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Hamlet Anticipation Guide &
Discussion
• On your own, write down your
responses to the 8 statements, using
specific examples.
• When we are done writing, we will
discuss and debate each statement
• Be prepared to share your responses
with the class
Siblings should never
date each other’s exes.
Having a clear goal, and
the ambition to achieve
it, is honorable.
Power eventually
corrupts the people who
have it.
Revenge is sweeter than
forgiving and forgetting.
A person’s intelligence
is largely based on their
economic class and
educational background.
One must take a stand
against injustice, even if
the personal cost is
great.
A woman’s primary
concern should be her
child—if she has one.
Moral courage is more
difficult to accomplish
than physical courage.
11 AP
William Shakespeare’s
HamletNordin/Hornik
Dramatic Conventions
• Dramatic Irony:occurs when the audience knows information that might change the behavior of the characters if they were aware of it
• Shakespeare often changed his style of writing based
upon the social status of his characters
• Prose: Ordinary language used to emphasis
characters of low social status – no rhythm or
rhyme. EC: what is an adjective for this ordinary
language?
• Blank verse: has rhythm but no rhyme
• Iambic Pentameter: Pattern of unstressed and
stressed syllables that uses five patterns to a line;
used to emphasis characters of high social status
Writing Style
EC: Prosaic: boring, ordinary
language.
John Green sums it up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My14mZa-eq8&feature=player_detailpage
• 12 minutes
First recorded production of Hamlet-
by Chamberlain's Men (1600 or 1601)
Likely, Shakespeare composed the play in early 1600.
According to contemporary references, Hamlet became an
instant hit until the closing of the theatres by the Puritans
(1642-1660).
After the theatres re-opened, Hamlet was brought back to
the stage by author and entrepreneur, William Davenant.
Popularity has been constant.
History of Hamlet
Universal Ideas in Hamlet
Death
Revenge (inability to act out revenge)
State of Denmark
Incest and sexuality
Uncertainty
Family Dynamic
Gender (Misogyny)
Ears and Hearing (slipperiness of language)
THEMES – up to you to determine! What would
Shakespeare say about the above ideas based on this
play and his rhetoric?
CharactersHamlet - The Prince of Denmark,/protagonist.
About 30 years old.
Son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet, and the
nephew of the present king, Claudius (the mom’s new
husband and brother-in-law).
Melancholy, bitter, and cynical.
Hates his uncle’s scheming.
Disgusted by his mother’s sexuality.
Reflective and thoughtful young man.
Has studied at the University of Wittenberg.
Often indecisive and hesitant, but at other times prone to
rash and impulsive acts.
Claudius - (New) King of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle.
Antagonist/ villain.
Married his dead brother’s widow.
Calculating, ambitious politician, driven by his
sexual appetites and his lust for power.
Occasionally shows signs of guilt and human
feeling. His love for Gertrude, for instance, seems
sincere.
Gertrude - Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother,
recently married Claudius (her dead husband’s
brother).
Loves Hamlet deeply, but she is shallow and weak.
Seeks affection and status more urgently than moral
rectitude or truth.
The fair Ophelia - Polonius’s daughter.
Beautiful and young. Hamlet is in love with her.
Sweet and innocent young woman.
Dependent on men to tell her how to behave.
Obeys her father and her brother, Laertes.
Gives in to Polonius’ (dad) schemes to spy on Hamlet
even though she is in love with Hamlet.
Even in her lapse into madness and death, she
remains maidenly, singing songs about flowers.
Finally drowns in the river amid the flower garlands
she had gathered – even her death is pretty.
•Both protagonists
•Both passionately determined to find the truth.
•Both impulsive.
•Both have immense self-pride, but are ultimately good natured.
•They seek revenge for their fathers (although this is ironic in Oedipus Rex since
Oedipus killed his father unknowingly)
•Although O's arrogance may have led to his downfall, impulsiveness destroys
both men. O's decree of exile parallels the gods' requirements, but Hamlet's
stabbing of Ophelia's father right after NOT stabbing Claudius means that, in the
grand scheme, he must die rather than assume the throne.
•Both plays are tragedies that result from behind-the-scenes machinations--the
gods plot against O's family while King Hamlet's brother plots against him.
•Perhaps the vivid imagery of poison in Hamlet parallels the curse "in the family
blood" in Greek tragedies in Oedipus Rex.
•Both plays - highly poetic language.
Hamlet vs. Oedipus