being scratched on the arm by the poisoned tip of Laertes’ sword | What happens to hamlet? |
Dies; hamlet stabbed him with the poisoned sword and then forces the poisoned wine into his mouth | What happens to Claudius? |
Dies; she drank the poisoned wine | What happens to Gertrude? |
Dies; hamlet fought him and then stabbed him in the chest with his poisoned sword | What happens to Laertes? |
He spends hamlets final moments with him and promises to live to tell his story | What happens to Horatio? |
He became the King of Denmark; joining the two countries together in peace and re conjured order | What happens to Fortenbras? |
Hamlet | “Frailty, thy name is woman!” |
Polonius | “Neither a borrower not a lender be.” |
Polonius | “This above all: to thine own self be true.” |
Hamlet | “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” |
Polonius | “Brevity is the soul of wit.” |
Polobius | “Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.” |
Hamlet | “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” |
Hamlet | “To be or not to be: that is the question.” |
Hamlet | “Aye, there’s the rub.” |
Gertrude | “The lady doth protest too much methinks.” |
Gertrude | “Sweets to the sweet.” |
Hamlet | “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will.” |
A fencing match (sword fight), with a poisoned tipped sword, Claudius poisoned the wine | How do Claudius and Laertes conspire to kill Hamlet? |
Hamlet
July 16, 2019