Hamlet

Most revenge tragedies share some basic elements: a play within a play, mad scenes, a vengeful ghost, one or several gory scenes, and, most importantly, a central character who has a serious grievance against a formidable opponent

Ophelia goes mad because her father, Polonius, whom she deeply loved, has been killed by Hamlet The fact that this grief drives Ophelia to madness reveals her overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness, and the power that the men in Ophelia’s life wield over her

Hamlet might be ready to make a move on Claudius The pirates could have known that Hamlet was in trouble “How much I had to do to calm his rage! Now I fear this will give it start again

In Act 4 Scene 7, Queen Gertrude reports that Ophelia had climbed into a willow tree (There is a willow grows aslant the brook), and that the branch had broken and dropped Ophelia into the brook, where she drowned After her funeral scene, Ophelia is no longer mentioned

Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his quillities, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel and will not tell him of his action of battery? Hum!

William Shakespeare

GRAVEDIGGER He was the first that ever bore arms OTHER Go to! These two men think Ophelia’s death was clearly a suicide Because suicide is an offense against God, those who committed the act were usually not allowed to be buried in a Christian graveyard

When Hamlet’s mother, the queen, delivers “Sweets to the sweet,” she’s not bearing a hostess gift or offering candy to her date The queen’s “sweets” are funeral bouquets scattered in the grave of Ophelia, Hamlet’s former flame

HAMLET (coming forward) Who is the one whose grief is so loud and clear, whose words of sadness make the planets stand still in the heavens as if they’ve been hurt by what they’ve heard? It’s me, Hamlet the Dane ( he jumps into the grave)

If it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all Since no man of aught he leaves knows, what is ‘t to leave betimes? Let be You’ll do no such thing

Prince Hamlet

She knowingly drinks from the poisoned cup and then offers it to Hamlet so that Claudius’s plan could not come to fruition—he, who has killed her husband, would not also be responsible for the death of her son

“We defy augury”—that is, omens mean nothing to him Hamlet will deliver himself over to his fate, because he finally realizes that it is out of his control Before, he would have thought too precisely on the event, weighed its implications, and sought into its causes

Live or die, win or lose, it would be God’s will, and Hamlet would accept his fate For that act, too, “the readiness was all,” in the sense that it had to be sanctioned by God That is what he meant by “readiness”: the simple acceptance of his fate as a part of Providence, the uncontested will of God

Scholars argue and will continue to argue over the reasons for Polonius’ foolishness Throughout the play Polonius tends to act foolish thinking that he knows the reason for Hamlet’s madness, while the audience knows that he is wrong

After constantly debating the meaning of life itself throughout the play, Hamlet has come to the belief that God has a hand in every detail of life Furthermore Hamlet claims that whatever is destined to happen will happen soon enough, and that for those on Earth, “the readiness is all”

“What a piece of work is man!” is a phrase within a monologue by Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet Hamlet is reflecting, at first admiringly, and then despairingly, on the human condition

After Osric’s exit, a lord enters with instructions from the King to see if Hamlet wants more time before meeting Laertes Hamlet says he is ready whenever the King wants to get started Hamlet agrees, and the lord exits Horatio feels uneasy about the duel and suggests that Hamlet could lose

1 of 5 What words best describe Hamlet’s character throughout the play?

• Mysterious, thoughtful, morose
• Brave, sociable, fun
• Easy-going, smooth, charismatic
• Sensual, caring, effeminate