Hamlet Act I Shanan Wes Hailey Cameron RJ

Hamlet Act I Shanan, Wes, Hailey, Cameron, RJ, Ajay

Brief Summary

● At the beginning on scene 1, Bernardo, Marcellus, and Horatio await the ghost’s arrival outside the castle. The ghost is the recently deceased King Hamlet, who appears but vanishes suddenly. When the ghost appears against Horatio tries to speak to it but the ghost remains quiet and disappears. The guards decide to go tell Hamlet in hopes that maybe the ghost will speak to his son. ● At the beginning on scene 2, Claudius and Gertrude have gotten married which greatly upsets Hamlet expresses his wishes to die but he couldn’t just cease to not exist.

● At the beginning of scene 3, Laertes is advising Ophelia about her relationship with Hamlet. He tells her to not worry about Hamlet and not get involved in the relationship. Later on Polonius and Ophelia continue talking about her relationship with Hamlet. Polonius makes Ophelia promise she will no longer seek out a relationship with Hamlet and she obeys. ● At the beginning of scene 4, the ghost reappears and Hamlet is about to talk to the ghost in private.

● In scene 5, Hamlet is alone and speaking with the ghost where he proceeds to tell Hamlet how he was killed and all the details of his murder. Hamlet swears he will kill King Claudius. Hamlet doesn’t tell Horatio and Marcellus what the ghost has said but makes them promise they will never speak of seeing the ghost to anyone.

Literary Devices:

● Allusion ○ Use of reference the reader already knows ○ Ex. “Yes, by Saint Patrick, there is [offense], Horatio…” (I, v) ● Alliteration ○ Repetition of initial consonant sounds ○ Ex. “These are but wild and whirling words, my lord!” (I, v) ● Aside ○ Speech expressing character’s secret thoughts ○ Ex. “A little more than kin, and less than kind. ” (I, ii)

● Dramatic Irony ○ Audience knows what the character does not ○ Ex. We know about the ghost before Hamlet does. ● Situational Irony ○ Event that surprises the characters and the audience ○ Ex. The ghost tells Hamlet that he was murdered. ● Verbal Irony ○ Statement opposite of what is meant ○ “Not so, my lord; I am too much in the sun. ” (I, ii)

● Foil ○ Character used to contrast another character ○ Prince Fortinbras is bold; Prince Hamlet is indecisive at times. ● Hyperbole ○ Use of exaggeration to emphasize importance ○ Ex. “Remember thee? Yea from the table of my memory / I’ll wipe away all trivial, fond records / And thy commandment all alone shall live / Within the book and volume of my brain…” ● Imagery ○ Use of the five senses to convey ideas to readers ○ Ex. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. ” ○ (I, i)

● Metaphor ○ Implied comparison of 2 unlike things ○ “. . . within the book and volume of my brain…” ● Monologue ○ Speech to which other characters are listening ○ Ex. Claudius’s speech in Act I, ii ● Paradox ○ Contradictory statement revealing the truth ○ Ex. “With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage…” (I, ii)

Personification ● Personification ○ Giving human traits to nonhuman objects ○ Ex. “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (I, ii) ● Pun ○ Play on multiple meanings of a words ○ Ex. “A little more than kin, and less than kind. ” (I, ii) ● Rhymed Couplet ○ End rhyme in two consecutive lines of poetry ○ Ex. “Foul deeds will rise / Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes. ” (I, ii)

Simile ● Simile ○ An unlike comparison using like or as ○ Ex. “Haste me to know it, that I with wings as swift / As meditation or the thoughts of love / May sweep to my revenge. ” (I, v) ● Soliloquy ○ A speech expressing characters secret thoughts ○ Ex. Hamlet’s speech (I, ii) ● Theme ○ Central idea of a literary work

Character List:

● Bernardo ○ First character to appear in the play ● Laertes ○ Believes that Hamlet may not have complete control in his choice of a bride ● Horatio ○ Hamlet’s friend, a voice of reason

Marcellus ● Marcellus ○ Tells audience that ghost has appeared before ● Claudius ○ Hamlet’s uncle and stepfather ● Voltimand ○ Takes message to king of Norway

Laertes ● Hamlet ○ Wears black at the funeral and the wedding ● Polonius ○ Believes that Hamlet will take advantage of his daughter’s innocence and trust ● Bernardo ○ Relieves Francisco at Guard Duty.

Gertrude ● Gertrude ○ Hamlet’s mother, recent widow and bride ● Ophelia ○ Believes that Hamlet cares for her ● Ghost ○ Asks Hamlet to avenge his murder

Questions

● In Scene I, the audience learns that, as a result of the former king’s death, young Prince Fortinbras of Norway…. . ○ Is going to attempt to invade Denmark to reclaim the lands his father lost

● In scene I, Horatio lists 4 reasons why a ghost might walk the earth. What are these reasons? ● Disruption in the universe and somehow the balance of powers has been changed ● To give information or tell of a warning ● The ghost may be attached to a treasure or prized item ● He is doomed to walk the Earth as punishment and may choose to reveal the manner of his death

● The other character ask _______ to speak to the ghost because _____. ○ Marcellus asks Horatio to speak to the ghost because he is well educated.

● In scene II, Hamlet reluctantly agrees to honor his ______’s request by ______. ● Mother’s ● Remaining in Denmark and not returning to the University of Wittenburg

● In his first soliloquy, Hamlet tells the audience that he is heartsick because his father has died AND…. . ● His mother has remarried very quickly to his uncle (who, he later discovers, happens to be the person who killed his father)

● In scene III, both Laertes and Polonius warn Ophelia that…… ● Be careful of Hamlet because his love for her wasn’t real

● Ophelia’s reaction is to……… ● Listen to her father and brother; she cuts off Hamlet and return all of his love letters

● When the ghost appears in scene IV, Horatio and Marcellus try to…… ● Talk to it and get it to stay ● Keep Hamlet from following it alone

● When they are alone, the ghost tells Hamlet that he was killed by Claudius.

Quotations

★ “Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die, / Passing through nature to eternity. ” ★ Queen ★ Human Mortality ★ Foreshadowing

★ “Frailty, thy name is woman!” ★ Hamlet ★ Corruption ★ Personification

★ “Foul deeds will rise, / Though all the earth o'er whelm them, to men’s eyes. ” ★ Hamlet ★ Corruption ★ Couplet

★ “Neither a borrower not a lender be, / For loan oft loses both itself and friend. ” ★ Polonius ★ Corruption or Weakness ★ Personification

★ “This above all: to thine own self be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man. ” ★ Polonius ★ Corruption ★ Paradox and Simile

★ “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. ” ★ Marcellus ★ Fate ★ Hyperbole

★ “Haste me to know it, that I with wings as swift / As meditation…. . May sweep to my revenge. ” ★ Hamlet ★ Corruption ★ Simile

★ “Murder most foul, as in the best it is, / But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. ” ★ Ghost ★ Human Mortality; Corruption ★ Simile

★ “From the table of my memory / I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records…. / And thy commandment all alone shall [be]. . . within the book and volume of my brain…” ★ Hamlet ★ Metaphor ★ Corruption or Weakness

★ “O villain, smiling, damned villain! …. . That one may smile and be a villain!” ★ Claudius ★ Repetition ★ Corruption

★ “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. ” ★ Hamlet ★ Fate ★ Allusion

★ “The time is out of joint. O cursed spite! / That ever I was born to set it right!” ★ Hamlet ★ Couplet ★ Fate

Themes

Mortality, Fate, Corruption 1. Human Mortality a. Hamlet must avenge his father’s death b. Killing a king will probably result in Hamlet’s death 2. Fate a. Killing Claudius will probably kill Hamlet b. Hamlet is asked to accept his father’s death as fate, but the ghost tells him otherwise 3. Corruption a. He must kill Claudius because Claudius murdered his father b. Hamlet’s mother remarried too quickly

Soliloquy

O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? And shall I couple hell? Oh, fie! Hold, hold, my heart, And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee! Ay, thou poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat In this distracted globe. Remember thee! Yea, from the table of my memory I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past That youth and observation copied there, And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain, Unmixed with baser matter. Yes, by heaven! O most pernicious woman! O villain, smiling, damnèd villain! My tables!—Meet it is I set it down That one may smile, and be a villain. At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark. Act 1 Scene 5 Pg. 61 -62

Parody

Claudius couldn’t postpone Claudius wanted the throne All the brotherly love he should have had Didn’t stop him from poisoning the king -- how sad! Hamlet saw the ghost Hamlet heard the most Terrible news when his mom wed Often kept Hamlet from going to bed Gertrude, why didn’t you tarry? Gertrude, why did you remarry? All of the king’s men thought it was fine, But Hamlet’s thoughts didn’t align