| What was Shakespeare’s inspiration for “Hamlet”? | “Ur Hamlet” |
| “Hamlet” is considered Shakespeare’s | best and longest play. |
| What is an anachronism? | something placed in a time period in which it does not belong |
| What is an aside? | lines intended only for the audience |
| What is blank verse? | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| What is a soliloquy? | speech made by a character while he is alone on stage (if other characters are present, they do not hear him) |
| What are the 6 Characteristics of a Shakespearean Tragedy? | Tragic Hero with Tragic FlawHumorConflictsSupernaturalRevenge MotiveChance Happening |
| Tragic Hero with Tragic Flaw: A tragic hero is a…The tragic flaw is a… | Tragic Hero: A main character whose death affects the course of the empire. Ex. Hamlet Tragic Flaw: A character weakness that leads to his downfall. Ex. Hamlet’s procrastination |
| Humor is… | comic relief.Ex. graveyard diggers/clowns |
| ConflictsExternal conflict is… Internal conflict is… | External: the struggle that affects the empire. Ex. conflict between Hamlet and ClaudiusInternal: the struggle within a character. Ex. Hamlet and his conflict between his desire to act and his flaw of procrastination |
| Supernatural is… | something extraordinary.Ex. ghost of King Hamlet |
| Revenge Motive is… | someone wants to “get back” at someone else.Ex. Hamlet wants revenge for his father, who was killed by King Claudius.Ex. Prince Fortinbras wanting to get back at Prince Hamlet by invading Denmark. |
| Chance Happening is… | something unplanned that leads to a catastrophe. Ex. death of Polonius |
| Character: Hamlet | Prince Hamlet, son of King Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, melancholy, bitter, cynical, procrastinates |
| Character: King Claudius: | brother of the late King Hamlet, uncle of Prince Hamlet, antagonist/villain of the play, calculating, ambitious, driven by desire for power, but occasionally shows sounds of guilt (his love for Queen Gertrude seems sincere) |
| Characters: Bernardo and Marcellus | officers who first see the ghost walking the ramparts of Elsinore and who summon Horatio to witness it;Marcellus is present when Hamlet first encounters the ghost |
| Character: Francisco | a Danish soldier and guardsman at Elsinore |
| Character: The Ghost | the ghost of King Hamlet who comes back to tell Hamlet about his murder |
| Character: Osric | the foolish courtier who summons Hamlet to his duel with Laertes |
| Character: Polonius | father of Ophelia and Laertes, Lord Chamberlain to King Claudius, pompous, likes to sound important, talkative, oblivious when he is being made fun of, iskilled by Hamlet when eavesdropping on his and his mother’s conversation |
| Character: Ophelia | Hamlet’s love, Polonius’s daughter, beautiful and young, obeys her father and brother (Laertes), lapses into madness after her father’s death, drown in the r river while gathering flowers (falls into river and clothes are weighed down by water; she drowns) |
| Character: Horatio | Hamlet’s friend and confidant, studied with Hamlet at Wittenberg, loyal and helpful to Hamlet throughout the play, remains alive after Hamlet’s death to tell Hamlet’s story |
| Characters: Voltemand and Cornelius | courtiers at the Danish court, sent to Norway by KingClaudius to persuade the king to prevent Fortinbras from attacking |
| Characters: Rosencrants and Guildenstern | two courtiers at the Danish court, formerfriends of Hamlet from Wittenberg, summoned by King Claudius and Gertrude to discover cause of Hamlet’s strange behavior/madness |
| Character: Queen Gertude | widow of the late King Hamlet, now married to Claudius |
| Characters: Gravediggers | noted as “clowns”; dig Ophelia’s grave, add humor to the tragedy |
| What is the source of Hamlet? | traces back to Scandinavian literature to Saxo Grammaticus |
| What is the setting? | late middle ages (14th and 15th centuries, or 1300 to 1499) in and around (mostly) the royal palace in Elsinore, a city in Denmark |
| What type of plot does the play have? | tragedy |
| Where had Hamlet been attending school? | Wittenburg in Germany |
| How is Claudius related to Hamlet? | Uncle (Hamlet’s father’s brother) |
| What is Polonius’ title? | Lord Chamberlain |
| What does Hamlet promise the ghost? | He promises to avenge his father’s death. |
| What proves to Hamlet and Horatio the king’s guilt? | when Claudius leaps up and leaves the room during the murder in the play |
| Describe Polonius. | pompous, likes to sound important, talkative, oblivious when he is being made fun of |
| Character: Reynaldo | servant to Polonius, sent to France by Polonius to check up on/spy on Laertes |
| Character: Fortinbras | young Prince of Norway, whose father King Fortinbras was killed by King Hamlet, wishes to attach Denmark to avenge his father’s honor, making him another foil for Prince Hamlet |
| Character: Laertes | Polonius’s son, Ophelia’s brother, for most of the play is in France, returns for his father’s funeral |
| Describe Claudius. | antagonist/villain of the play, calculating, ambitious, driven by desire for power, but occasionally shows sounds of guilt (his love for Queen Gertrude seems sincere) |
| Where did Laertes go? Why did he return? | France; returns for Polonius’s funeral |
| Did Polonius think that Hamlet was insane? Why? | Polonius thinks that Hamlet is mad because of the way he comes into Ophelia’s dressing room. He is not dressed appropriately and is wild with love. Hamlet also frightens Ophelia. |
| Who saw the ghost first? | Marcellus and Barnardo (soldiers) |
| When did the ghost disappear? | at the crowing of the cock (because this signifies morning) |
| What does “I am but mad north-north-west” mean? | This is a classic example of the “wild and whirling words” with which Hamlet hopes to persuade people to believe that he is mad. These words, however, prove that beneath his “antic disposition,” Hamlet is very sane indeed. |
| How does Hamlet describe Osric? | as a waterfly |
| Why does Hamlet fail in his motives? | he procrastinates |
| What was the play that Hamlet wanted the players to perform named? To what did Hamlet change it? | The Murder of Gonzago; The Mousetrap |
| When does Hamlet see the ghost for the second time? | Hamlet is arguing with his mother. The ghost appears and tells Hamlet to be gentle with his mother and not to harm her. Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, thinks her son is crazy because she sees nothing. The ghost disappears into the night and that is the last time he is seen in the play. |
| What was the watchword given by Bernardo? | Long live the king. |
| How much money was Fortinbras paid to fight the Polacks? Why? By whom? | 60,000 crowns by his uncle to leave Claudius and Denmark alone |
| What is a jig-maker? Dumbshow? | Jig-maker: comic or jokerDumbshow: a pantomime show |
| What is the name of the castle? The town? | Kronburg Castle, Elsinore |
| Who were digging Ophelia’s grave? How did she die? | two gravediggers/clowns; drowning while picking flowers (clothes weighed her down when she fell into the water) |
| What was the season of the year when Hamlet returns home from school? | winter |
| Who is Voltemand? | a courtier at the Danish court, sent to Norway by KingClaudius to persuade the king to prevent Fortinbras from attacking |
| Who is Francisco? | a Danish soldier and guardsman at Elsinore |
| Who is Reynaldo? | a servant to Polonius, sent to France by Polonius to check up on/spy on Laertes |
| Who is Benardo? | an officer who first see the ghost walking the ramparts of Elsinore and who summons (with Marcellus) Horatio to witness it |
| What do Hamlet’s soliloquies tell us about him? | He has a desire to act but his procrastination creates an obstacle for him. |
| Who thought Hamlet would lose the fencing match? | Horatio |
| Who carries Hamlet’s body from the stage? | four of Fortinbras’s captains |
| Explain the altercation between King Hamlet and King Fortinbras. | The two kings challenged each other to single-hand combat over each other’s land. King Hamlet won by killing King Fortinbras. |
| Explain the plot between Claudius and Laertes. | Claudius wants Hamlet dead because Hamlet is trying to ruin him because he murdered King Hamlet. Laertes wants Hamlet dead because Hamlet killed Polonius, his father. The two plan to have Hamlet compete in a fencing match against Laertes. Laertes plans to poison the tip of his sword, but to be sure, Claudius prepares a cup of poisoned wine in case Hamlet wins the match. |
Hamlet – AP English IV
August 27, 2019