| Example of duplicity in Claudius’ speech | Have we as ’twere with a defeared joy, With an auspicious and a drooping eye |
| Juxtapositioning in Claudius’ speech | With mirth in funeral and dirge in marriage |
| How is Gertrude described by Claudius? | Our sometimes sister, now our Queen, Th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state |
| How does Claudius describe Old Hamlet? | Our most valiant brother |
| What does Laertes say he came to Denmark for? | I came to Denmark to show my duty in your coronation |
| How does Claudius describe Hamlet? | My cousin Hamlet and my son |
| What pun does Hamlet say as an aside? | A little more than kin, and less than kind |
| What is the first question that Claudius asks Hamlet? | How is it that the clouds still hang on you? |
| What is Gertrude’s attitude to death? | Thou know’st ’tis common, all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity |
| What is Hamlet’s reaction to Gertrude’s belief that he is faking his grief? | Seems madam? Nay it is; I know not “seems” |
| What pun relating to sun/son does Hamlet used? | Not so, my lord; I am too much in the sun |
| What is the rhyming couplet used at the end of Hamlet’s first speech? But I have… | that within which passes show – These but the trappings and the suits of woe |
| How does Claudius complement Hamlet’s grief? ‘Tis sweet… | and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, to give these mourning duties to your father |
| How does Claudius invalidate Hamlet’s grief? | You must know, your father lost a father; That father lost, lost his |
| Gender roles and grief | To persever in obstinate condolement is a course of impious stubbornnes, ’tis unmanly grief |
| Which line best conveys Hamlet’s suicidal despair? | O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew” |
| Reference to the sixth commandment | Or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter |
| How does Hamlet describe his father? | So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr |
| How does Hamlet depict his mother’s lust? | Why, she would hang on him as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on |
| How does Hamlet convey his father’s love of Gertrude? | So loving to my mother that he might not between the winds of heaven visit her face too roughly |
| What phrase does Hamlet use to describe Gertrude? A beast … | that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer – married with my uncle |
| How does Hamlet highlight the difference between Claudius and Old Hamlet? | My father’s brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules |
| How does Hamlet condemn his mother’s incest? | O most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets, it is not, nor it cannot come to good |
| What shows that Hamlet feels he must repress his emotions? Contains irony due to the silence of Old Hamlet’s ghost | But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue |
| Why has Horatio returned from Wittenberg? | A truant disposition good my lord / My lord, I came to see your father’s funeral |
| Why does Hamlet suggest that the speed of the wedding after the funeral was necessary? | Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables |
| Where does Hamlet see his father | My father – methinks I see my father… In my mind’s eye Horatio |
| How much are the guards armed? | Hamlet: Armed you say?Marcellus and Barnardo: Armed my lordHamlet: From top to toe?Marcellus and Barnardo: My lord, from head to foot |
| How does Horatio describe Hamlet’s father’s countenance? | A countenance more in sorrow than in anger |
| What conveys Hamlet’s desperation to speak to his father? If it assume… | my noble father’s person I’ll speak to it though hell itself should gape and bid me hold my peace |
| When and where does Hamlet plan to meet Horatio and the guards? | Upon the platform ‘twixt eleven and twelve I’ll visit you |
| What does Hamlet infer from the information given to him by Horatio? | My father’s spirit – in arms – all is not well. I doubt some foul play… foul deeds will rise though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes. |
Hamlet – Act 1, Scene 2
September 6, 2019