Act 3 Hamlet Key Ideas Nemesis Foils Disease

Act 3 Hamlet

Key Ideas �Nemesis �Foils �Disease and Corruption �Women �Hamlet as Tragic Hero �Appearance vs Reality

Scene 1 Considerations �To be or not to be? Does Hamlet know he’s being spied on at this point? Does it matter? What does his soliloquy reveal about his beliefs? (III. i. 58)

Scene 1 Considerations �What is Ophelia most guilty of according to Hamlet? Is this a fair accusation? �How do we explain Hamlet’s behaviour?

Scene 2 Considerations �Hamlet the director: What evidence does Hamlet’s advice to the actors give us about how Shakespeare himself wanted to see plays performed? �Hamlet and Horatio: (3. 2. 66 -69) What is that he values so much about Horatio? �Claudius’s reaction to the play? Is this the confirmation that Hamlet needs?

Scene 2 Considerations �Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: (3. 2. 335338) �Hamlet: 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me.

Scene 2 Considerations �So is Hamlet crazy or not? �“’Tis now the very witching time of night” (3. 2. 350 -359) �Why is Hamlet going to Gertrude now? Why not go and kill Claudius right away?

Scene 3 Considerations �Claudius’s confession: What is he guilty of and how does he feel about it? (3. 3. 37 -73) �Why doesn’t Hamlet kill Claudius now? Is his explanation reasonable? “And so he goes to heaven. /And so am I revenged. —That would be scanned. ” (3. 3. 75 -76) �Claudius “ My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never to heaven go. ” (3. 3. 98 -99)

Scene 4 Considerations � What is revealed about the relationship between Hamlet and his mother? � What does he tell her to do (or rather—tell her not to do)? � Did Polonius deserve what happened to him? � How does Hamlet feel about it?